REPOST: Jimi Hendrix - War Heroes (1972)

(U.S 1967-1970)
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'War Heroes' was the third posthumous Hendrix Studio album to come out under Michael Jeffery's (Hendrix' manager) supervision.
Had it been tough for Eddie Kramer and Mitch Mitchell to complete the 2nd posthumous studio album 'Soundtrack of the film Rainbow Bridge" to a satisfying result, the compiling of 'War Heroes' was what Eddie Kramer called 'scraping the bottom of the barrel'.
With only two recordings that Hendrix had more or less approved during his life ("Izabella" & "Stepping Stone") and two older recordings which had not been released in the States yet ("Highway Chile" & "Stars That Play With Laughing's Sam's Dice" which would eventually turn up on 'Loose Ends' from 1973), Kramer -now fully assisted by John Jansen- once again went through all the tapes in the hopes to find useable pieces of music.
The collection they came up with did indeed not live up to the standard that was set with 'Cry of Love', 'Rainbow Bridge' & the live album 'In the West'. But for a more than average fan, 'War Heroes' does not disappoint. It has a few blistering instrumentals, that Hendrix may not have wanted to be released, but who demonstrate his fine talents on the guitar nonetheless. Only "3 Little Bears" and "Peter Gunn/Catastrophe" are throwaway's.

Apart from the fact that Kramer wanted to offer a glimpse of Hendrix working (and joking around) in the studio, he probably also had another motive for including these. Kramer realized that Michael Jeffrey and Warner Bros. would want him to compile more studio albums, and by using these two tracks he was able to back-up his argument that there simply were no quality studio recordings left in the vaults.
When Kramer delivered 'War Heroes' to Warner Brothers, he also made a silent statement by not delivering any background information on the songs for the sleeve. The gloomy front cover and the unexplained album title (was it supposed to be a link to 'Izabella') only added to the confusion.
The album sold a moderate 180,000 copies, and reached #48 in the US charts.
Together with 'Rainbow Bridge' & "In the West, "'War Heroes' was deleted from Warner's catalogue in 1975, after WB's chief Mo' Ostin decided that Alan Douglas was far more capable of maintaining the quality of Hendrix's posthumous discography than Michael Jeffrey and Eddie Kramer had been. A dumb and unnecessary move from Mo', as history has proven it.

The fact that nearly all Warner executives at the time hated Michael Jeffery (who died in 1973) may have played a role in this decision. The 'Rainbow Bridge' album had been excusively licensed to Warner Brothers, and has been out-of-print in the states ever since, although the German division of Reprise started re-pressing the album on vinyl during the 80's.
Fortunately, 'War Heroes' and 'In the West" remained in print in the rest of the world, thanks to Michael Jeffreys' clever 1967 contracts . Polydor did the CD release of the albums in the eighties in Europe & Japan. It was later re-pressed in Europe (1991/1992) with a different catalogue number and different mastering. The sound had noise reduction and limiting -though not as severe as we know it by today's standards - in order to make the CD louder and cleaner.
The re-presses can only be clearly identified with by its number: 847-262-2
The original West-German 1988 CD (which was mastered from the same digital master as the Japanese P20P and P33P series) doesn't have any of this and is the source used here.

.I purchased my vinyl copy of War Heroes from an import shop in the 70's, as the album was not officially released in Australia until the 80's. It is one of my prize possessions (a German pressing in mint condition) and was the first posthumous Hendrix LP that I bought. Of course, I now have all of them and can boast having 50+ Hendrix LP's in my collection.

Favourite tracks are the instrumentals "Midnight" and "Beginning" (it's riff almost identical to the Stones' "Bitch") which demonstrate Jimi's ability to change key and time signatures at the drop of a hat.

The rip provided was taken from my 'near mint' vinyl  in FLAC format and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD media.
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Track Listing
01. Bleeding Heart
Recorded with the Band of Gypsys including Juma Sultan on percussion on 12 December 1969 at the Record Plant Studio in New York City. Overdubs were added on 24 March 1970. Previously played by the Experience as a slow blues (a sublime rendition can be heard on Reprise's 'Concerts'), this version takes a more funky approach. Originally produced by Jimi Hendrix.

02. Highway Chile
Recorded with the Experience on 3 April 1967 at Olympic Studios, London, UK. This song reflected on Hendrix' restless time as a traveling musician on the Chitlin' circuit. In Europe it became the B-side of the "Wind cries Mary' single (released: 5 May 1967 in the UK) and later appeared on the Track/Polydor version of 'Smash hits', but wasn't released in the States until 1972 when 'War heroes' came out. This track only existed in mono until 2000 when EH released a newly made (but disappointing, IMO) stereo mix on the box set. Engineered by Eddie Kramer. Produced by Chas Chandler.

03. Tax free
Recorded on 26 January 1968 at the Olympic Studios, London, UK and Record Plant, NYC, 1 May 1968. This was written by Sweden's Bo Hanssen and Janne Karlsson. Hendrix heard this instrumental while touring Sweden in 1967 and decided to record it. The Experience recorded five basic tracks, the fifth being successful. When production switched to over to the Record Plant Studio in New York, Hendrix worked on the track again there, trying to add some overdubs. The Experience added Tax Free to their set list during early 1968 and continued to play it live until early 1969. A live version can be heard on the now out-of-print "Live at Winterland" album. Originally produced by Jimi Hendrix

04. Peter Gunn / Catastrophe
Recorded mid-summer of 1970 at the Electric Lady Studios, NYC. 'Peter Gunn' was the first song that Jimi learned to play during his Seattle childhood days. 'Catastrophe' is a take-off by Jimi of the song 'Jealousy' popularized by Frankie Laine in late 1951. During the improvisation of 'Catastrophe' Jimi invented his own lyrics. This little ditty was added to the album by Eddie Kramer just to give a little insight into Hendrix's sense of humor, and is without a doubt the weakest selection. Maybe even the weakest Hendrix studio performance ever officially released. Engineered by Eddie Kramer. Originally produced by Jimi Hendrix

05. Stepping Stone
Originally recorded on 18 December 1969 with the Band of Gypsys at the Record Plant, NYC, and Electric Lady Studios, NYC. 1970. This recording was rush-released as a single with 'Izabella' on the B-side (Reprise 0905, Rel: 13/04/70), and quickly withdrawn again. Only a few copies of this single leaked out, making it a ultra-rare item. According to Hendrix: "Some of the copies out there have no low-end on them. I had to go out somewhere and tell the guy to remix it but he didn't. Sure, it matters..." The single contained a mix with Buddy Miles on drums. Jimi -who was still working on the recording- later opted to erase Miles' drums from the multitracks to be replaced by Mitchell's. However, the drums were never fully completed to Hendrix's satisfaction during his life and therefore it's a pity that Kramer and Jansen did not use the original mix with Miles' drums for this album. While being a far more technically skilled drummer than Miles, Mitchell failed to lay down the steady beat that this track really needs. The original mix can be heard on the OOP compilation 'Cornerstones: 1967-1970' and the 2001 EH release 'Voodoo child; The JH Collection'. Engineered by Bob Hughes 1969 at the Record Plant and Eddie Kramer at Electric Land Studios 1970. Originally produced by 'Heaven Research Unlimited' (aka Jimi Hendrix).

