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voodoo_child58
10-15-08, 11:22 AM
This in answer to stplsd's thread:
Hello German, Dutch & French fans, how about someone of you giving us translations?

For further information and photos, please visit this blog.

http://jimihendrixitalia.blogspot.com/


:)
The Swiss newspaper "Blick" sent the journalist Edith Wieland, accompanied by her photographer husband to Hotel Fleming to hold an interview in preparation of the concert that the Jimi Hendrix Experience were going to hold in Zurich on the 30th and 31st of May (Published on the 30th May 1968 and signed by Wieland under her nome de plume Winnie Land). Here is a transcription of part of that interview:

Jimi Hendrix came out of the lift in his usual manner, with his head lowered. He moved with a natural grace and greeted me and sat down beside me on the divan. To hide his shyness a little, he ordered a fruit juice.

WL: Do you drink alcohol?

JH: Sometimes, but not at midday. And fruit juice restores me to full fitness. We are always on tour and often we don’t eat much. Look; even my skin is suffering (he shows me a graze on his wrist. He’s got big and expressive hands….).

WL: When was the last time you all had a holiday?

JH: When we founded the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

WL: Can I be honest with you? You are much better looking in the flesh than in photographs and on posters.

JH: I look terrible in the photos. Thanks for the compliment.

WL: Why are you always represented as a wild man?

JH: Honestly, I don’t know why people want to see me as a “horror” subject. They would like to see me as a cannibal.

He pulls a horrible face, bares his teeth and rolls his eyes. And then laughs. It is easy to understand that the promotional material that represents him as a wild person hurts him a lot. He’s not beautiful, but has loads of charm, humour and intelligence and as soon as you start to talk with him you forget about his ugliness.

WL: Yesterday, an Italian critic described you as the Paganini of the guitar.

JH: Paganini? Who’s he? Ah yes, the greatest violinist ever. Oh, that is really a nice compliment (laughs happily).

WL: Your music is often labelled as psychedelic. In what category do you put your music?

JH: It’s difficult to say. It’s a mixture of rock, blues and jazz…. music of the future. Not really psychedelic. More like Bach and Beethoven! (He laughs). Don’t get me wrong! I love Bach and Beethoven; I have lots of their records and also records of Gustav Mahler.

WL: And what about your success with women?

JH: Women? (He thinks for a second) You know, I live for my music. The guitar comes first, then music and then a little afterwards the women. I don’t have any time for women. And success doesn’t help. It makes life more complicated.

WL: Can you continue working at this speed?

JH: Not for much longer. Tomorrow we finish our Italian tour and then we fly to New York for a day to sign a contract and then we fly to Switzerland as you know. All in four days.

WL: And after your visit to Switzerland?

JH: A short tour in Spain and then a holiday afterwards. We need it… we are really tired. Then I would like to return to Rome. I love this wonderful city.

Our interview was interrupted. It was time to go to the theatre.

JH: We’ll be late even this time. Mitch is still in his room. In the year and a half that I have known him he’s never been on time! His lack of punctuality is his chronic illness!

Herman Cherusken
10-15-08, 11:56 AM
He’s not beautiful, but has loads of charm, humour and intelligence and as soon as you start to talk with him you forget about his ugliness.

Kinda strange and crude comment, saying he's ugly comes off as a really shallow and stupid observation. When "you start to talk with him you forget about his ugliness." Fuck you moron...

ilovejimi
10-15-08, 12:28 PM
Kinda strange and crude comment, saying he's ugly comes off as a really shallow and stupid observation. When "you start to talk with him you forget about his ugliness." Fuck you moron...
I agree with your comment. Jimi is and will always be the greatest.

Milan
10-15-08, 01:50 PM
" I love Bach and Beethoven; I have lots of their records and also records of Gustav Mahler."

- way kewl! Thanks for this, vc58!

stplsd
10-15-08, 02:39 PM
Many thanks for this Voodoo child58, most interesting

dino77
10-15-08, 11:34 PM
Haha, this cracks me up!
Rude "ugliness" comment indeed,
maybe it comes off less harsh in Italian?
This Edith clearly has the hots for mr Hendrix,
wonder if her photographer husband noticed?

Emilovious
10-16-08, 09:04 AM
Well, guys, just for the record the interviewer was a woman.
Also, Jimi is beautiful because of his soul, talent, the way he moves,
talks etc...
If we'd see his picture, without knowing anything about him, I doubt
anyone of us would say he's beautiful. Let's try to be fair.

Also, in the days this woman interviewed Jimi, he wasn't that
very well known, so being a woman at that particular time she
was probably more objective then any of us here these days.

And finally, her remark was intended to be a compliment.
Yes, clumsy one, but compliment.

MourningStar
10-16-08, 10:44 AM
...If we'd see his picture, without knowing anything about him, I doubt
anyone of us would say he's beautiful. Let's try to be fair.
Well, this interviewer does not seem to express the comment based on a 'picture'. And remember, all the literature out there has Jimi being very attractive to the ladies going all the way back to his youth.

Herman Cherusken
10-16-08, 11:09 AM
Even if she has some positive things to say about Jimi, and her general conversation reveals some concerns about their "working conditions" etc, that remark about him being ugly stands out in such a stark contrast to the rest of the interview. With me being a male, I can say Jimi had some cute features, while I would not say that he's strikingly handsome or beautiful. But that is besides the point, because if she - or any interviewer - wrote a piece about Picasso or the contemporary Quentin Tarantino - or any great artist for that matter - would it seem proper if they let their own "negative" opinion about the interviewee's physical appearence be presented as above? I dont think so, and that's why her remark totally ruins the rest of the interview...

MourningStar
10-16-08, 12:09 PM
... and that's why her remark totally ruins the rest of the interview...The interview did not have all that much to ruin since it wasn't all that great to begin with. Quite unprofessional and I'm sure this person had personal problems, why else would someone be so shallow?

Steev
10-16-08, 05:06 PM
This Edith clearly has the hots for mr Hendrix,
wonder if her photographer husband noticed?

Dino. Maybe he set up the meeting himself ;)
He probably brought a spare roll of film . . . . :homer1: