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Jimi Hendrix


Is his version offensive?  

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  1. 1. Is his version offensive?

    • yes
      8
    • no
      66


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Considering Francis Scott Key stole the music for the Star-Spangled Banner from an old British pub song....I think it is a perfect rendition... :)

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was there anything better than Charlie Steiner coming out of a clip of Carl Lewis butchering the NA and breaking up as he said, "Francis Scott 'off' Key"?

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How anyone could be offended by any rendition of the anthem is beyond me. The only thing that I don't like is when people sing along at sporting events, its actually very disrespectful to some people. I just always thought it was stupid singing along to it, but I personally have no problem with any one redition of it or the fact that its played before sporting events.

 

Having said that, why do we still hear God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch? Every stadium does it! I think thats just baseball shoving things dowhn our throat. It was appropriate for a while but just seems forced now.

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Why would it be offensive for someone to care about the National Anthem enough to come up with a different interpretation of the National Anthem than the way in which it is usually performed? Let's not forget that Hendrix was a veteran.

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What I find offensive is the treatment that some contemporary singers give to the anthem, embellishing it with all sorts of frills meant only to glorify the singer and her "style". Those clowns really piss me off.

 

Now, Jimi, OTOH, served in the Army, and was a master of his instrument.

 

I was at Woodstock when he played that, and it was like 9:00 Monday morning after the rain-delayed sunday show lasted all night. Jimi closed the show, but there were not very many people left.

 

I was bummed that it was Jimi and the Band of Gypsies or whoever (Buddy Miles, et al). The Jimi Hendrix Experience had been an incredible band, but the later bands were just some black-power types taking advantage of Jimi.

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How the hell is someone offended by that? Man do people need to get more thick skinned. I like when Jimi was on Dick Cavett and Cavett asked him(I am paraphrasing) "Jimi your unorthodox version of the Star Spangled Banner.." Jimi interupts"Its not unorthodox- its beautiful"

 

One thing people need to understand is the time period when Jimi performed that at Woodstock. There was much change going on in our country, much protests and much civil rights. When Jimi played that for the dissidents and radicals- it reitereated that is was their country too and that they were Americans as well. It unified IMO

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What I find offensive is the treatment that some contemporary singers give to the anthem, embellishing it with all sorts of frills meant only to glorify the singer and her "style".  Those clowns really piss me off.

 

Now, Jimi, OTOH, served in the Army, and was a master of his instrument.

 

I was at Woodstock when he played that, and it was like 9:00 Monday morning after the rain-delayed sunday show lasted all night. Jimi closed the show, but there were not very many people left.

 

I was bummed that it was Jimi and the Band of Gypsies or whoever (Buddy Miles, et al). The Jimi Hendrix Experience had been an incredible band, but the later bands were just some black-power types taking advantage of Jimi.

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Dam, i thought i was old :) I have never "conversed" with anyone who was actually there. Very cool for you. Even more impressed you seem to remember some of the details. No brown for you huh?

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I'm hardly offended by Jimi's version :lol:

and even Roseanne's didn't really phase me,

but I'm truly disgusted with Baltimore fans when they shout the final OH in the next-to-last line.

No class what-so-ever. :lol:

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How anyone could be offended by any rendition of the anthem is beyond me.  The only thing that I don't like is when people sing along at sporting events, its actually very disrespectful to some people. 

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I don't have any problem with people singing along to it as long as they get the frickin' words right. I have no problem with Hendrix either or most other renditions (altho I hated Whitney Houston's thirty-minute rendition before SB XXVIII).

 

I tell you what I DO have a problem with though. People who don't take their hats off for the anthem, and people who carry on a conversation throughout it, and people who start yelling and screaming and carrying on when the singer gets to the next-to-last line instead of waiting until it's over. Like one of the Hanson brothers famously said:

 

"I'M LISTENIN' TO THE !@#$IN' SONG!!!"

 

Is it too much to expect people to show some frickin' respect for their country for four minutes out of the day? :lol:

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Jose Feliciano's National Anthem (mp3 link)

 

I found it nice to listen to as I read this article.

 

"The year was 1968. Martin Luther King had been assassinated earlier that spring. Robert Kennedy was murdered less than two months later. Our country was at war in Vietnam, as well as here, because of that conflict in Asia. Our nation was divided by race, by class, by gender and even by age. The older generation did not have faith in their children and the younger generation didn't trust "anyone over 30". Their attitudes reflected that in their dress, their politics and in their music.

 

Enter Jose Feliciano. The young, blind musician from Puerto Rico was having great success in Latin America with the Bolero and currently, a major hit on the American scene with "Light My Fire." He had been invited to sing the National Anthem at the fifth game of the World Series, for the Tigers against the St. Louis Cardinals, in Detroit, by veteran play-by-play announcer, Ernie Harwell.

 

Jose was appearing in Las Vegas at the time with Frank Sinatra, at Caesar's Palace. He had an interesting version of the National Anthem, Ernie had been told, and since it was Ernie's assignment to plan the talent for the games' Anthem performances, he thought he'd invite Jose. An early morning flight brought the singer to Detroit where the game was to take place later that day.

 

Before nearly 54,000 fans in the seats, and countless millions more tuned in to televisions and radios around the country, a nervous Jose walked out to left field with his guide dog, Trudy, and his guitar.

 

He wanted to sing an anthem of gratitude to a country that had given him a chance; who had allowed a blind kid with a dream reach far above his limitations, far beyond the expected to a place few at his young age, had achieved. He wanted to sing an anthem of praise to a country that had given a better life to him and his family.

 

Playing slowly and meaningfully on a sunny October afternoon, he felt the vastness of the stadium and the presence of so many listening to him as he began to sing, " Oh, say, can you see?..." . Before he had completed his performance, however, he could feel the discontent within the waves of cheers and applause that spurred on the first pitch. "Wonder what that was about?," he thought, as he was escorted to the press box to enjoy a couple of innings before his flight back to Vegas for his shows later that evening.

 

"Do you know what you did?", He was asked by someone in the box. "You're causing a furor! The switchboard is lighting up with calls from people complaining about your singing The National Anthem!"

"My God", He thought, as the great controversy exploded across the country. Veterans, reportedly, threw their shoes at the television as he sang. Others questioned his right to stay in the United States, suggesting he should be deported (to where, exactly, had never been mentioned as those from Puerto Rico are, of course, American citizens)! Still others just attributed it to the times and felt sad for the state of our country.

There were, obviously, many who understood the depth and breadth of his rendition. Those, young and old, who weren't jaded by the negativity which surrounded anything new, anything a little different. It was unusual. It was beautifully done. It certainly was sincere.

 

The controversy was to shadow Feliciano and his music for many years. It inspired a sense of compassion about our Anthem which, until that time, had pretty much been taken for granted. It became the topic of conversation in circles that never discussed patriotism and, it brought about a sense of commitment to whatever side of the line one stood.

 

Today, it is common to hear our National Anthem performed in a stylized fashion. Some renditions are clearly better than others, still sparking some criticism. You will, however, notice that it is very acceptable, indeed admirable, to deliver an intensely personal interpretation of The National Anthem.

This was not the case before Jose Feliciano."

 

link to this article

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Do we really need the national Anthem before sporting events?

I like the National Anthem, but I never understood the need to

play it before every sporting event.

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Yes, it should be played before every sports event.

 

Here is a recent article that I think sums it up well.

 

LINK: Star Telegram

 

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

 

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?

 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,

 

O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

 

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

 

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.

 

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

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