Maui Hawaii (Scorpio JH – 07010)
Haleakala Crater, Maui, HI – July 30, 1970
Disc 1: Introduction, Hey Baby(Land Of The New Rising Sun), In From The Storm, Foxy Lady, Hear My Train A Comin’, Voodoo Child(Slight Return), Purple Haze, Ezy Rider, Red House, Maui Sunset, Radio Commercial Rainbow Bridge Film
Disc 2: Guitar Intro, Red House, Villanova Junction Blues, Hear My Baby Callin’, Incident At Rainbow Bridge
DVD: First Show – Intro/Window Shooting Scene, Pali Gap(soundtrack), Spanish Castle Magic, Lover Man, Hey Baby(Land Of The New Rising Sun, In From The Storm, Message To Love, Foxy Lady, Getting My Heart Back Together Again, Voodoo Child(Slight Return), Fire, Purple Haze
Second Show – Dolly Dagger, Villanova Junction, Ezy rider, Conversation between Jimi, Pat Hartley, and Chuck Wein On Friday July 31 after the performances, Hey baby(Land Of The New Rising Sun
This legendary performance from Jimi Hendrix was recorded and filmed for inclusion in the 1971 hippie documentary Rainbow Bridge Vibratory Colour-Sound Experiment that Jimi’s manager, Michael Jeffrey, was involved with. The concert took place on a grassy meadow near the Haleakala Crater in Maui where the people actually had to hike to the site. The film reportedly only contained 17 minutes of Hendrix’s set in the middle of the movie and has been released on VHS a few times throughout the years but I am honestly not familiar with any of these releases in comparison with Scorpio’s new DVD. I can say that I’m sure there is more footage here on Maui Hawaii than was in the original film. Apocalypse Sound released a version of this on Maui 1970 – Stockholm 1969 and though I haven’t viewed theirs, the track listing is identical to this Scorpio offering and is more than likely the same version. There was a problem with the recording of the drums and Mitch Mitchell had to go into Electric Lady Studios and overdub his parts at a later date so at times it looks as though Mitch’s parts don’t line up correctly due to the overdubbing but Jimi’s parts are very well in synch.
Disc one contains various tracks from the soundboard sources from both the early and late sets but is incomplete. “Spanish Castle Magic”, “Lover Man”, “Message to Love”, and “Fire” are all missing from the first set and only three songs are present from the second set, missing “Dolly Dagger”, “Villanova Junction Blues”, “Freedom”, “Jam Back At The House/Straight Ahead” and “Stone Free/Hey Joe”. I don’t know why Scorpio only decided to included parts of the performance where almost all of this material from the soundboard has been around on other boots and has even had a few semi-official releases from pirate labels like Purple Haze. When comparing Scorpio’s title to Rainbow Bridge 2, an Italian no-label boot released in 1995, I found both to sound very good but slightly different. They sound like they may come from different transfers of the source tapes with Scorpio’s version a little drier sounding where Rainbow Bridge 2 sounds to have more echo around the music. Rainbow Bridge 2 is also way more complete, only missing the “Drum Solo/Stone Free/Hey Joe” from the late set. Other boot titles include In From The Storm on Silver Rarities which contained the entire performance but was said to run too fast. Last American Concert Vol. 1 has the early set missing “Spanish Castle Magic” and Last American Concert Vol. 2 is the second set minus the last two tracks. Both are from the Swinging Pig label.
Disc two contains an audience source from this show but is far from complete. Its origin is unknown to me although it could be taken from Incident At Rainbow Bridge, Maui, Hawaii, a single LP on the Dragon label and contains only a few tracks from the show. It sounds like it is sourced from very clean vinyl and has commentary from someone during “Guitar Intro” which is really the intro to “Hey Baby” from the early set. The quality is fair to good and will appeal to serious Hendrix collectors. Jimi’s guitar is high in the mix with the drums almost nonexistent but it is still an interesting listen where Hendrix is in excellent shape and makes me wish I had the entire audience source. The third track is actually “Jam Back at the House/Straight Ahead” and not “Villanova Junction Blues” as listed. “Here My Baby Calling” is “Here My Train A Coming” from the early set and “Incident At Rainbow Bridge” is the proper “Villanova Junction Blues” which segues into a minute of “Ezy Rider” that has the drum intro edited with the tail end of the song. This audience source is very fragmented but still a nice inclusion in the set.
The DVD included with Maui Hawaii opens with a bizarre shooting scene where Jimi is seen hanging out a window with a rifle assassinating a public speaker. The DVD then cuts to people traveling up to the concert site to the music of “Pali Gap”, a song included on the posthumous Rainbow Bridge soundtrack, now long out of print but can be found on the official South Saturn Delta. The actual concert footage used in the film is fascinating but the film also focuses upon other things like surfing, footage of Pearl Harbor, and some psychedelic images which frankly I could do without. Appropriately, the film cuts to some scenes from the film Easy Rider during “Ezy Rider”. Most of the concert footage is so amazingly clear that I really hope the Experience Hendrix label will reconstruct this film and include more of the stage footage as Jimi gives a captivating performance. Also of interest is that Hendrix plays a Gibson Flying V in the second set as opposed to the famous white Fender Strat played in the early set. The conversation piece near the end of the DVD shows a very tired/stoned Hendrix unwinding the day after the concert.
Overall, Maui Hawaii on Scorpio is a good way to obtain a nice pressed copy of the DVD and the rare audience source but the soundboard source, although excellent sounding is too incomplete. I am certain someday the Experience Hendrix camp will give this the deluxe treatment it deserves.