06. Midnight
Recorded by the Experience during October 1968 at the TTG studio's, Los Angeles, CA. These October sessions were booked to record the fourth Experience studio album, which never materialized. Later on in early 1969, the group cut a similar instrumental called "Trashman", that was eventually released (with lots of overdubs & editing) on the inferior Alan Douglas' produced 'Midnight Lightning' album from 1975. Engineered by Angel Balestier. Originally produced by Jimi Hendrix.

07. Three Little Bears
Recorded on 2 May 1968 at the Record Plant, NY. Another left-over from the 'Electric Ladyland' sessions. The first half of this extended jam was released on 'War Heroes'. The U.S. lp version had parts of Hendrix' frustrated comments censored by wiping them out or mixing them down very low ("Oh, fuck me" and "stop that shit, stop it"). In 1999, EH released the Jimi Hendrix "Merry Christmas and happy new year" EP, which made "Three Little Bears" available again. The complete extended version is only available on bootlegs - 'The Mixdown Master Tapes Vol 1-3', for example. Originally produced by Jimi Hendrix

08. Beginning
Recorded on 16 June 1970 and on 1 July 1970 at Electric Lady Studios, NYC. This instrumental had previously been known as 'Jam back at the house' and was developed during the Woodstock rehearsal sessions in the summer of 1969. It first appeared as a strongly edited live version on the 'Woodstock 2' triple album in March 1971. It's not very likely that Mitch Mitchell actually composed this track. It seems more likely that Mitchell was given this credit in an attempt to compensate him financially for his tireless dedication over the 1967-1971 period. This version is slightly edited as well, and a complete version can be found on bootlegs (ie Gypsy, Sun and Rainbows: Shokan) Originally produced by Jimi Hendrix.

09. Izabella
Recorded on 28/29 August 1969 at the Hit Factory, NYC, and featured the "Gypsy suns and rainbows" line up with Mitchell being replaced by Miles. It was released first as a B-side on a quickly withdrawn single (see "Stepping Stone" details). However, unlike "Stepping Stone" this recording was not further overdubbed, and appears here in a slightly different mix. The original mix can be heard on EH's 2001 release 'Voodoo child: The JH Collection'. Originally produced by 'Heaven Research Unlimited' (aka Jimi Hendrix)

.Band Members:
Jimi Hendrix (Vocals, Guitar)
Mitch Mitchell (Drums)
Billy Cox (Bass)
* Noel Redding plays bass on Highway Chile, Tax Free and Midnight
+ Buddy Miles plays drums on Izabella

NEW IMPROVED FLAC RIP !

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War Heroes Link (201Mb) New Link 04/05/2025

Jimi Hendrix - Cosmic Turnaround [Nutmeg Records] (1981) - Bootleg

(U.S 1963 - 1970)

Cosmic Turnaround: a classic find of rare Hendrix tapes never before released on an album, spins you back to the time when Rock ruled and Guitar was King. When you talk about Rock and Guitar only one name can come to mind, Jimi Hendrix. Stratocasters, Marshallamps, Feedback and Slinky Strings, that was the Hendrix sound.
Jimi loved to jam with friends and fellow musicians. This album contains unreleased live jams, and studio sessions.

Cosmic Turnaround begins with "No Such Animal" which was produced by Curtis Knight whom he had been working with prior to the Jimi Hendrix Experience. They collaborated together on an album released in 1967 called "Get That Feeling." We see Hendrix forming his own totally distinctive style on this cut-straight ahead guitar, drum, bass.

[Note: "No Such Animal" has also been released under the name of Jimmy James and His Blue Flames]

Jimi then slides into a live jam "Tomorrow", recorded during the era of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. What's notable about this cut is the way Hendrix sets up his own unique bluesy riff, so that the rhythm guitar could fall into the groove. The slinky strings give Jimi the ability to stretch notes farther than any guitarist before or after him. Towards the end of this jam, Jimi breaks into Cream's smash hit of 1967, "Sunshine Of Your Love." 

[This jam was recorded at the Scene Club (NY) on the 13th March, 1968 and featured Jim Morrison on vocals and harmonica, Johnny Winter on Rhythm guitar, Randy Hobbs on bass and Buddy Miles on drums.  The track is really called "Tomorrow Never Knows" and actually first  appeared on the bootleg "Woke Up This Morning And Found Myself Dead" which was released in 1980. So Nutmeg's claim that the album contained Previously Unreleased Material is misleading]

Opening Side Two we see the seeds of The Hendrix Sound growing. "Come On Baby Parts 1 & 2" was written by Hendrix and Lonnie Youngblood. Youngblood was another one of Jimi's associates before forming The Experience. What's interesting about this cut is that this is one of the few times where we find Hendrix sharing lead riffs with saxophonist Youngblood.

["Come On Baby Part 1 & 2, otherwise known as "Wipe The Sweat 1 & 2" had also been previously released, first appearing on the Springboard International Records release called "Roots Of Hendrix" in 1971 and a compilation called "Two Great Experiences - Together", also released in 1971]

"l Love My Baby" is a blues cut. The bass and drummer keep the sound together so that Jimi can let loose. Jimi then goes low-down on "Down Now." The vocal phrasing on this cut correlates with his guitar playing. The album closes with sweet "Louisville" - a real change of pace for Jimi, smooth and straight ahead.

The Hendrix Sound is as new-today as it was in the late 1960's. Rock fans, young and old, are discovering and re-discovering that special Hendrix sound. Jimi might be gone, but his music will always live. 

[Album Liner Notes by John Veranes & Len Lovallo]

Stop Press:  The last three tracks on this album are not Hendrix recordings, and Jimi did not play guitar on them.  These tracks are referred to as FAKE Hendrix recordings, as reported below.

And don't believe everything you see also !

