'Loose Talk'
By Benjamin Benedict

My wife died more than a quarter of a century ago, but I have found her again in the DVD of this cult film from 1970, ‘Rainbow Bridge’. In addition to the photos, I now have this incredible movie, shot a few years before our relationship, but not before we had met. I knew quite a few of the other guys in the film and also met some of those who produced it. I also knew the star of the film, Jimi Hendrix from times both in the States and in the UK. Not that he ever knew me.

What is extraordinary, as it would be for anyone of my generation, is to see some professionally shot film with excellent sound, featuring someone you knew and loved back then. In this film she has been slightly prepared for the cameras but is not ‘made up’ and is as beautiful as memory serves. I call her my wife because we were married. We lived together on occasion, but ours was not a marriage in the accepted sense, and many would say not in any sense.

‘Rainbow Bridge’ takes a look at the culture that could nurture such an unconventional take on institutional values, more so perhaps than even ‘Woodstock’ or the musical ‘Hair’. Many of the rank and file in ‘Rainbow Bridge’ (including said wife) came from ‘The Source’, a health food restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. They lived in a drug-free commune, dressed in white robes, were spiritual in their outlook and had sex with other members of the group on a rotational basis.

 I, and those I hung with were not as radical as that crowd, but understood and empathised with them and were radical in other ways. ‘Rainbow Bridge’ rejected western, industrialised society. We on the other hand sought to turn it to our liking. It all seems to have been pretty ineffectual, but things aren’t always what they seem and there is a legacy. How big or small is hard to say except when it comes to music, and music is this films great strength.

The extraordinary sight of those giant Marshall Amps mounted on a makeshift stage in the middle of a field without any of the commercial hoopla normally associated with such an event would provide any trio (the toughest of all rock disciplines) with a performance problem, but being brought down to this basic level only served to demonstrate Jimi’s towering musical genius. Of the many, many hours we have, which show this great man performing (I have watched most of what there is, and also saw him live) this most clearly shows the essence of his greatness. He seems as if he might be carried away on the wind at any moment, as would any other angel producing such magical sounds.

Send your opinions regarding Mr. Benedict's writings to bbenedict@netlistings.com