Radio has always been the primary medium for bringing music to people's ears. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has broadcast countless rock artists since the 1960s. From the 1980s onward, these recordings began to surface, either through bootlegs or official releases. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and, in the case that interests us in this blog, Jimi Hendrix, have all appeared on the BBC.
Hendrix's studio albums are generally characterized by their highly produced sound, featuring multiple layers of instruments and effects. Whether it was more guitars, acoustic or electric, keyboards, percussion, vocals, or effects like reversed tapes, all these elements contributed to the atmosphere of the albums, which is why Hendrix's music has earned the label of psychedelic rock. The tracks recorded at the radio station possess an extreme rawness, where the "power trio" concept, which had emerged shortly before with Cream (Clapton, Baker, and Bruce), was explored to its fullest potential. [extract from asturguiri.blogspot.com]
BBC Recording Sessions
Like most hungry London-based performers, The Jimi Hendrix Experience made multiple appearances on the BBC’s handful of radio shows that focused on current pop music. And like most people who went on to be world-famous, many of those performances were spread around via bootlegs until legitimate releases happened.
The first such release came courtesy of Rykodisc. Radio One presented 17 tracks, split between hits and more unique performances. As with most BBC collections, fanatics had lots to pick apart, while the more casual fan could gravitate towards markedly alternate versions of songs they knew from the albums, along with those that were, well, new. “Killin’ Floor” was constant in his setlists, and cooks here. The blues chestnut “Catfish Blues” appears in its then-first known performance (complete with a nod to “Rollin’ And Tumblin’”), as does “Hear My Train A-Comin’”, with unfortunate “party” noises, which also mar “Spanish Castle Magic”. “Driving South” was an excuse to jam, and comes from a show hosted by British blues legend Alexis Korner, who also plays slide with the band on “Hoochie Koochie [sic] Man”. Jimi even composed a “Radio One Theme” for one show.
Like most hungry London-based performers, The Jimi Hendrix Experience made multiple appearances on the BBC’s handful of radio shows that focused on current pop music. And like most people who went on to be world-famous, many of those performances were spread around via bootlegs until legitimate releases happened.
The first such release came courtesy of Rykodisc. Radio One presented 17 tracks, split between hits and more unique performances. As with most BBC collections, fanatics had lots to pick apart, while the more casual fan could gravitate towards markedly alternate versions of songs they knew from the albums, along with those that were, well, new. “Killin’ Floor” was constant in his setlists, and cooks here. The blues chestnut “Catfish Blues” appears in its then-first known performance (complete with a nod to “Rollin’ And Tumblin’”), as does “Hear My Train A-Comin’”, with unfortunate “party” noises, which also mar “Spanish Castle Magic”. “Driving South” was an excuse to jam, and comes from a show hosted by British blues legend Alexis Korner, who also plays slide with the band on “Hoochie Koochie [sic] Man”. Jimi even composed a “Radio One Theme” for one show.
Because the BBC never saved anything, the sound quality on both is a little muddy, and the tweaking modern-day producers took to make the new set less mono doesn’t help. But as a companion to the three true Experience albums, and in balance with some of the other post-Experience recordings we’ll get to soon enough, 'Radio One' is a worthy addition to anyones Hendrix pile.
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| BBC Sessions - Top Of The Pops 1967 |
This post was ripped from CD (released in Australia in 1992) and includes full album artwork for both Vinyl and CD. I never purchased the vinyl release of Radio One, as I already owned the bootleg release (Guitar Hero) which was a high quality knock off. Of course, I've regretted this over time, as it does leave a significant hole in my extensive Hendrix vinyl collection. Of course, the hunt still continues to find a decent copy of this '3 sided set' at a reasonable price.
Track Listing:
1-A1 Stone Free 3:26
2-A2 Radio One Theme 1:34
3-A3 Day Tripper 3:16
4-A4 Killing Floor 2:28
5-A5 Love Or Confusion 2:53
6-A6 Catfish Blues 5:29
7-B1 Drivin' South 4:49
8-B2 Wait Until Tomorrow 2:55
9-B3 Hear My Train A Comin' 4:58
10-B4 Hound Dog 2:43
11-B5 Fire 2:41
12-C1 Hoochie Koochie Man 5:29
13-C2 Purple Haze 3:04
14-C3 Spanish Castle Magic 3:08
16-C5 Foxy Lady 3:00
17-C6 Burning Of The Midnight Lamp 3:43
Personal
· Jimi Hendrix - guitar, lead vocals
· Noel Redding - bass, backing vocals on track 3
· Mitch Mitchell - drums, backing vocals
· Jimmy Leverton - backing vocals on track 11
· Trevor Burton - backing vocals on track 11
Recording details
the BBC Broadcasting House inLondon, England on February 13, 1967
• Tracks 2, 3, 8, 9 and 14 record the BBC Playhouse Theatre in London, England on December 15, 1967
• Tracks 4, 11 and 13 recorded at the BBC Broadcasting House on March 28, 1967
• Tracks 6, 7, 10 and 17 recorded at the BBC Playhouse Theatre on October 6, 1967
• Track 12 recorded at the BBC Playhouse Theatre on October 17, 1967
Radio One Link (417Mb)
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