Jimi Hendrix Video:

		List Price: $24.99		Label: Image Entertainment Salesrank: 110731 Released: May 20, 1998
		Our Price: $36.95
		Used Price: $5.75
		MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Jimi's legendary live performance at England's 1970 Isle of Wight Festival has been captured here, featuring a mix of Hendrix hits and rock and roll rarities. Songs: Message to Love, God Save the Queen, Sgt. Pepper, Spanish Castle Magic, All Along the Watchtower, Voodoo Chile, Freedom, Machine Gun, Dolly Dagger, Red House, In from the Storm.

Description of Isle of Wight '70:
Shot less than three weeks before Jimi Hendrix's death, this middle-of-the-night concert is set at the conflict-ridden Isle of Wight festival, a troubled event well-documented in Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 by Murray Lerner, whose expanded footage of Hendrix comprises this movie. Not one of Hendrix's stellar performances, and frayed a bit by the late hour and equipment problems, the concert nevertheless finds the legendary guitarist in a gracious mood, asking the crowd to be patient with his tuning and even allow him to start one song over after a bumpy start. Backed by Mitch Mitchell on drums and Buddy Cox on bass, Hendrix's playing on "Voodoo Chile" and "Machine Gun" has power but lacks snap, yet most of his mid-song solos prove bold and lyrical. Everything pulls together, however, for a hypnotic rendering of "Red House," which instantly sets down a snaking groove and gives Hendrix room for some jittery phrases. The overall portrait seems to be of a Promethean artist perhaps a bit bored and certainly tired, but fans should find much to celebrate here. --Tom Keogh

Isle of Wight '70 Reviews:
Poor Jimi
2008-07-29 - It's obvious that Jimi wasn't in good shape when he performed at the Isle of Wight. His singing is atrocious and he often forgets lyrics to his own songs. He sings with chewing gum in his mouth and he's unable to complete "Voodoo Chile" because of some sort of technical/mechanical/sound-related problem. The band sounds poor compared to his studio recordings with Redding and Mitchell. Jimi reinvented the way guitar is imagined, but he also crashed very quickly. Band of Gypsies would also pale in comparison to the original Jimi Hendrix Experience. Jimi's wild life style is what did him in, and this dvd makes it apparent that at the time of filming, he wouldn't have much longer to live. In fact, he died just 18 days after the Isle of Wight concert. Millions of people love Hendrix, but are unaware of men like Earl Hooker, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, and Muddy Waters, who were Hendrix's greatest influences. Earl Hooker was also a better guitar player than Hendrix, in my book, though he didn't totally alter the way guitar is thought of in the way that Jimi did. It's a shame that Hendrix died so young, as his three studio albums are all excellent, and show a real creative genius at work. This dvd is disappointing, so I'm not sure if I even want to see his Woodstock performance.

Excellent Despite Shortcomings
2004-10-01 - I have read all the reviews and I think a lot of people here are kidding themselves. This is Hendrix and no matter how sloppy he plays, compared to anyone else, ever, he blows them away. The band as a whole fail but the guitar work is still incredible. There are many excellent songs in this concert - not just Red House. Machine Gun is awesome despite somebody's review saying it was trying to listen to. If you listen to Machine Gun over and over you'll hear the most wicked riffs that you didn't appreciate at first and the general theme of this version and attack on the guitar is beyond anyone elses ability. And it's got a different feel sort of like a funeral procession instead of a battlefield because Mitch is on the drums instead of Buddy. Yes, compared to the Band of Gypsys version it falls short but it is still wicked. Raw and aggressive is what this version is and it's what you should appreciate as a Hendrix fan. It's excellent despite some minor timing errors. Dolly Dagger has some of the most precise guitar work I've ever heard. Watch for his guitar phrasing as he sings on this song - pretty tricky stuff. In From The Storm has an aggressive style and wicked riffs that any Hendrix fan should fully appreciate. Forget the band and gig as a whole because it doesn't work but if you love Hendrix then do yourself a favour and check out his guitar work. This could well be one of his worst performances but it still puts all other guitarists in their place. By the way, Hendrix wasn't dying at this stage in his life and the bloke who wrote a review saying he had liver problems and was on his way out anyway is wrong and I don't know what autopsy report he was looking at. Anyone who knows liver disease would know the symptoms are highly visible and Hendrix showed none. Get the facts right. The real reasons for his less than stellar performance are the long and late travelling time to get to the Isle of Wight and the freezing temperatures and the equipment troubles. You try and play your best when it's nearly zero degrees and you're tired as a dog. Also, the security guards walkie talkies are coming through Hendrix's amps all throughout the gig and this serves to tick him off more than anything. There's also a complete lack of sustain due to the poor sound setup by the organisers. This probably accounts for a lot of the bad reviews that people have given on this gig as without sustain Hendrix doesn't quite sound as fluent but he's trying to compensate for the lack of sustain with his fingerwork which is quite remarkable. You'll see him have a couple of words to his roadie during a solo regarding the lack of sustain. You will also notice his guitar work improve as his hands warm up but those stupid security guards just keep talking. It's a real shame they didn't include New Rising Sun / Hey Baby in the film footage because along with the Band Of Gypsys version of Machine Gun it goes a long way to show why Hendrix was so far above any other guitarist and most musicians in terms of techincal ability, imagination, and composition.

It's OK...but Blue Wild Angel is better...
2003-06-11 - for YEARS this was all we had of Jimi's appearance at the Isle of Wight. It's a shorter, lo-fi version of Wild Blue Angel.

Unless you lived with this version, and don't care otherwise, buy the newly released Blue Wild Angel DVD instead, it has MUCH better sound, and the complete performance. Well, almost complete. The CD has two or three tracks, like "Hey Baby/New Rising Sun" that you won't find here.

collectors piece
2002-11-09 - you'll refer to this one now again, not often, but you'll be pleased you have it in the collection.

the man is clearly from another planet.

Not Good But ok.
2002-11-08 - When I boutht this dvd, I thought I was gonna see a whole concert. Was I totally wrong! This is not an entire concert. But who would forget Jimi's searing rendition of red house? not me. For those of you that like Hendrix's pyrotechnics, get the following: Woodstock, Berkeley, Monterey, and Experience. I can't wait to get Wild Blue Angel when it comes out on Digipack and Dvd. Sources tell me that Jimi picked with his teeth on "hey Joe". The digipack wi tell me the truth Also on "foxy lady", Jimi picks with his teeth as well.