Titled Music, Money, Madness . . . Jimi Hendrix In Maui, the documentary will be accompanied by the release of the album Live in Maui.
Back in 1970, when Jimi Hendrix was working on the successor to Electric Ladyland, his manager Michael Jeffrey convinced executives at Warner Bros. to finance an Easy Rider-inspired movie, Rainbow Bridge.
Hinging on the idea of a “rainbow bridge” between the “unenlightened and enlightened worlds”, the movie turned out to be a logistical and production omnishambles. It still, however, is significant for featuring one of Jimi Hendrix’s last performances before he died on September 18th, 1970.
Now, Experience Hendrix L.L.C. have paired up with Legacy Recordings to release a new feature length documentary, Music, Money, Madness . . . Jimi Hendrix In Maui, which will follow the story of Jimi Hendrix’s famous Maui concert as well as his involvement in Rainbow Bridge.
The documentary will also be accompanied by an album, Live in Maui, containing The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s performance.
Blasted by critics as pompous and rudderless, Rainbow Bridge seemed to be doomed from the start. The movie’s plot had no scripts or professional actors, and featured everything from surfing to meditation. Desperate to save his creation, director Chuck Wein arranged for a performance by The Jimi Hendrix Experience on the lower slope of the Haleakala Volcano.
Once word of a free Experience concert got out, people showed up in droves and the performance was a massive success. Shortly afterwards, Hendrix left for Europe with plans for a tour, but tragically died in London on September 18th, 1970.
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When it was released posthumously, many thought that Rainbow Bridge would be a concert film. It soon became apparent, however, that such was not the case. The only saving grace of the otherwise disastrous movie was a 17-minute footage of Hendrix performing in Maui, worked in just for this performance.
Even then, technical problems in the original recording resulted in Mitch Mitchell having to overdub his drum tracks, with longtime engineer Eddie Kramer at the helm.
“Mitch did a tremendous amount of work on the overdubs,” Kramer recalls in a statement. “If he didn’t get it in one take, he certainly did in the second one and I was so blown away by his ability to duplicate the parts he had already played! He was determined to fix what suffered on the recordings due to the 50 mile an hour winds because they were playing on the side of a bloody volcano!”
In his account, Kramer also mentions how the proximity between Hendrix’s passing and the overdub sessions made it hard for him to listen to the recordings: “After Jimi died it took a while before I was able to go back to the closet with all the tapes. Mitch was a trooper with a can do British attitude.
“It’s all very well to overdub drums, but to do it so you can’t tell, that’s the magic. He knew the material extremely well and it’s a tribute to his sensitivity as a great musician and an equal and willing partner of Jimi’s.” he says.
Music, Money, Madness . . . Jimi Hendrix In Maui also features interviews with key figures in the personal orbit of the film’s production. Janie Hendrix, who is credited among the producers, says in the statement: “Jimi loved adventure and there was certainly no shortage of it during his time in Hawaii, a place he also loved.”
“The back story of Rainbow Bridge and these recordings paint a picture of Jimi’s uncanny ability to turn the bizarre into something amazing! We’re excited about this release because it gives the world a closer look at Jimi’s genius,” she says.
Music, Money, Madness . . . Jimi Hendrix In Maui and the accompanying album, Live In Maui, are out Friday, November 20th.
Catch the trailer for Music, Money, Madness . . . Jimi Hendrix In Maui:
