±«Óãtv

The first half of that track doesn't sound a bit like Jimi but the last thirty seconds - could it be?

This is clearly b*ll*cks.

I don't know why we're even discussing it. It's about as much Jimi as I am.

As a long standing fan with a huge collection of official and unofficial Hendrix recordings, IMHO this does not sound at all like Jimi.

No way is it Hendrix - the effects on the guitar are far more modern sounding than anything available in 1970.

Those of us who have LISTENED to Jimi's music would associate him with a bluesy, rich tone. This is some Welsh kid in his/her bedroom with his/her brand new effects pedal going through a 10 watt amp.

I'll show my bum in Woolworths if that's Jimi Hendrix.

Sounds more like someone trying (and failing miserably) to be Jimi than Jimi himself. The tonal quality is all wrong and there is just too much wammy bar use for it to be genuine.

This sounds like Rory Gallagher doing a Hendrix 'piss take'.
If the tape can be verified date-wise then there is a good chance it is Hendrix (or the above).
Bear in mind that at that time guitarists couldn't (or wouldn't) emulate Hendrix for fear of the obvious comments (even though they could). Robin Trower being the exception - maybe it's him?
I used to keep my Hendrix impressions as a party piece to a selected few. It wasn't too hard to sound like him but it was nigh impossible being as imaginative as him.
That's why no-one has ever matched him!

Not even close ...

Obviously April the first has come early.

FAKE! FAKE! FAKE!

A dreadful attempt to make the Welsh national anthem sound like Jimi's version of the Star Spangled Banner. This was clearly played on a guitar with humbucking pickups (Jimi's preference was as strat which has single coils) and using naff digital effects which weren't even around in 1970. The most obvious giveaway though is that the person who played it doesn't have nearly the talent/skill/imagination that Jimi had.

As a life long Hendrix fan, it is easy to say that this recording is definately NOT Jimi.

The sound is too hollow, the effect pedal used has a much more modern 'electrical/digital' sound than the pedals that were available in Jimi's day (Fuzz Box, Wah Wah etc)

Although Jimi's playing style did utilise the guitars tremolo arm a lot, he did allow for melodic breaks and blues riffs, this recording has way too much use of the tremolo to even be considered as the same playing style, let alone for it to be mistaken for the great man himself.

It could well be Hendrix. There's nothing that modern about the sound on here if you consider the effects he got on albums like "Crash Landing". The track "Captain Coconut" from that album has the same effects as on here.
All he's doing is using vibrato & distortion through reverb. These were available in 1970. Plus Roger Mayer custom built effects for Jimi that no one else had!
I saw him many times on stage in the late 60s and he often sounded like this when improvisng between songs.

Who cares?

…some bod's hamming it up - Jimmi never played that badly

There is absolutely no chance this is Hendrix. The distortion effects are too modern, the tone of his vibrato is not there, the use of the tremelo arm through most of the song is not something Hendrix would do as he tends to switch between playing effects and would only use the tremelo arm for a short while before moving onto playing straight, the picking sounds clunky and unrefined and there are none of the trills or hamerons or embellishments that you would associate with Hendrix. I have been playing the electric guitar for 18 years and listening to Hendrix for longer than that and this is not even a great guitarist playing. It's average guitar playing at best and even in Hendrix's worst performances that is something you could never say.

I assume this is a wind-up? I can't believe the ±«Óãtv would be taken in by this, and are just going along with the gag.

The recording, the digital effects and what sounds like a locking tremelo (it stays in tune; Jimi's often didn't) are far too modern. It lacks pretty much all of Jimi's technique and stylistic touches (apart from the feedback and heavy whammy action, which are pretty easy to do, even for a novice). I could go on, but the bottom line is that it's just not interesting enough to be Jimi.

Jimi Hendrix? Sounds more like Jimmy Saville .....

sounds more like a 16 year old jimmy jones to me. nice try - keep on rockin'.

Inconclusive. The effects were more than possible at the time of recording, and Jimi experimented a lot. Having said that; Does this sound like Jimi? I don't think so. It may be, I my heart I'd love it to be, but I'm unconvinced.

I also thik that Marc Jackson (above) raises some interesting points/questions. I am not sure when Chas Chandler stopped producung Jimi, but whatever the date, that doesn't mean he can't have been there. Also, he doesn't explain why there could have been no such audition. It is possible (only just mind you) that there was an audition that didn't work out and the guys just droped the idea of any further ones. Stranger things have happend.

This was found on a cassette tape? Where's the hiss then? This sounds like it just came off someone's hard drive. And it probably did.

Utter rubbish as a track, and utter rubbish as a copy of Hendrix.

It would be more interesting to hear the band of the Welsh guards do a version of 'Foxy lady' or 'crosstown taffic'.
Come on newsnight, get with the program(ing).

HAhahahaaha!!!!!
ha

ha.

My sides hurt now.. If Jimi heard this he would burn you all and grow srats and straps and 27.3 arms and play 500 guitars at once (on fire) and make your eyes bleed!

It actually sounds like a retarded elderly goat playing at the bottom of a bucket of mud.

Good day.

This actually could be Tich Gwilym, a famous Welsh guitarist, who died in a house fire recently. His trademark was doing the Welsh Nat Anthem Jimi style on the electric guitar.

I also remember he told me a story about going to London, and missing Jimi at a house party by about half an hour. It could be him. Sounds like him.

Wow man.. Hendrix playing my National Anthem... Amazing!

Who Knows? I have heard Jimi play badly, but well by other standards. I used to live close to splott in cardiff, and the pub down the road from the massage parlour or 'health studio'..on the main drag to the Motorway, used to have a great band playing covers of Metallica, AC/DC, ZZtop etc..but always ended on the welsh national anthem; Jimi style.all I remember about them was the drummer used to be in 'Racing Cars' a John Peel pre-punk favourite..If anyone wants to try out the welsh national anthem, I know where one of (four) Jimi's 1966 Marshall 100w JM45 Amp lives!

This COULD be Hendrix, but it would be fairly unusual if it were.

This sounds like him. Don't forget that in those days, they didn't exclusively use "effects pedals," Jimi Hendrix invented TRUE distortion, distortion that comes from the vacuum tubes used inside old-fashioned amps. (instead of using a pedal, they'd just crank the amp way up)

The thing that bothers me is that it seems a little to fast and not developed enough. Hendrix would always allow for breaks to let his musical ideas sink into the audience. This goes quickly from place to place, uncommon of Hendrix. However, he might well be changing it up.

Overall, though, I don't think it's him.

For comparison, listen to his Woodstock performance of the American National Anthem.

Hey Charles Roberts - leave the great Rory Gallagher out of it! His integrity would not allow him to do something as rubbish as that! Could be one of the many modern 'hat and a Strat' merchants!

If that is real then I am Napoleon.I hate it when people bring out this weird fake stuff - it must be ruinous for the music industry.

It doesn't matter who it was, it's still just trash noise.

Transistorised amp , digital effects , no hiss , not the Lord God Jimi Hendrix , not by a long shot!

Tich Gwilym R.I.P. made Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, (Hendrix style), famous in Wales, but this is certainly neither. To whoever it is :- DON'T GIVE UP THE DAY JOB!!!!

for your informaton...
This track was recorded by a guitarist from Cardiff called Tich Gwillym,who died in a house fire in June 2005. His real name Robert John Gwilliam from Penygraig in the Rhondda Valley died in a house fire in Canton, Cardiff.
He quite often finnished his gig with this vesion of the Welsh national anthem.

As a Hendrix fan for many years and a collector of some rare recordings , I am not convinced by this recording.
I admit I am not technically astute as to various guitar effects. However in my mind despite the effects it sounds to clean to be Jimi playing. Secondly even when he was playing at his worst there was more emotion in it. This lacked it , and I would be extremely surprised if it was genuine.
Incidentally the only recording that would be worth listening to if it existed, but to my knowledge none does , was the tribute he did when Martin Luther King died , that was supposed to have been mesmerising and reduced everyone to tears.
Back to this though , there have been many fakes and this rendition of the Welsh National anthem is one of them.

not Jimi. move along now, nothing more to see

If this isn't Hendrix then I'd like to know who is playing it.

