As the Day-Glo tide of psychedelic that swept over the U.K. in the late '60s began to recede, something far less ornate and flashy took root in its place. Spurred on by the artistic and commercial success of Traffic's folk- and jazz-influenced debut album – which was recorded out in the countryside – the Byrds headlong plunge into country-rock on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and the Band's brilliant slice of backwoods Americana, Music from Big Pink, all sorts of groups and artists sprouted up to play loose and wooly blends of organically grown folk, country, jazz, and rock. Some of the bands were beat group leftovers looking to evolve past paisley (the Searchers, the Tremeloes), some were city boys gone to seed (Mott the Hoople, the Pretty Things), and some were just weirdos like Greasy Bear, or lazy-Sunday balladeers like Curtiss Maldoon, all doing their own freaky thing.
Welcome to the year 2019, everyone has just arrived and already it seems like a militia of artists in all genres have promised to make it a stand out year for music. From Pop to Rock, to Hip Hop, all the way down to Jazz, artists everywhere seem to be edging for musical glory. That in mind, among the contenders for glory in the Heavy Metal world, stand the true and tried Arch Enemy…
Songs For Groovy Children assembles all four historic debut concerts by Jimi Hendrix’s newly assembled Band of Gypsys at New York’s Fillmore East on New Years Eve 1969 and New Years Day 1970. Presented in their original performance sequence and encompassing 43 tracks across 5 CDs or 8LPs, the set boasts over two dozen tracks that have either never before been released commercially or have been newly remixed plus the full extended versions of songs originally released on the 1970 Band of Gypsys album. Measured alongside his triumphs at Monterey Pop and Woodstock, Hendrix’s legendary Fillmore East concerts illustrated a critical turning point in a radiant career filled with indefinite possibilities. Earlier in 1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience had closed a musical chapter and the guitarist assembled a new trio dubbed Band of Gypsys, consisting of Hendrix, his longtime friend Billy Cox, on bass, whom he had befriended when both were serving with the 101st Airborne Division Cox and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles, who would also contribute occasional lead vocals.