Live 8 Tracks: Number 2

I can't believe Live 8 the whole thing.

#2: Machine Gun
-Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsys (MCA)

Sometimes less is more. When the Who's monumental Live at Leeds was expanded, many fans who were endeared to the original (shorter) version of the album were horrified that MCA would screw with perfection by alterring the track order. I never listened to the original 6-song Live at Leeds, but when listening to Band of Gypsys, I can relate. After Jimi Hendrix's death, MCA released more material from the 1969-1970 New Year's Eve/Day concerts as Live at the Fillmore East. Live at the Fillmore East is a good set, but it lacks the concentrated punch of Band of Gypsys.

The version of "Machine Gun" on Band revolutionized the guitar solo, and, in my opinion, there hasn't been a better one since.
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I first listened to Band of Gypsys about 8 years ago, and I was finally able to put a name to all the guitar riffs that were sampled in the rap albums I listened to in my formative years. It seems strange that there are a whole lot of hip hop fans out there who know these riffs, but don't know the source (as I didn't). What's inexcusable are the misguided fools who think that the guitar lick from "Come With Me" on the Godzilla (1998) soundtrack is a Puff Daddy/P Diddy original (it isn't, it's lifted from Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir"). At least I knew the rap artists were sampling riffs, I just didn't know the source material.