Some of the feedback is pretty much like off Crash landing.

Some feedback seems to be just on the edge of control - which seems right - it appeared it was tricky for guys other than JH playing his guitar according to one writer I read who tried it.

Then there are the variations on the tune that he would do - just about every time he played a song live he'd change it as as he felt like it judging by half a dozen live "fire"s I have. And then there are the elaborations to spice it up.

Excellent stuff.

If only I could get a hold of track 4 played on Radio Suffolk recently - you could try that and see how many people think that wasn't Hendrix.

Have you any more?

Most definately not.

No soul. To clean.

Poor.

Its some plonker taking the p*ss!

NEXT!!!!!!

I don,t know whether this is Jimi or not, not enough noise really. However if you want to hear the way it should be done, try and find a version done by the late and very much missed Cardiff guitarist Tich Gwilym.This man was a man of talent. R.I.P.

Absolute bollocks - I don't think it's even close to Hendrix. Shame- a very poor imitation

A guitarist called Titch Gwyllym has played the Welsh National anthem and the Star Spangled Banner on Guitar for the past decade on the south Wales music circuit. I am sure this is what you are listening too.

There is no chance in hell that this is Hendrix playing. It's sloppy and inaccurate - compare it to his version of 'star spangled banner' the playing quality just isn't there, not even close. Well said Hewy, 'no soul'.

The sound is completely lacking, it sounds like it was recorded a few years ago, with (poor quality) modern equipment - not in 1970.... seriously it's a load of rubbish.

Ha ha! I read all of the comments here first and then listened to the track myself. The milky way express is loading - and anyone who thinks this is Hendrix should be onboard!
Hats off for the scam tho! Now I'm off to record a version of 'Trelawny' (Cornish anthem) in the style of Elvis...

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha........ha ha ha

Hendrix-valve
That-solid state

hendrix-dive bomb
that-vibrato

Hendrix-allows breaks
that-doesnt

That amount of vibrato without going out of tune on a whammy bar would not be possible without a top notch floyd rose. Hence, not hendrix.

Anyone who wants to hear the Tich Gwilym version of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau can find it on the 'Welsh Rare Beat' compilation put together by Gruff Rhys, Dominic Thomes and Andy Votel in 2005 on Sain/Finders Keepers. James Dean Bradfield of the Manics has also been known to perform the anthem in a Hendrix style when they play here.

RIP Tich Gwilym.

* Pwoppet wrote:
This was found on a cassette tape? Where's the hiss then? This sounds like it just came off someone's hard drive. And it probably did.

I mentioned something along those lines to a Newsnight journo only yesterday!

It's not Jimi - has anyone mentioned that yet?

The only person I know that always ended his sets with this was the great and wonderful Titch who sadly has died. It sounds like his sytle and he was a big Hendrix fan, but the qulaity of the sound and playing on this recording is not up to how Titch sounded at his gigs. I reckon it is Titch

/wales/southeast/halloffame/showbiz/titch_gwilym.shtml

The only person I know that always ended his sets with this was the great and wonderful Titch who sadly has died. It sounds like his sytle and he was a big Hendrix fan, but the qulaity of the sound and playing on this recording is not up to how Titch sounded at his gigs. I reckon it is Titch

/wales/southeast/halloffame/showbiz/titch_gwilym.shtml

well it is jimi i was there

Most of the effects on "Crash Landing" would have been added by producer Alan Douglas to tart up the demo (which apart from being a completeist footnote is all that album is) - after Jimi had died..

James Dean Bradfield of the Manics played Mae Hen Wlad... one night at a Manics gig I went to. Could be him??

