Reply #9: I think Eric Burdon thought he knew about a lot of things [View All]

but that he didn't know Hendrix. I went to three Hendrix concerts, in 1968 and 1969 in each of which he gave a little anti-war speech to support the anti-war movement regarding Vietnam. And there's his tune "Machine Gun" and the way he played it live, with the feeling as though an entire generation of young people were getting shot down in the war. And his version of the "Star Spangled Banner" with the way he mocked the "bombs burning in air" with the sounds of "shock-and-awe" destruction produced on his guitar should leave no doubt about where Hendrix stood regarding the military, at least towards the latter part of his career. I think the Vietnam War transformed the consciousness of a lot of young people during that time, from the unquestioning supporters of the military they used to be. I was one of them.