Bold as Love might not be as popular as Hey Joe or All Along the Watchtower, but I think it stands right up there with those towering greats, at least for me. I liked how one person described Jimi Hendrix in the comments: “If he is not your favourite guitarist, then he is your favourite guitarist’s favourite guitarist.”
When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, they described him as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music”. One thing seems certain: his guitar sound is instantly recognisable. That tone is so expressive, with its fuzzy overdrive and remarkable control of feedback.
Jimi’s legacy as a pioneering rock guitarist is already well established, but he still seems something of an enigma because of just how impactful he was in such a short period, helping shape and in part create the psychedelic and heavy rock scene. Born Johnny Allen Hendrix, he emerged from the American rhythm and blues (R&B) and Chitlin’ Circuit scene, having worked as a sideman for legends like Little Richard, Sam Cooke, and the Isley Brothers before achieving global fame.
One must wonder how enormous his place in contemporary music history might have been had he lived longer. Jimi’s death at just 27 seemed to ominously foreshadow the so-called “27 Club”, where the likes of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse all died at that same young age from overdose or suicide.
Bold As Love is the title track of Axis: Bold as Love, the second album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. As Hendrix biographer Harry Shapiro put it, it is “an Olympian battle of passions whose strategy is mapped out … self-evidently in colours”. The song sounds very much in keeping with the psychedelic rock scene scene in both lyric and sound:
Towering in shiny metallic purple armor / Once happy turquoise armies lay opposite, ready.
Then when the guitar goes unhinged in the latter stages, it echoes, bends and warps. It is like gazing through a glass prism and seeing white light dispersed into a spectrum of colours through refraction, before another prism draws it all back together again. Isaac Newton might have appreciated the trip as much as Jimi, and perhaps been just as confounded by it.
[Verse 1]
Anger, he smiles
Towering in shiny metallic purple armor
Queen Jealousy, envy waits behind him
Her fiery green gown sneers at the grassy ground
Blue are the life-giving waters taken for granted
They quietly understand
Once happy turquoise armies lay opposite, ready
But wonder why the fight is on
[Chorus]
But they’re all bold as love
Yes, they’re all bold as love
Yeah, they’re all bold as love
Just ask the axis
[Verse 2]
My red is so confident, he flashes trophies of war
And ribbons of euphoria
Orange is young, full of daring
But very unsteady for the first go ’round
My yellow in this case is not so mellow
In fact, I’m tryin’ to say it’s frightened like me
And all of these emotions of mine keeps holdin’ me from
Givin’ my life to a rainbow like you
[Chorus]
But I’m, uh, yeah, l’m bold as love
Yeah, yeah, well I’m bold, bold as love
Hear me talkin’, girl
I’m bold as love
Just ask the axis
He knows everything
Yeah, yeah, yeah
References:
1. Bold as Love (song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Love this!
It’s grandiose isn’t it!?
Absolutely
Absolutely, positively!
dead on Matt. In such a short period of time. He transcended far past anything..real nice…
Jimi did indeed. Oh I enjoyed writing that one, because I didn’t really have to do much research – I just let her rip. Thanks man
ALWAYS one of my favorites.
TRUE STORY ~ back in the summer of 79, I was hanging out with a Buffalo punk band called Extra Cheese. I was their roadie/seamstress/earthmother. The bass player was a doctoral student who had gotten his BA at Columbia U in the 60s & had joined ShaNANa & toured with them into the mid 70s ~ he played Woodstock with them & was on the Festival Express train that went across Canada in 1970 with Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead & other greats ~ he was one of Janis’ “pretty boys” on that tour. He had great stories to tell & yes, he was one of MINE for a little while.
One sunny Sunday afternoon, getting ready for a gig, we were all at Gary Storm’s apartment ~ Google him, he was one of MINE, too ~ & Bruno started reciting “Bold as Love” like it was a 18th century romantic poem. He was toking on a joint & sipping bourbon from the bottle & I just FELL IN LOVE. I remember how he recited, “all these emotions keep me from giving me to a rainbow like you” & he looked at me like ~ oh! ~ but of course, it was his marriage that was keeping him from giving himself to a rainbow like me ~ well, for a while, anyway LOL
He taught me how to roll joints. Spent an entire afternoon on Gary’s front porch, rolling up a half an ounce ~ $20 in those days ~ & he told me all about Janis Joplin.
What a great summer that was. I was 19.
‘Extra Cheese’ is a pretty funny and witty name. You’ll forgive me for chuckling at “roadie/seamstress/earthmother”.
I’d never heard of the Festival Express train, but that would have been a real hoot hehe. I imagine Janis Joplin had plenty of “pretty boys” — and even a few ugly ones like Leonard Cohen at the Chelsea Hotel:
“You told me again you preferred handsome men
But for me you would make an exception”
So both you and Janis got in on the act with the same gent. Now that’s a story. Also Gary Storm — yes, I looked him up. This is all very intriguing lol.
Fascinating recall too of that intense exchange between you and him during his reciting of Bold as Love. I imagine $20 would have been a fair pop in those days.
Once again, thanks for such an engaging meander which somehow led to the connection with Bold as Love. Wow, that was a trip lol
They made a movie of the Festival Express & it shows up on Prime Video & Netfix from time to time.
Janis looks pretty bad in that movie IMHO
Yeh, I don’t do the streaming service thing. My imagination works just as well especially after your vivid description lol
Oh, I have streaming services because I love to watch movies. Especially film noir. But also documentaries.
If you have a DVD player, I’m sure it can be found on DVD. I get a lot of DVDs out from my public library.
I love to watch movies too and I have hundreds in my archive dvd folder which I watch on my dvd player.
It was funny when you mentioned ‘Goodfellas’ in relation to the ‘Layla’ article, because it came on my cable very late that same day and I watched the first half and then the next day watched the second from my archive.
Oh yeh, my library here has hundreds if not thousands of DVD’s. So when I exhaust my collection, that’s where I’ll go. Cheers.
I had a DVD player but it died years ago & I just got a new one. I have a bunch of DVDs that were in a box in the garage to be donated to the library & now I have them in my own library again. Some great music ones ~ Rush in Rio, David Gilmour/Remember That Night (great concert!), Marvin Gaye live in Montreux, among others & a bunch of really good movies ~ three versions of A Christmas Carol. The downtown public library has a giant collection of DVDs, so I’ll be going down there to borrow DVDs. I have to go down there tomorrow to pick up some books on reserve, so I’ll stop into the movie department & pick out a few DVDs when I’m there.
I’ve had my DVD player forever, and it was probably the cheapest one available. How it’s managed to last this long is anyone’s guess.
Yeah, it sounds like you had some cool music concert DVDs that others can now enjoy. I gather you were quite fond of A Christmas Carol lol.
Recently, I tried donating a fairly old Colombian book to the library, but they rejected it because of its condition. I didn’t think it was too bad, which probably tells you something about the standard of the books they accept. In fact, I’ve never set foot in a library as exquisite and grand as ours here.
I hope you enjoy whichever DVDs you end up selecting. Cheers.
Well, I do like a Christmas Carol, it’s one of those stories that can be told in any number of ways ~ do you remember that Michael Landon TV show “Highway to Heaven”? He did a version of it. He was all 3 angels & Scrooge was a used car salesman. I’ve seen dozens of versions of it. I love Dickens. I grew up on his novels.
I have a bunch of Christmas movies. I love Christmas.
Yes, I vaguely remember Highway to Heaven. I didn’t realise the extent of the offshoots of A Christmas Carol
I loved Dicken’s Great Expectations and his short story – The Signalman.
I like me a little Festive Spirit too. Cheers Polly.