No chance, fake. It doesn't sound like Hendrix. It's over-produced, far too much reverb, too much whammy action and the distortion has too much bass.

It makes me feel like I'm back at Bogiez in Cardiff watching a fourty something rock cover band from Aberdare.

More like Wynn's World.

This is clearly not Hendrix, it sounds nothing like him, and it sounds too modern. It just sounds like one of the billion Hendrix rip offs that are out there.

This version of the Welsh national Anthem played ala Jimi Hendrix is well known in Wales as it was recorded in the 1970's and performed by the legendary Welsh guitarist 'Tich Gwilym' many times live. His version was regularly featured on S4C, particularly when the Rugby 6 Nations season was underway. Indeed, Tich's version was noted on a ±«Óãtv webpage shortly after his recent tragic death in a housefire in Cardiff. See: /wales/southeast/halloffame/showbiz/titch_gwilym.shtml

This can not be Hendrix.

1. The amp tone is from a post 1988 model
2. The mike used is at the earliest 1982
3. The playing is not of sufficient standard

There's lovely.

You are joking aren't you? Jimi didn't finger notes like that, you never heard him just letting his fingers stay on notes without some kind of finger vibrato. Talking of which, I've never heard Jimi use the vibrato arm in such an uncontrolled fashion as this guitarist does. I saw Jimi live, and he was better than this. This person doesn't understand Jimi's guitar playing at all. But if it is Jimi, it's no wonder he dropped dead a few days later.

Band i play with close every set we play in Wales with a rocked up version of Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau

Well done newsnight for reminding your viewers of dear old Hendrix with that spoof. Just to give respect tonight, please play us out tonight with a bit of the marvellous man himself, doing God save the Queen at IOW. Love & Peace!

I've been playing for 20 years - massive Hendrix fan. That ain't Jimi. Completely different vibrato and phrasing from anything I've heard him do. Whammy bar use sounds more like a crap version of early Van Halen circa 1978. Tone doesn't sound vintage either.

Too Twiddly, too trebly and far too much tremolo to be Hendrix.

The late, great Tich Gwilym did a far better version.

Hwyl Fawr,

Dic

Just read the rest of the comments.

Deepinder, you have just reminded me of wonderful rainy Sunday afternoons in the Royal Oak, off The Broadway in Cardiff, quietly supping Brains S.A., listening to the Superclarkes, observing the The Amazing Mendidni sitting down the front, and then a drunken cycle ride home down Cathedral Road.

It's not even half way good enough to be Tich.

Dic Jos (comment 66)

Many thanks for jogging my memory, yes it was the Royal Oak in 1991/92 I used to see Tich play his heart out..I remember seeing him play a white or blue stratocaster, and then seeing it for sale in the music shop on the Broadway..I may have mixed him up with another band that covered the more recent Heavy Rock repetiore. His 'Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' was really quite moving, and I was shocked to find from this blog that he died. The welsh have every reason to be proud of this fine musician.

A recording of Jimi Hendrix playing the Welsh National Anthem suddenly pops up on the website of a cool street fashion label run by a well-known Welsh radical artist and writer. The guy's a sort of Welsh Banksy, for Christ's sake!, albeit that he works in different media. Where are your heads at?

If you bother to read through the Red Dragonhood website in detail, it deconstructs the myths of 'Welshness' that it claims have been used by generations of English propagandists to keep the Welsh people under control. It also goes into detail about how those myths are created. Doh!

It's THE RED DRAGONHOOD! What does that tell you?

It's a work of genius, and I'm not refering to the guitar playing.

Nice one boyo!

Hi All you jimi fans.
My name is glyn and i've been a massive fan of jimi,playing in a tribute band for 10 years called 'stone free' and this recording is most definatly not jimi.
i've been playing his songs since october '66.
cheers glyn.

This is not Hendrix. This is from Geraint Jarman's 1978 album 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' performed by Tich Gwilym. He continued to play it at the end of gigs for many years. After he parted ways with 'Geraint Jarman a'r Cynganeddwyr' he could be heard playing most Sundays with the Supercars at the Royal Oak in Roath, Cardiff with this as the closing number.

