All Is by My Side Page #7

---

Look, I've broke my back

to get us this far.

I've spent my every last pound

to get us where we are.

- So its about you?

- It's about the payoff.

For me, aye. For you. For us.

For the lads.

A hundred songs, man.

Not-Not one, man, like-

Just hold it together until Monterey.

Okay?

- Okay?

- Yeah, yeah, man, yeah.

I like it though. You know what?

You sh-You should let it, like,

like-like, grow huge.

- Like an angel.

- I'm gonna grow it.

I'm not gonna cut it anymore.

Like when I had it before,

I just put loads of pomade in.

- Yeah.

- You know, to atten it down, but-

it shapes your face up really nice.

- We were going this way.

- Oh, yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean?

When you started. Yeah?

Brought somebody to see you.

- As-salaam alaikum.

- How you doing, man?

Hey.

Come in, come in.

The government of America has failed you!

You know Jimi, right?

Jimi's gonna be a rock star one day.

Oh, no, he is a rock star.

That's what your girl would say, right?

- Wanna give Jimi some of that

good weed you got. - Yeah.

There are Negroes now who preach to you...

that the way to freedom and equality

is through nonviolence.

- Goddamn.

- Yeah, we have a lot of guests.

Where's your rolling paper at?

- It's in the drawer where it always is.

- All right.

Ah. Seen you play.

Jimi Hendrix, yes. You hella good.

So, how are you liking London?

Uh, it's a good scene.

Yeah, a good scene, yeah?

So, um, where is this good scene?

Been playing at The Scotch.

Uh, I played down at The Bag of Nails

the other night, man.

Some really cool people there.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

They relate to music differently here

than they do in America.

In America, it's still-Everything's

all split up still, in America.

You know, you have, like, one scene

for this type of music...

and a whole another scene

for another type of music.

And the moment you try

to put it all together,

you know, they get all

uptight with you.

Here they just-

they give you more freedom to play...

and I love that.

You know, they let you do what you want to

do any-any time you want to.

What? Let you?

Yeah.

I'm sorry,

but you just said you had freedom to play.

Well, if you have freedom,

people don't let you do anything.

You just do it.

There's nothing in the drawer.

It's in the bloody drawer, man.

Look for it.

But, you know, good on you...

for coming over, enjoying yourself.

On behalf of England-

Well, on behalf of Black England, welcome.

Thank you.

I would think that maybe you hadn't

had much chance to see Black England.

You know, Brixton, Notting Hill.

I don't break it down

like Black England or White England.

But it is like that.

They break it down.

Or maybe you haven't had

your share of hassles over here.

I read in the papers

how they talk about your music.

Wild and tribal and violent.

Words, man. Just words.

They're all just words. I don't get uptight

about them words, you know.

But they don't use those words when they're

talking about Jeff Beck or Eric Clapton.

You know,

when they play the blues, it's acceptable.

But when you play the blues...

you're a violent, black abomination.

Thank you.

England is different to America.

You know, our-our race issues

are more... subtle.

This new England was built on the Windrush.

You heard of that? You know what it is?

- Windrush?

- I've never heard of that.

After the war, right...

uh, Caribbeans-well, West Indians got, um-

they got lured to England, you know.

Lots of signs all over

the place advertising work and jobs.

Come on, come over.

Work hard for a better life.

Yeah, possibilities.

- Yeah, but there were no possibilities.

- Hmm.

No housing. No decent pay.

- There's a class system here in England.

- Notting Hill, man.

- There was hard work. - Those Teddy

Boys were f***ing black people up.

But there's no better life.

But it's hard all over now for everybody.

Right? You know.

I mean, people are just people.

You know, just like animals.

Animals are gonna be animals, right?

Picking-Picking their noses,

picking their asses, you know.

Animals are animals. Yes, yes.

To other animals you'll never be eaten.

And, look, you know-

I'm saying this brother to brother,

all right?

You'll never be nothing to them

but a curiosity.

And that's-that's the truth.

They don't let you up on that stage.

They want you up there.

Their electric wog.

Oh, that's cold, man.

You're fooling around

with all these white kids...

but it's black British who need

someone to inspire them.

- inspire, man.

- Why is that funny to you?

- You're putting things on me I don't

even wanna be. - You could be a symbol.

- I don't even understand. What are you

talking about? - You could be a symbol.

- I'm just playing my guitar.

- Play music to your people.

My people?

They're all my people. What-What-

Every last one of them,

they're my people.

Jimi, the people you got around you now,

they don't get it.

If you are going up on that stage just so

you can go up on that stage...

you're wasting yourself.

- Your music should be notes of protest.

- Right the hell on, man.

Protest is all over with.

Everybody wants solutions now, you know.

You're getting up on stage

with your gyrating,

your gimmicks-Is

that your solution?

I'm sick of everybody talking about

these gimmicks, man.

You know, the world is nothing

but a great big, fat gimmick.

Wars, you know, napalm bombs

and all this kind of stuff.

You know, you got people getting burnt up

on television, right in front of our faces.

You know, all this violence.

And that's not my scene, man.

So what is your scene?

Laying back and doing nothing?

And I should be like you?

Do exactly what you're doing, huh?

Talking sh*t and smoking weed, huh?

'Cause, yeah, the weed is good, man...

but this sh*t that you're talking, man-

You-You really wanna change things?

When the power of love takes over the love

of power, that's when things will change.

DISSONANT CHORD]

Play something!

- Play a f***ing song!

- Get off!

Go on, then.

Where's the f***ing show?

Paid a bloody pound for this sh*t!

Just shut your bas-

Greeted by near silence, obsessive

guitar-tuning and foul gestures...

fans may have wondered

what they missed musically during the-

- Jimi.

- I'm not in tune, man.

- Just play something, man.

- Man, f*** you.

I'm gonna get this guitar

in tune if it takes me all f***ing night.

Having listened to their first album,

the answer is, little.

Jimi Hendrix is neither a notable

songwriter, nor an accomplished vocalist.

He is sullen when not outright angry...

vague when not utterly arcane.

The rank quality of his songs,

the puerile nature of the lyrics...

the sum total of the

record is unrelentingly,

lyrically and

inartistically primal.

You'd just rather play

any old kind of sh*t, huh?

And you don't care what it sounds like.

- Well, leave then, man!

- That didn't take them very long, did it?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes