UNIVERSITY PROGRAM COUNCIL
JIMI HENDRIX, BUDDY MILES, CAT MOTHER
Memorial Coliseum
May 7, 1969
By Ken Kingery and James Hardie McGehee
About 55 years ago, three friends from Mountain Brook in Birmingham -- Bobby Frese, Ken Kingery, and James Hardie McGehee -- went to see Jim Hendrix perform at The University of Alabama.
“We are all huge fans of the album, ‘Are You Experienced’ by the Jimi Hendrix Experience band, which featured Hendrix, Noel Redding (bass), and Mitch Mitchell (drums),” says Kingery, who would go on to work in various positions on the University Program Council.
We were all around 14 or 15 years old and in the same grade in school. None of us had a driver's license yet. When we discovered that Hendrix was coming to Tuscaloosa we started plotting and planning how to get ourselves to that show. Luckily for us, Bobby Frese's dad offered to drive us to Tuscaloosa serving as our official ‘chaperone’ for the evening. On the evening of the show, we piled into Bobby's dad's VW Beetle, and off we went. When we got to Memorial Coliseum, he dropped the three of us off and went to a nearby Waffle House to wait until the show was over. He said he would come back and pick us up at the designated spot.”
Kingery says he doesn’t remember too many details about the show other than the fact that it was “the most mind-blowing concert experience I had ever had in my young life. Jimi and his trio were on fire that night.”
Hardie McGehee was a National Merit Scholar in high school and went on to have a successful music career himself. He has explicit memories of the evening.
"Bobby’s dad drove us down in a VW Beetle,” says McGehee. “He made Bobby wear a blazer as if he was going to church. We made our way into the huge auditorium. I don’t recall an opening act at all, just the Jimi Hendrix Experience tearing it up in a primal way I’d never seen. My previous concerts were some pretty tame bands, local cover groups at school and church dances, as well as The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Turtles, Lou Christie, Billy Joe Royal, and maybe Steppenwolf.”
“Hendrix was like a smiling tiger unleashed who walked out to a roar of applause that was deafening slinging his white Stratocaster around like a third arm, brutally slamming it up against his tall Marshall amplifiers. He played every song how he felt in the moment, shorter as well as longer versions not as on his records. We devoured his deviations, which made it more interesting for Hendrix as well as the audience. He was dressed in very bright colors with a feather boa as in most photos. Hendrix kept the audience spellbound. I believe they played 90 minutes, maybe even two … really loud. Their jams were a mix of jazz, rock, blues, and rhythm and blues that transcended all other earthly performers with its unique sound. No one in attendance would ever be the same again as if they’d been witness to some kind of alien ritual of sorts. We left the show stunned after a stellar encore, found Bobby’s dad, and rode home transfixed.”
“As far as on-stage gear, Hendrix could do more with just the raw power of his Marshall stacked amps, a simple Cry Baby Wah-Wah pedal, and an Echoplex than all other guitar players and their various pedals combined, along with his sheer brilliance of tone creation mixed with his outlandish chops and stage antics (such as his ceremonial lighting his guitar on fire with lighter fluid).”
“Jimi Hendrix had a sweet way about him … like a child. He spoke to the audience in between songs as though he truly loved them as a true friend. He also told a few humorous anecdotes that were brief but made the audience smile. Hendrix was a true innovator who obviously enjoyed delivering all he had to his fans. As far as his voice and lyrics, he is still an underrated singer. There was so much soul in his voice and lyrics that were totally different and spacey like no one before or since.”