Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Good luck this evening and, tomorrow, let us know how Jimi's b'day
bash goes.
  

    
I hope the Birthday Bash was a huge success.

And the little birdy on the calendar also tells us that a new interview on
the Inkwell is beginning today.

Thank you, Steven and Scott and all of you who participated in this lively
discussion.  This topic will remain open for continued discussion, if you'd
like.
  

    

I'll add my thanks, too. It's been great to have you here! I hope you'll be
able to stick around long enough to tell us about last night's party, Steve!
  

    
re #59:

About Motown crossing over, yes they did, but they came from a
different perspective from Hendrix, Love, Sly, et al.  Hendrix and the
other aforementioned artists and groups were seen as part of the '60s
counterculture (though the degree to which each group/artist considered
themselves part of the counterculture differed) for better or for
worse, whereas Motown was trying to appeal to a slightly older, more
culturally conservative audience as well as to the teens.  Because of
this, those of you who were around at that time may recall that the
counterculture (and the more Black Nationalistic types as well) had a
lot of disdain for Motown, preferring the supposedly more authentically
soulful (or more authentically "black" in their view) artists on the
Stax label, or for the Chitlin' Circuit veterans.  Hendrix of course
was wildly popular with the counterculture; African-American fans who
liked him generally did not admit it, at least not until after Hendrix
died.  And even then it was only a small group of aficionados, like
George Clinton and Miles Davis.

And by the way, I myself am an African-American man who discovered
Hendrix when I was a 6th grader back in 1978.  After my fourth or fifth
listen to my mother's copy of _Band Of Gypsys_, I knew I was never
listening to disco again.  And for my discovery of the music of Jimi
Hendrix, I will forever be grateful.