Earlier this month, we published Steve Barker’s January 1967 interview with Jimi Hendrix, who was then recording “Purple Haze.” Steve interviewed Jimi a second time on November 8, 1967, following a concert in the Manchester University Students’ Union. A few sentences from this conversation appeared in the February 1968 issue of Unit, a small student magazine. The version below is the first time the entire interview has been published.
At the time of this interview, Jimi was in a flurry of activity. In the two weeks leading up to the interview, …

The Archive’s first outside contributor, Steve Barker has generously offered to share his two 1967 interviews with Jimi Hendrix. Below is the first of these. A heavily edited version, sans Steve’s questions, was published in the February 6, 1967, issue of West One, a small magazine by journalism students at London’s Regent Street Polytechnic. (For an overview of the events in Jimi’s life leading up to this interview, see http://jasobrecht.com/jimi-hendrix-in-london/.)
 At the time of the interviews, Steve was a student in Swinging London. Today he lives in Beijing, China. For the last 26 …

Among Atlanta’s early bluesmen, no one surpassed Blind Willie McTell, who had it all – a shrewd mind, insightful lyrics, astounding nimbleness on a 12-string guitar, and a sweet, plangent, and slightly nasal voice. Sensitive, confident, and hip-talking, he was a beloved figure in the various communities in which he traveled. He played sublimely, a result of both natural talent and from performing hours a day for people from all walks of life. McTell’s records reveal a phenomenal repertoire of blues, ragtime, hillbilly music, spirituals, ballads, show tunes, and original songs. …

“Lord, that 61 Highway, it’s the longest road I know,” sang bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell. “She run on to New Orleans, and down to the Gulf of Mexico.”
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The most famous road in blues lore, Highway 61 was built during the 1920s and 1930s. From New Orleans, it veers northwest into Mississippi, rolling through Natchez and Vicksburg. From there, it cuts through the Mississippi Delta, a ribbon of concrete and asphalt amid vast cotton fields sprinkled with silos, shacks, and small towns. It passes through Rolling Fork, where Muddy Waters was …

Search “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” at www.youtube.com, and more than 300 versions pop up. You’ll find recent performances by Bob Dylan, Jeff Beck and Imogen Heap, Imelda May, Cyndi Lauper, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Gov’t Mule, to name just a few, as well as older readings by Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Johnny Winter, Cream, The Yardbirds, Captain Beefheart, Canned Heat, Bonnie Raitt, R.L. Burnside, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, and many others. Over at www.archive.org you can hear 1920s renditions and an array of live covers by the Grateful Dead, …