Fake Hendrix Tracks

(http://earlyhendrix.com/youngblood-menu-fakes)

(https://sfodblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/jimi-hendrix-the-collectors-unconfirmed-fakes-frauds-related.pdf)

There are tracks that have appeared on various albums claiming to be Jimi Hendrix or Youngblood / Hendrix -material, but in reality did not involve Hendrix in any way. Nor do they feature Lonnie Youngblood but as these fake tracks have often been included on releases containing genuine Youngblood / Hendrix recordings they too have become known among collectors as fake Lonnie Youngblood recordings even though that really isn't the case...

In a testimony given by [Lonnie] Youngblood in a 1986 court hearing during the case Ed Chalpin vs. Audiofidelity he identified the guitar player on "I Love My Baby" (aka "Bring My Baby Back") was an imitator named "Mike" from Baltimore (the LP incorrectly transcribed as Cosmic Cloud is in fact the LP Cosmic Turnaround):

Q. Now, still looking at the Cosmic Cloud record on the Nutmeg label distributed by Audio Fidelity, which was marked as Exhibit 6, have you ever heard, "I love my baby"?

A. I don't know.

Q. On side two?

A. I couldn't say unless I heard it.

Q. Okay. This is the third cut on side two that I am now playing entitled on the label, "I love my baby."

(Record played)

Q. What can you tell us about that one?

A. It is a track with an imitator on it.

Q. You say an imitator?

A. Yes

Q. How do you know that?

A. Because I know it is not Hendrix.

I know who the imitator is.

Q. Who is the imitator?

A. A young kid out of Baltimore named Mike. I don't know his last name.

Q. Why do you know it's Mike?

A. I know how Mike plays, I know his flavours. I am [next page of the transcript is missing]

If "Mike" does play on the track in question he probably plays on several (or all) of the Hitson tracks as most of these clearly feature the same guitar player. Could he also have played on other fakes or provided overdubs to the material on "Two Great Experiences - Together"? 

Lonnie does not appear on the Hitson tracks so he might have worked with "Mike" on other occasions (since he says that he is familiar with his style). Until someone comes up with his full name, "Mike" remains a mystery missing person. 

LONNIE YOUNGBLOOD, THE ICEMEN, JIMMY NORMAN, BILLY LAMONT, LENNY HOWARD, GEORGE SCOTT Recordings:

(https://ldb-sites.neocities.org/word2007docs/jhe1b.pdf)

Most of the material released on these albums does not involve Jimi at all. The songs that do contain Hendrix performances were recorded in an uncertain studio, probably Abtone Studios or Allegro Sound Studios, New York, NY, in early to mid 1966, with Lonnie Youngblood (sax, vo). Other tracks feature The Icemen or Jimmy Norman on vocals; these tracks were originally released as singles under their names. Several other artists also used backing tracks from these sessions for their own later releases. The other musicians are uncertain.

The first six 45RPM singles were released before Jimi died, and did not advertise his participation. All releases starting with the LP "Two Great Experiences Together" in 1971 mentioned him prominently, usually (but not always) also mentioning Youngblood. The other musicians were generally not acknowledged, although a few releases do so.

Since posthumous releases usually contain mixes of tracks by these artists, they are all grouped together in these listings.

The following is a list of tracks not involving Hendrix, and probably many do not involve Youngblood either. Many of these tracks are associated with Herman Hitson (g) and Lee Moses (g). Timings vary slightly from release to release due to slightly different mastering speeds.

These can be grouped into three categories. The first consists of essentially the tracks released on "Moods"; these are characterized by a resonant guitar sound, almost a fuzz guitar. Most of these also appear to have been tampered with. See Niko's site for a much more thorough coverage of all of these tracks.

All Alone / Two and One Goes (i) 2:28

Every Little Bit Hurts / Gotta Find Someone (i) 3:19

Feel That Soul (i) 2:11

From This Day On / She's So Fine (i) 2:25

Get Down / Git Down / Down Now 2:35

Girl So Fine / Let Me Go (i) 2:44

Human Heart version 1 / Let Me Go (i) 2:41

Human Heart version 2 / Louisville (i) 3:04

Miracle Worker (i) 2:51

A Mumblin' Word / Funky 2:18

So Called Friend / Backroom Lady 2:24

You Say You Love Me / Freedom and You 2:20

The second category also have a similar guitar sound; this is a straight wailing electric guitar, in many instances with slight echo added. These appear to be Herman Hitson songs, without alterations.

Bring My Baby Back / I Love My Baby 6:27

Free Spirit 5:40

Good Feeling (except for intro edit by Jimi) 4:08

Good Time(s) / Let Me Thrill Your Soul 6:00

Hey LeRoy 4:46

Hot Trigger / Not Trigger / Walking with Bessie (i) 4:01

House of the Rising Sun (i) 5:35

Let the God Sing 11:21

Something You Got 4:52

Suspicious / I Love My Baby 3:53

Voice in the Wind / Voices 5:27

This post consists of  FLACs ripped from my almost virgin 'shrink wrapped' vinyl, along with full album artwork and label scans.  As mentioned above, it's buyer (downloader) beware - this bootleg contains material which has been pre-released on other 'Hendrix Bootlegs' and contains 3 fake Hendrix tracks.   But for the collectors, it is still highly desirable.  

Official Track Listing

Track Listing:

A1 No Such Animal Part 1  (2:25)

A2 Tomorrow (10:10)

A3 No Such Animal Part 2   (2:35)

B1 Come On Baby I (2:50)

B2 Come On Baby II   (3:28)

B3 I Love My Baby (6:25)

B4 Down Now (2:35)

B5 Louisville (2:20)

Cosmic Turnaround Link (190Mb)

REPOST: Jimi Hendrix - Last American Concert (30-7-1970) Ex Bootleg

(U.S 1967-1970)
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(Thursday July 30th 1970. Rainbow Bridge Vibratory Color Sound Experiment, Haleakala Crate, Island Of Maui, Hawaii. Jimi Hendrix was supported by Air)
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Jimi Hendrix (Cry Of Love) take the stage in the afternoon for the first of their performances. Jimi: "Glad to see you again, I hope everything's alright. Dig, give us about a minute, give us about a minute to set up and, er, yeah we'll forget about tomorrow and yesterday, get into... our own little world for a while, catch up to the wind." Someone offers Jimi something. He replies: "Er, I've had mine actually. Yeah I'd like to get into a thing called "Spanish Castle Magic" and, er, check out everything and see what's happening."

