Wednesday, March 6, 2013 CYPRUS MAIL
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Showbiz Whitney’s FBI files show fan letters, Twelve previously unreleased studio performances by guitarist extortion
Hendrix estate rolls out People, Hell and Angels
By Eric Kelsey By Iain Blair IF there were any doubts about the lingering force of fabled rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix more than four decades after his death, his latest single should put them to rest. The single ‘Somewhere’ went to No.1 on the Billboard Hot Singles sales in February. That bodes well for the latest posthumous album plucked from the Hendrix musical vaults, which producers say has stood up well to the test of time. People, Hell and Angels, released on CD yesterday, is billed as a collection of twelve previously unreleased studio performances by Hendrix, although some of the songs have emerged in other versions since his death at age 27 in 1970 from an accidental drug overdose. The album arrives with the simultaneous release of newly struck mono vinyl editions of early Hendrix classic albums Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love. The tracks on People, Hell and Angels, were planned as a follow-up to the influential guitarist’s chart-topping 1968 album Electric Ladyland. “After the huge success of the (Jimi Hendrix) Experience and those first albums, he wanted to branch out more, and the blues sound on this is just different from the others,” said Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s step-sister and president and CEO of Experience Hendrix, the company founded by the musician’s father to oversee the star’s estate. “This new album is very important for all his fans as it really showcases his creativity and a different side to him,” she told Reuters. Feeling constrained by the limitations of the Jimi Hendrix Experience trio (which included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel
The new album is the latest in a slew of albums, films, tribute tours and books following Jimi Hendrix’s death in 1970 in London from an accidental drug overdose
Redding), the guitarist had already started working with an eclectic group of musicians. They included the Buffalo Springfield’s Stephen Stills, drummer Buddy Miles, saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood and bassist Billy Cox, with whom Hendrix had served in the US military. The resulting sessions, culled from 1968 and 1969, form the basis of People, Hell and Angels, co-produced by Janie Hendrix, original engineer and mixer Eddie Kramer and long-time Hendrix histo-
rian John McDermott. “What we wanted to do with this new album is provide what we all felt are really compelling examples of Jimi’s artistry and also his often-overlooked role as a producer,” said McDermott, a long-time collaborator with Experience Hendrix on various Hendrix projects. “Jimi’s masters were recorded before the era of massproduction that caused the archival nightmares of the Seventies, for example, where tapes lose their glue backing, so we’ve never faced that
Fans upset by Bieber show delay THE 02 has apologised to young fans after teenage superstar Justin Bieber was nearly two hours late on stage at his latest concert. The Canadian artist was opening the first of four nights at the London venue but failed to start his performance until nearly 10.30pm. Hundreds of Twitter users have complained. Parents used the social media site to criticise the 19-year-old, who was booed by the audience, for leaving young fans waiting on a school night. At 11.36pm, the official account for the 02 tweeted: “Justin Bieber is now on stage and apologises for the lateness of his show.” It later added: “Sorry to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight.
problem with the Jimi Hendrix library. His whole tape archive is in very good shape,” McDermott said. The new album is the latest in a slew of albums, films, tribute tours and books following Hendrix’s death in 1970 in London. These materials far outnumber the three studio albums he released in his four-year career at the top. “He’s a timeless artist and the technology’s finally caught up to what he was trying to do musically,” Janie Hendrix said. “People are still hungry for
real music and good songs, and Jimi was a great songwriter and one of the greatest guitarists of all time,” she said. Every new generation regards Hendrix as a touchstone, said McDermott. “If you want to understand the role of rock guitar and listen to real virtuosity, then Jimi’s the man. “People react to the originals, and that’s what he was, a true visionary whose music doesn’t sound dated at all nearly half a century later,” he said.
Opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa to appear in Downton Abbey By Mike Collett-White
THE FBI yesterday released decades-old files on late pop singer Whitney Houston, detailing letters from obsessed fans and an alleged extortion attempt investigated by the bureau. The 128 pages from Houston’s files posted online on the FBI’s website showed one fan’s attention-seeking letters but did not divulge any new insights into the troubled singer’s personal life. Houston, known both for her soaring ballads and well chronicled history of drug abuse, was found dead last year in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub. She was 48. Authorities called her death an accidental drowning due to cocaine use and heart disease. The FBI cases were opened at the height of the singer’s career between 1988 and 1999. Names and several details were redacted from the files. Among the Grammy-winning singer’s FBI files, released through a Freedom of Information Act request, were love letters sent by a Vermont man, who wrote that he “might hurt someone with some crazy idea”. The file shows the FBI interviewed the man but the bureau concluded no law was broken because the man said he would have only hurt Houston’s reputation by proclaiming his love publicly. An alleged $250,000 extortion attempt was brought to the FBI’s attention shortly after Houston’s marriage to R&B singer Bobby Brown in 1992 and threatened to make public private information unless the singer paid. Houston told the FBI in an interview that she considered the person a friend. Houston in 1999 also received letters and recorded cassette tapes from the Netherlands which she deemed threatening, according to the files. The sender made outrageous claims in an FBI interview that he was “President of Europe”, purchased Brazil for $66 billion and helped Nelson Mandela win the election in South Africa.
NEW Zealand opera star Kiri Te Kanawa will act, and sing, in an upcoming episode of the hit British stately home drama Downton Abbey, a spokeswoman for the ITV series said this week. The 68-year-old singer will play a house guest staying at Downton Abbey, joining the award-winning cast in the fourth season of the period drama that has won large audiences in Britain and the United States.
Justin Bieber arrived on stage nearly two hours late at the O2 The Tube will still be running when the show finishes.” Many youngsters were forced to miss the gig altogether in order to get their last train out of London. A tweet complained: “Justin Bieber needs to under-
stand he has fans that are really young, he can’t come on stage like 1 hour and 45 mins late on a school night!” The world-wide ‘Believe’ tour has already stopped in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham.
AWARD-WINNING Created by British screenwriter Julian Fellowes, the award-winning Downton Abbey follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their staff, and has starred veteran performers Maggie Smith and Shirley MacLaine. Te Kanawa is best known in Britain for her performance of Handel’s ‘Let the Bright Seraphim’ at the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Diana watched by a global audience of hundreds of millions of people.
The FBI cases were opened at the height of the singer’s career from 1988 to 1999