In a recent episode of his BBC radio show, Iggy Confidential, Iggy Pop admitted having mixed feelings about the Beastie Boys’ Jimi Hendrix tribute and explained why.
After listening to the song on the show, the rocker said:
“Wow, wow, wow. Now I understand why it was described as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix because you hear the unique approach of Jimi Hendrix when he didn’t feel like pointing notes on his guitar.”
Then, he shared his complicated feelings about the tribute:
“It was cleverly sampled from the songs’ Foxy Lady,’ ‘Happy Birthday,’ and ‘Still Raining, Still Dreaming’ by the Beastie Boys, who were early and prolific samplers.
I didn’t know what I think about that because it all cued up to something that the songs are really hard, but on the other hand, it is all done by a machine. Anyway, I’ll just leave it there. It was fun.”
The Beastie Boys’ ‘Jimmy James’ featured on the band’s third studio album, ‘Check Your Head,’ released in 1992. Besides the parts from Hendrix’s three songs, the track also included the sample drum beat of ‘I’m Chief Kamanawanalea (We’re the Royal Macadamia Nuts)’ by the Turtles and a line from Mantronix’s ‘Fresh Is the Word.’
You can listen to the whole radio show of Pop here and listen to the song from the Beastie Boys below.