Afterwards: "Yeah, okay... we'd like to do another thing, go into another thing, if... the bass is working. Testing, testing, testing, testing, one, two, three." The crew has to come on stage to adjust the equipment. When they have finished, Jimi continues with "Here Comes Your Lover Man" and "The Land Of The New Rising Sun" and a completely new song, "In From The Storm". Then: "Yeah, thank you very much, thank you. I'd like to tune up one more time, okay? I'd like to do this tune that everybody here knows about, it's a thing called "Message To Love" - everybody knows about that. We'd like to just bathe in it for a second, for always actually." Jimi continues with "Message To Love".
Afterwards he announces: "I'd like to go into one of those other things, do a thing... dedicated to that little girl over there called Hartley, a thing called "Foxy Lady" — look out! Plug your ears, plug your ears, it's gonna be loud!" When the song is over, Jimi says: "Thank you very much, I'd like to do a slow blues right now.

It's a thing about a cat, you know, he gotta leave town because his old lady don't want him around, because, you know, nobody [wants] him in town and all the downs. You know, the cat's all low and everything, but then he's gonna get it together, 'cause he's going down the train station with his little baby and his little pack on his back. Come back and buy the town and maybe the girl does it to him one more time, might even marry her and give a piece to her. It's called "Get My Heart Back Together'" — I don't know whether it's about myself, I don't know." After this blues track, the set continues with "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" and "Fire".
"Yeah we'd like to do another one, I think, er, a few of us might remember this one, some of us will never forget it, including me..." Jimi ends the first show with "Purple Haze", then tells the audience: "Thank you, thank you, peace with you man,thank you. We'd like to come back later on and we're bound to get it on again if we can, okay, [unless] anything stops us."

Cry Of Love return for their second performance. Jimi opens the show with another new song, "Dolly Dagger". He slows the song down at the ends and proceeds to play a very melodic version of "Villanova Junction", before continuing the set with "Ezy Ryder". He announces: "I'd like to do a little blues to the sun called "Red House". After this number, Cry of Love continue with "Freedom", "Beginnings" and "Straight Ahead" ending this last song with the introduction to "Land Of The New Rising Sun". After thanking the crowd, Jimi continues with "Land Of The New Rising Sun" and then plays "Keep On Grooving". Mitch plays an extended drum solo and Jimi returns to play "Stone Free". He ends the concert with a few bars of "Hey Joe" before revisiting the solo of' "Stone Free". Jimi says "Thank you very much, good night."
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Note from Chuck Wein: "Even though the album and video are called 'Rainbow Bridge', it was known as Rainbow Ridge because that's the name of the ridge on which the concert was held." [Transcript from Tony Brown's "Jimi Hendrix Concert Files" 1999, Omnibus Press]
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Ok - this is my last post for the 2010, and in fact the decade. To celebrate this I have decided to post my most treasured album. I purchased this bootleg in 1978 from Reading Records in Carlton, Melbourne for the pricely sum of $30 (a small fortune for a poor Uni student at the time).

It still has the shrink wrap on it and I reckon I've only played it half a dozen times in the past 32 years. I instead, transfered it to cassette tape and wore out several copies! It really is an awesome stereo recording (a soundboard for sure) and at the time was the best Hendrix 'bootleg' around. I have yet to see this exact bootleg available on any other website, so I am confident that this is the first time it has been posted. There are other bootlegs around with the same name (Last American Concert Vol 1 & 2) but are on different labels and have different track listings and covers. This bootleg was also released under a completely different name and cover design - 'Unknown Wellknown' (see cover above) but was only a mono pressing.

Also note that this Maui concert was not in fact Hendrix's last American Concert as he played at the Honolulu International Centre, Hawaii the following night on August 1st - which was the last time he played on American soil.
This rip has been taken from my 'near mint' condition vinyl copy in glorious FLAC format and I have included full album artwork and a selection of photos taken at the concert by Tony Brown himself.
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      NEW IMPROVED RIP !

Track Listing
01 - Interview: James Marshall Hendrix
02 - Hey Babe / In From The Storm
03 - Hear My Train A'Comin'
04 - Voodoo Child
05 - Maui Sunset
06 - Foxy Lady
07 - Red House
08 - Easy Rider
09 - Purple Haze . 

Released by Jupiter records, Jupiter S-444, California, US
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Cry Of Love Members:
Jimi Hendrix (Guitar, Vocals)
Billy Cox (Bass)
Mitch Mitchell (Drums)
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Last American Concert (221Mb)
New Link 18/03/2025

Jimi Hendrix - Isle Of Wight (1971) Vinyl

(U.S 1963 - 1970)

lsle Of Wight Festival,

August 30, 1970
East Afton Farm, Isle Of Wight

Jimi's band 'Cry Of Love' are supported by Joan Baez, Donovan & Open Road, Leonard Cohen & The Army, Richie Havens, Moody Blues, Pentangle, Good News, Jethro Tull and Ralph McTell, with MC Jeff Dexter.

On the day of his appearance at The Isle of Wight Festival, Jimi travels from London to Stapelton Aerodrome, then flies to Bembridge Airport on the Isle Of Wight at 20:30 and books into the Seagrove Hotel. Friends of Jimi, Kirsten Nefer and Karen Davis drive down from London to meet him.

Before the concert Jimi is interviewed by Steve Clackson and filmed giving an interview to a lady from French radio as Jimi is walking to the stage. [extract from Hendrix: The Visual Documentary by Tony Brown. Omnibus Press, 1992. p116]

Jimi finally starts making his way to the stage with the other members of the band and various guests in the early hours of Monday 3lst. While Jimi walks up the steps to the stage he looks back and announces: "l got a gig, waiting for me in the Laundromat."

Jeff Dexter introduces the band, opening with an aside to a technician: 'A bit more volume on this one, Charlie, it's gonna need it. Let's have a welcome for Billy Cox on bass, Mitch Mitchell on drums, and the man with the guitar, Jimi Hendrix."

Jimi walks to the microphone and announces: "Yeah, thank you very much for showing up man, you all look really beautiful and outta site and thanks for waiting. It has been a long time, hasn't it?" Jimi then flashes a peace sign. "That does mean peace, not this," reversing it to a V sign, reversing it again to the peace sign. "Peace. Okay, give us about a minute to tune up all right... It's so good to be back in England. We'd like to... start off with a thing that everybody knows out there. You can join in and start singing. Matter of fact, it'll sound better if you'd stand up for your country and your beliefs and start singing. And if you don't, fuck yer!"

He then calls out, "Nice and loud, nice and loud" to the band, before starting the set off with a short feedback rendition of 'God Save The Queen'. Mitch Mitchell then plays the introduction to 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', but the squeals coming from Jimi's guitar indicate that he already seems to be experiencing some equipment trouble.

Jimi only sings the first verse of the song before bringing it to an end. This was a song that Jimi had used extensively as a show opener back in 1968, but which he rarely played now.

