50th Yr Anniv. of Jimi Hendrix's Harlem UBA Benefit Concert


Posted August 30, 2019 by wcorowitz

Sept. 5th marks the 50th yr anniversary of a free concert that Jimi Hendrix gave in Harlem, NY to benefit the United Block Association, a Harlem Youth organization.

 
All Musical Settings Matter – Jimi Hendrix in Harlem – Sept. 5th, 1969

People that are not Black often hear the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and quickly retort, “All Lives Matter”. Some people wonder why there needs to be a BET, EBONY, or JET. Others may chafe at a Miss Black USA Pageant or the need for HBCU’s. But for those of us who are Black and live in our skin every day, these institutions don’t have to be explained to us. We know the history of the world and how hard people of color have had to fight to be recognized. The ultimate task of any historian of color, is to make sure that “All History Matters”, which sometimes requires us to highlight specific episodes of Black History, to ensure that these events are not ushered into obscurity.

To prove my point, imagine a series of concerts in Harlem, NY during the summer dates of June 29th – August 24th, 1969 (six weekends). These series of concerts draw 300,000 people. The featured performers were: The Fifth Dimension, Max Roach, Mahalia Jackson, The Staple Singers, Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder, David Ruffin, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Nina Simone, B.B. King, and Sly and the Family Stone (Plus many others.). You don’t have to imagine these events, because this actually happened and it was filmed by Hal Tulchin (50 plus hours of footage). It was shopped around to various parties, but nobody picked up on it for a documentary. As you may have noticed, the dates fell around the same time as the most famous music festival in the history of the world, Woodstock (Aug. 15-18), which occurred in the same state, New York.

Why is it that the world knows about Woodstock and barely nobody knows about the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, dubbed the “Black Woodstock”? If it wasn’t for a series of articles published the weeks leading up to the 50th year anniversary of Woodstock, I may have not known about this momentous event. Sly and the Family Stone would perform at Black Woodstock with little to no publicity on July 27th and then three weeks later, they would cement their place in Pop music history at Woodstock. Something doesn’t add up. The headliner of Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, had the most famous moment of the whole festival, with his scorching and brilliant musical interpretation of the current state of affairs of the U.S., in the form of the Star-Spangled Banner. Imagine if this same Jimi Hendrix turned around three weeks from his Woodstock performance and played a free benefit concert on the streets of Harlem. Once again, no need to use your imagination, because Jimi Hendrix did perform on the streets of Harlem on September 5th, 1969.

How can the biggest musical star in the world go from playing the biggest music festival of all-time and getting all the press in the world to playing a free benefit concert in Harlem for the United Block Association (UBA) and not receive much press? (Jimi did have a press conference to announce his Harlem concert on Sept. 3rd, but true to form, the press mainly asked him questions about Woodstock.) To make matters worse, we are quickly approaching the 50th year anniversary of Jimi’s UBA Harlem performance and I haven’t seen one article about it, nor have I seen it mentioned in any of the articles about Woodstock or Black Woodstock. That’s where I step in.

I have been studying Jimi Hendrix for the past 22 years from a scholarly perspective. Not only do I take the study of Jimi Hendrix very seriously, but I specifically place special emphasis on his impact on Black Culture. September 5th, 2019, along with December 31st- January 1st, 2020 have been on my radar for a very long time. These dates will not only mark the 50th year anniversaries of the Harlem and Band of Gypsys Fillmore East concerts, but they are essential turning points in Jimi’s Black Community Outreach program. Jimi’s music was always funky and fit for Black people, but it was around these dates that he began to put everything together, which would translate into more people of color getting into his music.

This Harlem UBA concert has been covered over the years briefly in various Jimi Hendrix bios, fanzines, and other Hendrix-related literature. With a few exceptions, the perspective usually came from White authors, most who weren’t at the concert. The eyewitness accounts were mixed that have been documented, but the consensus is that Jimi and his group The Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, featuring Billy Cox on bass, Larry Lee on rhythm guitar, Mitch Mitchell on drums, Juma Sultan on percussion, and Jerry Velez on percussion, started off slow and had some hecklers among the Harlem crowd. Somebody even threw an object at the band. This in turn fired Jimi and the band up and led them to cater to the Harlem crowd more, going back to their chitlin’ circuit days. By the end of the performance, Jimi had won the Harlem crowd over.

Sadly, unlike Black Woodstock, Jimi’s performance was not caught on film. Instead, we only have quality photographs from three photographers: Jim Cummins, Douglas Kent Hall, and Grant Harper Reid. I was able to befriend Grant H. Reid on Facebook and get his account on not only the Harlem concert, but also the press conference at Frank’s Restaurant in Harlem (excerpt from his book – Harlem Bible-In The Beginning):

“I was 15 years old at the time, and a photographic intern and an apprentice with the United Block Association’s Summer Youth Program in Harlem. On that day of the 3rd of, September 1969, the instructor informed our class that we were going to be taking photographs of Jimi Hendrix during his press conference. Our teacher said Jimi Hendrix was going to be performing a benefit show for us teens on the 5th of, September 1969.

Jimi believed that returning to his musical roots and his to people would help heal the Harlem community, while at the same time, stimulate his rock and roll virtuosity. Jimi commanded fees upwards of $100,000 a performance, but he’s playing uptown without accepting a dime, because this is where his music lives. A local Harlem newspaper described it like this, “Jimi came to give the word to the brothers. And they got the message. 139th Street between 5th and Lenox will never be the same.”

