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Originally Posted by Mortte Jousimo
Are you claiming that Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge & Band Of Gypsys are better albums than Are You Experienced, Bold As Love & Electric Ladyland?
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I'm claiming that the live band was better with Billy than Noel, and yes, the material that Jimi wrote with Billy after 1968 was hands down better than what he was writing with Noel, musically speaking.
Coming In From the Storm, Ezy Rider, Freedom, Astro Man, Night Flying Bird (with lyrics)
(Cry of Love)
Hey Baby, Room Full of Mirrors (though he wrote this initially with Noel), Earth Blues, (Rainbow Bridge)
Machine Gun (EPIC TUNE!!!!), Message to Love (Band of Gypsies)
These are quite literally, some of my ALL-TIME favorite Hendrix tunes, period. However and again, I think Billy had better playing chemistry with Jimi, especially live, and so even when Billy and Jimi played the material from The Experience it was better than when Noel played it. Also, I do think that Mitch was a better fit with Jimi than Buddy Miles, even if Buddy is clearly the superior drummer. Jimi never really got along with Buddy, and further, Jimi needed a drummer who followed his lead, Mitch was great at that. I can relate, I don't play well with "structured" drummers who intend to lead the pace, I need drummers who can follow the unique patterns and patterns of my own material, and it is too polyrhythmic for standard or structured drumwork. In that regard, Mitch and Jimi clicked very well, and that just never reflected from the Band of Gypsies.
Personally, I think the first few years of the Experience were more of an experiment, but when Jimi went back with his original friend and bass player from the early 1960s in Billy Cox, he found himself and his music. Post-1968 Gypsies, Suns, and Rainbows or Nothing But A Band of Gypsies Henridx material is much more refined, superb, and creative. Jimi got more into his imagination on that music, and it comes across as more of a self-reflection. His earlier music seemed like social commentary, but his later material came across more like a self-examination, almost a Confession of his core beliefs, feelings, and dreams. Message to Love, Machine Gun, and It's Too Bad, these are songs from the depth of Jimi's core being, a musical representation of who he was as a person.