Without any introduction the band then launch into 'Spanish Castle Magic', which Jimi ends in howls of feedback. His amp is now being plagued by a foreign voice and xylophone music comes from his speakers. "As I said before, thanks a lot for coming. We'd like to get into another song that we did about, er, in the year of 1883. And, er, I think it's pretty [true]... today, if you can dig it." Meanwhile the crews are trying desperately to eliminate the radio signals, a problem that annoyed Jimi more than anything. Trying not to let it bother him too much, he proceeds to count up the guitar neck with his fingers, looking for the chord that would start his next song - a little joke that he often did to amuse his audience. He then proceeds with 'All Along The Watchtower', but is still experiencing equipment trouble. "Er, we're having a tiny bit [of] trouble with the equipment, hold on a moment, one more second, buy your hot dogs or whatever."

The crowd start shouting for 'Voodoo Child', Jimi replies: "Yeah, we'll do that towards the... next time." Adjusting the uni-vibe for the next number, 'Machine Gun', he comments:

"Yeah, there's a whole lot of head games go along sometimes, and sometimes they leak out, as a word they use their powers and so forth, and put it on header games on other people, which we call WAR. And so I'd like to dedicate this one to, er, all the soldiers that are fighting in Birmingham, all the skinheads" which evokes a reaction from the audience.

"... All the, yeah, well, you know what I mean, you know, yeah right, Amen. All the soldiers fighting in Bournemouth, London. Oh yeah, all the soldiers fighting in Vietnam, like I almost forgot, man. So many wars going on."

Three minutes into the 'Machine Gun', the radio interference re-emerges - this time because of the security walkie-talkies: "Security personnel, security personnel, are you receiving over?" However, Jimi seems unconcerned at the interruption this time. and continues to play. Indeed, in a strange way, the voice seemed to fit in with the song. After about nine minutes, Jimi stops playing and Mitch fills in with a four-minute drum solo. Jimi comes back in, and for the following ten minutes there is a jam which features some incredible guitar work. However, this version of the song remains inferior to the one played during Jimi's Band Of Gypsys concert, back on New Years Day at the Fillmore, when 'Machine Gun' received its live debut. As the song comes to a close and the decibel level lowers, it becomes clear that the radio interference problem has still not been solved. This time, Jimi has to contend with a male opera singer coming through the bank of speakers! Looking back at his amplifiers in disgust, he brings the song to a sharp stop.

Gerry Stickells and Gene McFadden race around the stage trying to locate the problem. Jimi apologises to the audience: "Listen, it's gonna take a time er, to, like, get into it, because we're having little difficulties here and there. But, like, if you can hold on a little bit, I think we can all get it together, all right? 'Cause I'm gonna stay here all night until somebody moves." "Yeah, right!" shouts the audience, with a cheer.

Somebody shouts to shut the camera off. Jimi remarks: "I just want to get to my old lady at three o'clock." Confusion reigns, with the camera crews shouting at each other and amplifiers frantically being changed. Jimi changes guitars to his Gibson Flying V and, after a slight delay and tune up, continues with 'Lover Man'. The crew seems to have finally managed to sort out the problem and Jimi feels much happier with the sound. He dismisses the last forty minutes and decides to start the whole concert again. "Okay we ought to start all over again. Hello, how are you doing England? Glad to see you.

'We'll do a thing called 'Freedom'." Jimi has now settled down to engage in some fine playing and was starting to sound more fluent. Without a pause he goes straight into 'Red House,' which was possibly the highlight of the entire concert. The audience start to react favourable, now that the equipment had been sorted out, and Jimi is able to really play for the first time since the concert started. The crowd show their appreciation and all of the first few rows take to their feet cheering and clapping at the end of the song. Turning to Mitch, Jimi says: "Try that Dolly Dagger, okay?" We're gonna try to do this song now, it's called, um, 'Dolly Dagger' and it's, er, one of the things that we'll try to put on our new LP."

Festival Booklet

Meanwhile the audience at the front of the stage are still standing. Jimi is asked to request that they all sit down: "Oh yeah, somebody wants, er, people in the front row to sit down. I think it's compliments of the hills. Don't forget, you can't fly off the top of those hills, don't forget that." The band then launch into 'Dolly Dagger' - a completely new song that had only been performed once before during Jimi's concert in Maui, Hawaii.

At the end of the song, he changes guitars, back to his Stratocaster, and tells Mitch and Billy: "'We'll try to do that, er, rock 'n' roll tune, okay?" Then, to the audience: "Very sorry for tuning up, but, er, you know we do that... to protect your ears. That's why we don't play so loud, you know. And, er, cowboys are the only ones who wanna stay in tune anyway.

I'm so glad you all have patience though, cause I don't. I'd like to do this slow blues." Again, Jimi tries out a relatively new song, 'Midnight Lightning'. As the song ends, Jimi immediately hits the long feedback note for the more familiar 'Foxy Lady'. "This is dedicated to Linda. To the cat right there with the silver face... (Nik Tirrner of Hawkwind) Dedicated to Kirsten, Karen and that little four-year-old girl over there with the yellow panties on.

And I'd like to say thank you for the last three years. One of these days we'll get it together again. Thanks for showing up and you're outta site. If you had the same old songs, you'd be ready to stop." Halfway through the song, the radio interference comes back with a vengeance. Now Jimi is getting all kind of voices coming through the speakers. He stops playing while Mitch and Billy carry on with the beat.

The Cry Of Love

The problem again seems to be solved and Jimi continues to play. He doesn't seem to let it bother him, riding the song out with some theatrical showmanship, playing the guitar between his legs and performing an extended solo with his teeth. "You all wanna hear all those little songs, man? Damn man, we was trying to get some other things together. I just woke up about two minutes ago... I think we'll play, play something a little more familiar. 'Cause I ain't came yet myself, I don't know about you, but I ain't came, you know. There, I came, thank you very much, good night!" Jimi continues with 'Message To Love', after which he adjusts his uni-vibe for 'Land Of The New Rising Sun'. In the second verse, his improvised lines, "Coming back to England, thank you baby for making so easy," suggest that he must have been pleased with his first concert in England for almost 18 months.

Festival Weekend Ticket

Bringing the song to a rather abrupt end, Mitch starts the drum intro for 'Ezy Ryder', after which it's straight into a real crowd-pleaser - 'Hey Joe' - which included snatches of 'Satisfaction' and English Country Garden'. Jimi draws the concert to a close with 'Purple Haze' and Voodoo Child (Slight Return)' and, finally, another relatively new song, 'ln From The Storm'. During this song, Jimi was looking very tired as he tried to squeeze notes from his guitar. Then, after an hour and fifty minutes, it was all over.