I was also able to reach out to some people who were at the Jimi concert on Sept. 5th, 1969 as teenagers. Joanne Roberts fondly remembers that night:

“I was a teenager living at 52 west 139th street in a front apartment when Jazz Mobile presented Jimi Hendrix. There was a tremendous crowd which would have prevented us a close-up on street level. However, our 5th floor window/ fire escape provided a priceless concert of a musical giant. There was a perfect sight of vision and the acoustics forced you to listen, and we wanted to. I can recall Jimi playing his guitar wearing one of his outfits. Some of the better things in life can be free, like live music from the comfort of your window. 139th street in Harlem rocked that night!!”

Ronald Johnson was another NYC attendee of the Sept 5th Jimi concert as a teenager. He had an interesting take on that night:

“The audience, as l see it in my mind now, were kind of shocked or bewildered to see and hear what was before them. For the most part, the audience was cool, but I remember someone throwing something. I don't remember what it was, but Hendrix mumbled something. Then you heard the scratching on the guitar followed by the wah-wah pedal, which then lead to the opening notes of 'Voodoo Chile'. I remembered raising the Black Power fist, while others were getting into the music. The end results of that concert were acceptance, because Harlem loved Jimi, before and after the concert. It was also a SPECIAL night for me. l was 17 years old, and it was GREAT!!! We stayed for two more songs, and as we were walking towards the bridge, I heard Jimi playing the Star-Spangled Banner. WOW!!! It was beautiful.”

The UBA Harlem benefit concert was organized by long-time friends of Hendrix, the Aleem Twins, TaharQa and Tunde Ra. They befriended Jimi in Harlem, long before his meteoric rise to fame. Jimi never forgot his Harlem friends, because he would also employ the Twins AKA The Ghettofighters as background singers for several songs (Freedom, Dolly Dagger, Stepping Stone, and Izabella) that appeared on many of his posthumous albums. TaharQa Aleem was able to vividly reflect back on the UBA concert with a mixture of pride and humility:

“This concert in Harlem was a strong desire of Jimi. He knew that this concert would have a powerful effect on the young kids of Harlem. He wanted to spread musical frequencies to his brothers and sisters in Harlem, because he knew that some little boy or girl would get it. He also said, he wanted to build a sound research center in Harlem and would start immediately upon his return, but he never returned!!!
This concert did have an effect on the young kids of Harlem because many of them went on to play guitar and be successful in many avenues of life. Many young artists and Black Rockers have come up to me and spoke of the significance of that Harlem concert on their life. Notable creative figures like Rick James, Lenny Kravitz, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Anthony Hamilton, Niles Rodgers and so many others have made mention of Hendrix’s free concert in Harlem.

My brother and I are also products of Jimi’s inspiration and influence. We went on to be known as the "Fantastic Aleems", native Harlemites, who established the famed Nia Records, a successful record company in Harlem that spawned and inspired many other great artists and outstanding businessmen such as Andre Harrell, Puffy Combs, Leroy Burgess, Teddy Riley, The Wu-tang Clan, Patrick Adams, and Emmy award winner Alonzo Brown (Producer of the Judge Mathis show).

Jimi’s overall legacy includes his social & political works that he implemented through his lyrics, music and deeds. He was a disciple of the evolutionary & healing power of music and always encouraged other musicians to channel music as a prayer for positive growth and the development of our people and the people of the world at large. The Harlem concert was a passion of Jimi's and it was our mission to successfully execute Jimi's expressed wishes on that day, fifty years ago, and we did our job successfully!”

When I wrote my two books on Jimi Hendrix (Nobody Cages Me & Jimi Hendrix Black Legacy) I wanted to educate people of color about the impact of Jimi Hendrix on their lives and culture. In the process, I not only educated myself and many people of color, but also many White people, who began to gravitate towards my research. They expressed how reinvigorating it was to finally read a fresh perspective on Jimi Hendrix. Many of these people had been following Jimi Hendrix for decades.

So, by championing a cosmopolitan approach to the study of Jimi Hendrix, I am now tasked with making sure that ALL of his fans are educated about ALL aspects of Jimi’s impact. It’s not enough to know that Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar at Monterey Pop, set a new standard for instrumental protest at Woodstock, created a new genre of music at the Fillmore East with the BOG’s, or played to over a half-million people at the Isle of Wight. You should also know that Jimi Hendrix saw enough importance in the Black Community in Harlem, NY, that he would perform a free concert.

Remember: ALL Musical Settings Matter! Not just White, or mixed crowds. Not just large arenas packed to capacity. Not just Woodstock, Altamont, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo, South by Southwest, or Ozzfest. But we’re also including Wattstax, Harlem Cultural Festival, Fresh Fest I & II, Essence Music Fest, and the Jimi Hendrix UBA Harlem benefit concert. Jimi Hendrix represented ALL things to ALL people. We certainly do his memory and legacy justice by recognizing ALL of his concerts, even the ones that didn’t receive the pomp and accolades of his most publicized events.

Jimi had the awareness to know that his performance at Woodstock, as awe-inspiring and galvanizing as it was, didn’t reach the average person in the inner city. Jimi knew that ALL Musical Settings Mattered! So, he went down to Harlem and gave a free concert to spread that same energy and positive vibration, because, seven dollars is a lot of money!!!
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Issued By Corey A. Washington
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Categories Arts
Tags band of gypsys , harlem , jimi hendrix , new york city , woodstock
Last Updated August 30, 2019