This is the sound of some dodgy heavy metal guitarist immitating Henrix.

If you think it's Jimi then you should stick to your rubbish Coldplay and/or Westlife records.

Suckers.

Steffan (comment 71)

Na, na, na - not Tich, The phrasing is all wrong and it's not measured and restrained enough.

The version referred to here goes all over the place and does not do justice to the anthem, Tich would never go so far overboard.

If he knew he was being compared to this sh**e version, he would be turning in his grave, poor sod.

Dic

What an absolute joke!! It sounds nothing like Jimi and is an insult to say it does! My local pub band could do it better!

Have to agree with Dic Jos - it's not Tich. His versions of the Anthem are well known (he played it at nearly every gig), and exist on recordings. Easy enough to compare and I agree, this isn't Tich.

I dunno who it is, but there are enough coindences and connections in this whole convoluted story to make it just possible it could be Jimi. He can be tied into the location and the individual - Viv Williams. Impromptu, late night, drunken jam with his Welsh mate, who knows? He might have been there. Who's to say he wasn't?

Tich Beck 99.9%.

I wrote on 3rd Jan I have been a Hendrix fan for many years, still holds :)
One thought that crossed my mind ,would Jimi have known the Welsh national anthem anyway ? As mentioned his best anthem is Star spangled banner ,which incidentally along with Machine Gun were protest songs. Also , Hendrix cover of God save the Queen ,still far better than Brian May, though was not keen on it , if you compare that to this Welsh anthem as well there is a marked difference.
Oh and to comment on the guy who said it was similar to Crash landing album , alot of what you hear is Alan Douglas and a session guitarist.
Oh there are many who claim to emulate or play like Jimi or reproduce his songs.
Stevie Ray Vaughn did a couple , but was not even close, Jeff Healy, like his style but nope, Stanley Clarke ( in his dreams) . Robert Cray, great guitarist ..but in my opinion only one Jimi and incidentally, Orikinla Osinachi,(76) Hendrix did not just do psychedelic music, he was an excellent blues guitarist and Jazz guitarist. My favorite tracks of all time are Red House and Voodoo Chile from Hendrix in West Album recorded at the Berkeley Concert. There are 2 notes in Voodo chile that always get me, especially if played at highest volume. There is also a very early rap record which is suppose to be Hendrix, ( did with a guy called Lightening Rod ) , even that I am sceptical ,though it is interesting listening to.
There has been much dross for years been bandied about as Hendrix or they have produced a few badly recorded sessions he did, such as one with Jim Morrison, that was released through his first record company and to be honest ,wish it wasn't.

does anyone know where i can here it? it's been taken off the red dragon site.

Oh my god so fake.

Done by a kid with an ibanez.

Is there even one person with an electric guitar and a whammy who can't do better? I think not.

There are plenty of guys who can pull off a convincing Jimi. This ain't one of them.

This is just a pathetic English attempt at a Welsh story on the eve of St David's Day. They just have no idea about Wales, so this is the best they could come up with.

A Mate of mine that lived in Cardiff in the late seventies early eighties recalls a band that often played in one of the pubs in the city and always ended their set with a Hendrix style version of the anthem
Could it be them ???

I am a guitarist who has a good knowledge of Jimi Hendrix's sound, style and technique and this clearly isn't him. Too much whammy bar, wrong type of sound, not enough use of controlled feedback and the fretting sounds all wrong. It sounds like someone trying to copy him who hasn't put in enough time listening to the man himself and thinks that the whammy bar is all there is to the sound.

Definitely NOT Hendrix.

This was clearly a hoax and nothing to do with Jimi Hendrix!
The whole sequence was a set up - it was played on the eve of St Davids Day and what was displayed on the guitar players T shirt in welsh was "arseholes to the english" so much for the ±«Óãtv's verification of the authenticity of the sketch.
A Turner

This is not Jimi this is better !!