"Thank you for being so patient. Maybe one of these days [we'll] smoke a joint again, I really hope so, right? Thank you very much. And peace and happiness and all the other good shit." With that, Jimi takes his guitar off over his head and lets it fall to the floor with a crash.
[taken from Jimi Hendrix: Concert Files by Tony Brown. Omnibus Press, 199. p166-169]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my prized vinyl and includes full album artwork for bot vinyl and CD release.  This was one of the few live recordings of Hendrix available during the 70's and it became my go to album when I wanted to hear the rawer side of Jimi.  Remember, there was no Internet back in these days and Hendrix did not tour 'Down Under', so hearing him play live on this album was pretty much all that I had.

I am not adding any bonus tracks to this album this time, as I want to preserve the integrity of this release and keep it true to the time.  Anyhow, you can find the full concert released on CD in most reputable music stores or purchase it online.  Of course the track order on this LP is not true to the actual concert, however for me it has been the only one I have known for more than 40 years.  I hope you enjoy this condensed version of his full concert and can fully appreciate the sound of this vinyl rip.

Track Listing

01 - Midnight Lightning

02 - Foxy Lady

03 - Lover Man

04 - Freedom

05 - All Along The Watchtower

06 - In From The Storm

Jimi Hendrix - Vocals, Guitar

Billy Cox - Bass

Mitch Mitchell - Drums

Jimi Hendrix Link (204Mb) New Link 21/11/2024

REPOST: Jimmy James and His Blue Flames - Bright Lights, Big City (7" E.P)

(U.S 1966)
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Jimmy James and His Blue Flames was an American rock band that formed in New York City in 1966. Comprising guitarists Jimi Hendrix and Randy California, bassist Randy Texas (occasionally replaced by Jeff Baxter) and drummer Danny Palmer, the band was together for three months before Hendrix left the country to form The Jimi Hendrix Experience in September.
Hendrix, under the name Jimmy James, formed The Blue Flames (originally as The Rainflowers) in June 1966. In doing so, he recruited 15-year-old guitarist Randy Wolfe after seeing him playing in Manny's Music Store on 48th Street. Hendrix was excited when he heard Wolfe playing, and so invited him to play with him at the Cafe Wha? that night. At the Cafe, the guitarists spent fifteen minutes in the boiler room, where Jimi taught Wolfe a few songs, namely "Hey Joe", "Like a Rolling Stone", "Wild Thing" and "Shotgun".
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The Blue Flames' bass player was someone called Randy, who was from Texas. As the second Randy in the band, Jimmy dubbed him Randy Texas, and Wolfe adopted the name Randy California, which he held until his death. The drummer was one of Texas' friends, known as Danny Palmer. 

Jeff Baxter (of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers fame) was also known to play bass for The Blue Flames on a few occasions.

The band ended up playing six nights a week at the Cafe Wha?, earning a secure spot on the bill. California recalls that "the band made about $60 a night and Jimmy split it equally four ways", though Carol Shiroky (Jimi's girlfriend at the time) thinks differently, claiming the band used to get paid only $7 per night. The band split as Jimi was approached by Chas Chandler, who eventually formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience in England. Jimi apparently tried to bring California to England with him to form The Experience, but Chandler was against the idea as he believed Hendrix could be the only guitarist in the band, and California was too young anyway.
The rip was taken from Vinyl (Blue Flames Records) in FLAC format and includes the EP cover and label scans

NEW IMPROVED RIP
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Track Listing

01 - Bright Lights Big City
02 - I'm A Man
03 - No Such Animal Part 1
04 - No Such Animal Part 2
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Band members
Jimmy James (aka Jimi Hendrix) – guitar
Randy California – guitar
Randy Texas – bass
Danny Palmer – drums
Jeff Baxter – bass (part-time)
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Jimmy James And The Blue Flames Link (72Mb)

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Jimi Hendrix - Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window (1977) Bootleg

 (U.S 1963 - 1970)

This French compilation Bootleg is housed in a white jacket with a Pink and Black cover sheet. Other releases have featured Tan and Pale Green covers, while others feature Lemon with Black writing.   

"While other Jimi Hendrix Bootlegs focus on a particular concert, rehearsal, or studio session, 'Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?' is a collection Of odds and ends that spans 1967-1970. The Bootleg ranges from BBC broadcasts of The Jimi Hendrix Experience ("Burning Of The Midnight Lamp," "Drivin' South," And The Title Song) to studio rarities with The Band Of Gypsys (Including "Auld Lang Syne," and "Little Drummer Boy")

Note that the listed track "Silent Night" is not actually on this bootleg and is in fact introductory dialogue to the Ronnie Scott tracks - "Mother Earth" and "Tobacco Road". On these two tracks, Hendrix And Eric Burdon share the stage at the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London only days before Hendrix's death on September 18, 1970. This bootleg also contains an interview with Paul McCartney, who briefly discusses Hendrix's contributions to the music scene. The Sound Quality on this LP ranges from Excellent to Poor, which isn't really recommended for casual listeners but is a must if you're a serious Hendrix fanatic." Alex Henderson, (All Music Guide).

Jimi with Eric Burdon & War

Jimi's Last Stage Performance

Eric Burdon and War were continuing a week residency at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club on Wednesday, 16th September in 1970. Jimi and Monika Danneman watched as they played their recent hits of "Paint It Black", "Spill The Wine" and "Train". After the interval Jimi decided to sit in with the group on "Mother Earth" and "Tobacco Road". Jimi loved to jam like this, just playing quietly in the background, playing mostly Rhythm guitar. Eric Burdon later told Rolling Stone "He really got into Tobacco Road".

Sadly, this was to be the last time that Jimi Hendrix would ever play his guitar in public. [Extract from Jimi Hendrix: The Concert Files by Tony Brown, Omnibus Press, 1999. p175]

I remember purchasing this bootleg from a Trash & Treasure Market in Fawkner - Melbourne, back in the 80's for the pricey sum of $9. I originally thought it was a TMOQ release with its basic two tone cover, until I opened it up to find a Dragonfly labelled vinyl. I already had the BBC recordings multiple times on other bootlegs in my collection (see Never Fade, Guitar Hero) but was drawn to the live Ronnie Scott recordings and the three Band Of Gypsy's studio tracks. Although disappointed with the quality of the live recordings, I found them to be intriguing - if not just because they represented the last thing that Jimi recorded before his death. I was particularly intrigued to find the newspaper article (see below) titled 'Jimi's last gig - by Burdon' and found it to be fascinating reading. I have included a copy of this in my post.

I wasn't surprised either when I realised that there were only two Band Of Gypsy tracks (not three as stated), as I'd already come across other bootlegs with misinformation on their covers. The sound quality of these two track are good.

As an avid Hendrix collector, this bootleg still stands as an important component in my vinyl collection, even with its flaws. I hope you take the time to have a listen and accept it for what it is: a brief snippet of Jimi's genius.

This post contains FLACS ripped from my pristine vinyl and have removed the occasional crackle and pop that came with this bootleg quality vinyl.

 
Side One:
01 Auld Lang Syne (Band of Gypsies) - Studio
02 Interview With Alan Douglas
03 Little Drummer Boy (Band of Gypsies) - Studio
04 Silent Night (Band of Gypsies)
05 Mother Earth (Jimi Hendrix with Eric Burdon and War)
06 Interview with Paul McCartney
Side Two:
01 Burning The Midnight Lamp (Experience)- Live on BBC
02 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (Experience)- Live on BBC
03 Drivin' South (Experience)- Live on BBC
04 Tobacco Road (Jimi Hendrix with Eric Bourdon and War)

Eric Burdon and War:

Eric Burdon – vocals

Jimi Hendrix – guitar

Howard Scott – guitar

Dee Allen – percussion

Harold Brown – drums

B.B.Dickerson – bass

Lonnie Jordan – organ & piano

Charles Miller – sax & flute

Lee Oskar – harmonica

Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window Link (177Mb)

Jimi Hendrix - The Story Of Jimi Hendrix (1978)

 (U.S 1963 - 1970)

During his lifetime Jimi Hendrix sanctioned the release of five albums, one of which was a compilation of hit singles and favored LP tracks (Smash Hits). Since his death, that figure has swelled to an indeterminate number (at least 50), making Hendrix one of the most prolific recording artists in the world, at least on paper.

But the huge number of Hendrix LPs to be found in the racks on any large record store belies the fact that no other artist has had his reject barrel plundered so thoroughly as Hendrix. Most of the material is sub-standard, sometimes boring and grossly exploitative.

The posthumous releases fall into five distinct categories:

a) Re-issues. The "official" Hendrix material from the four studio albums recorded between 1967 and 1970 (Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland and Cry Of Love) has been repackaged ad infinitum by Polydor (or Warner Brothers in the US) to the extent that duplications, and duplications of duplications, abound like rabbits all around the globe. Different combinations of the same tracks litter the 19 albums on the current UK Polydor catalogue.

Jimi Hendrix Experience

b) Pre-1966 material. Before Hendrix was brought to London in 1966, he recorded with various American artists, always in a subordinate capacity or simply jamming in the studio while the tape was running. Records with (or indeed by) the Isley Brothers, Curtis Knight, Little Richard and Lonnie Youngblood fall into this category, as do the Jimi Hendrix At His Best trilogy (a gross misnomer) and most albums with the word "roots" somewhere in the title. Many of these tapes have been leased by the producer to several different labels over the years with the result that the same titles crop up again and again.

c) Post-1966 material and jams. Hendrix loved to play, whether it was on stage, in the studio or in someone's front room, and he never seemed to care whether a tape recorder was running. Again much of this material is poor quality, but American producer Alan Douglas assembled a series of albums from such studio out-takes during the Seventies with the sanction of the Hendrix estate and the "official" record companies (Polydor and Warner Brothers). These offer a higher quality of material than anything in category (b) but would never have seen the light of day had Hendrix lived.

d) Live. Many Hendrix concerts were recorded, presumably for personal use at the time, only to find their way on to official records during the Seventies. The quality varies considerably and it is doubtful whether most of these would have been released had Hendrix lived. The CBS double set The Jimi Hendrix Concerts, released in 1982, is the best of the bunch.

e) Compilations. The list of Hendrix compilations is almost endless, with the most popular on vinyl being 'The Essential Jimi Hendrix Vol 1 & 2' released by Warner Bros. Another popular compilation is 'The Story Of Jimi Hendrix', 2 LP set that was only released by Polydor in Germany, Yugoslavia, Scandinavia and Australia and is the focus of my post today.

As a general rule, the material on Polydor (Warner Brothers in the US) represents the best of Hendrix's work despite the numerous duplications. The cream however, appears on the four studio LPs originally released by Track Records in the UK. [Extract from 'Hendrix: An Illustrated Biography' by Victor Samspon, Proteus Books. 1985 p105]

Classic Track Dissections

Foxy Lady

The U.K. version of Are You Experienced has the perfect album opening, the sound of Hendrix scraping his pick down a string to produce the effect of his guitar emerging from the aural distance, gradually increasing in volume and then exploding-with a flare of feedback-into "Foxy Lady's" sublimely lecherous riff.

Hendrix's riff is not the staccato work that is beloved by heavy metallers, but one that utilizes the qualities made possible by his cranked-up amps to create a delightfully rippling and continuous sound. Furthermore, Hendrix enriches even that unusually exotic palette by throwing in the occasional flourish, the bright, trebly, solid-bodied sonic qualities of which are a deliciously startling contrast to those of that thin, growling lick.

An additional contrast to the type of heavy metal with which Hendrix's music is, ludicrously, so often associated is the sweetness of his manner and sentiments. "Foxy Lady" is without doubt a song about sex. Decades of rock singers' braggadocio has made us automatically assume that speaking or singing about sex equates with boastfulness or oppressiveness. To celebrate the pleasures of intercourse is a perfectly natural human desire, for both men and women. "Foxy Lady" does precisely and merely that-and when Hendrix sings "I'm coming to git ya," he is being playful, not predatory.

The absence of "Wild Thing" on his debut album might very well be explained by this opening track. Surely, "Foxy Lady" is Hendrix's rewriting of that Chip Taylor classic. Though there is no direct plagiarism, the common attributes of the two songs are so significant as to seem to rule out coincidence. "Wild Thing" and "Foxy Lady" are both compositions with a great blaring dirty riff , a stop-start structure, and an unashamedly horny ambience.

Manic Depression

"Manic Depression" is the finest example of the excellence of the Experience as a group and the ultimate proof of the idiocy of the opinions of the likes of Nik Cohn. On "Manic Depression," all three members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience are operating as equals. Hendrix's playing is of the elevated nature one takes for granted with him, but the rhythm section is on fire. Mitchell's drums are heart-stopping in both their thunder and their relentlessness. Redding's playing, meanwhile, is sublime: when Hendrix pauses each time before singing the line about what manic depression is doing to him (effectively the chorus of the song), Redding shatters the silence with brawny, climbing basslines that are utterly fabulous.

Those who thought "Purple Haze" was pushing the envelope in terms of volume, distortion, and sheer musical belligerence must have been astounded that, on this track, not only was the Experience able to go further in all of those areas, but actually went considerably further. "Manic Depression" is brutally aggressive and colossally loud. It never lets up in its determination to make as much noise as possible' even those pauses before the title refrain vocal line are splintered by an unyielding Redding. Nothing-not the Velvet Underground's clangorous experimentation on its first album (released a couple of months before the release of Are You Experienced), not Dave Davies's amp-shredding performance on "You Really Cot Me" in 1964 - had ever sounded this extreme before.

And yet, the song at no point threatens to become unlistenable. A keen musicality is evident at every juncture. The Experience may not have sat down and plotted each counterpoint and contrast - they weren't that kind of band - but the song is superbly structured. Instruments drop away and inflections are introduced in an intricate arrangement that is the antithesis of a featureless aural assault. In addition to the contrasts within the instrumentation is the extreme counterpoint the lyric (and the melody it rides on) provides to the artillery shell music. "Manic Depression" is not the song of self-assertion implied by its music. Its words are insecure ruminations, frequently almost muttered by Hendrix. At the ends of verses, Hendrix's voice rises climatically (something required by the swelling melody line), but by the beginning of the next verse is back to a mumbled hesitancy, appropriately mirroring the way somebody in the emotional doldrums will determine to do something to improve his situation and then deflate in a confidence-draining second.

As the song careens toward a close, Hendrix and Mitchell indulge in a bout of call and response, throwing the gauntlet of sonic outrage back and forth to each other. Then Hendrix signals that it's time to bring proceedings to a finish with a note on the guitar that is just a little too earsplitting and distorted to be called keening. Mitchell takes the cue with some climatic kit explorations, while Hendrix brings the song home with incrementally descending single notes. The track ends in a gentle rush of feedback and exhausted cymbal splashes.

Love or Confusion

"Love or Confusion" is the first track on Are You Experienced that is not built upon recognizable musical foundations.

Although the songs hitherto have all been experimental in their own ways, this composition is almost otherworldly in its unusualness. Its departure from the preceding tracks is almost jarringly apparent from the first note: a trebly single guitar strum, which is followed by some bass work from Redding that is disconcertingly reminiscent of a human pulse, followed by the introduction of drumming mixed in such a way as to make Mitchell sound as though he is far off in the distance, yet still clearly audible. The surreal and exotic feel is then deepened by Hendrix's subsequent guitar work, it's as though not guitar notes, but sparkles and comet flares are dancing before us. To cap it all, when Hendrix starts singing, he sounds as if he is standing atop a mountain overlooking a canyon of which we, the listeners, are at the bottom, his words traveling down to us through a series of echoes.

It doesn't stop there. The track is an incredibly heady concoction of variations of color and texture: undulating guitar parts-all with different tones-over lap and interlock and separate again. One guitar part provides a quiet howl of feed-back at regular junctures and, miraculously, sounds no less musical than the track's conventional guitar work. When an interlude occurs, up pops another amazing part: a scraped guitar string, whose quiet, continuous rasping quality is like some kind of small engine warming up. Mitchell's circular drumming patterns echo Hendrix's lyric, which refers to the narrator's mind going 'round and 'round as he tries to solve the puzzle about the mental state expressed in the song's title.

The mundanity of such a dilemma is undermined by the fact that Hendrix is referring to such things as reaching up and touching the sun. Behind everything, there is Redding who-every time he becomes audible-is contributing that very slightly disquieting pulsing.

This track is not just a song, it is an aural painting. Everything in it is used to color and shade and provide perspective (and then make nonsense of perspective). It's a triumph not only for the group, but for the producer and engineer. And yet, though it is obviously a track that simply could not have been made without modern-day electric instruments and cutting-edge studio technology, there is something about "Love or Confusion" that seems utterly ancient. How mind-blowing all this must have been to the audience of 1967.

I Don't Live Today

No one, absolutely no one, could have maintained the sheer staggering brilliance of this album first five tracks, so it would be absurd to be disappointed or surprised that the following song, "I Don't Live Today" (the last track on side one of the original vinyl release) constitutes a slight falling away of quality.

Inevitably, there are several good things about this track. Hendrix's lyric is excellent. When he says he wishes that somebody would hurry up and rescue him so that he can be on his "miserable way," he is superbly, and with great economy of words, evoking despair, whether that despair be an individuals or the despair of a devastated and brutalized race. There are several sublime musical elements, too. Hendrix's guitar break has a nice liquidly quality to it. Mitchell's drumming is, as ever, never less than thoroughly imaginative. His dropped beats create a pleasantly disorienting lag effect. When he resumes a normal signature as he moves with Hendrix into the instrumental break, his drumming matches Hendrix's guitar work for gorgeous fluidity.

Yet the bad outweighs the good. Hendrix always had a masterful ability to make a brutal riff sound attractive, "Purple Haze" being the classic example. Yet the six-note lick on "I Don't Live Today" fails to delight in the same way. Its unimaginativeness is the very opposite of the incredible sonic invention of "Purple Haze," and the licks repetition almost becomes irritating. What sinks the track ultimately is the feed back. The way that the wails of Hendrix cranked-up guitar rush into the listener's face is presented as interesting in its own right, yet Hendrix doesn't do anything clever with it as he does on the previous track, nor does he incorporate it into the melody or arrangement. The track ends up as frequently form-less and often comes perilously close to being a din.

3rd Stone From The Sun

At half of its length, "3rd Stone from the Sun" would have been a very good, dreamy instrumental interlude before the album's punchier remainder. The song is fatally weakened, however-and the entire album sustains a flesh wound because it not only outstays its welcome but, in that extraneous playing time, mistakes technical innovation for aesthetic worth.

The track starts out well, like a Shadows instrumental brought into the space age: just as Hank Marvin explored the possibilities of lead guitar lines on the Stratocaster, presenting lines that were interesting in their own right-not just scene-setting for a vocal-on hits such as "Apache" and "FBI," so does Hendrix in the first couple of minutes of "3rd Stone Redding's bass commands equal attention' the melody he is playing bears no relation to that of the guitar, thus presenting an alternative option in the unlikely event that some might not want to listen to Hendrix's fretwork.

Then things begin to go wrong. As though the two are trying to cancel out the qualities of their playing for the first few minutes, Redding's bass figures become repetitive and overly simple, and Hendrix's feedback and backward experiments lose sight of the first standard of music: listenability. The listenability factor is also affected by the fact that-unthinkable on all other tracks-one looks at one's watch. Because the soporific nature of "3rd Stone." couldn't be a more unfortunate contrast to the way that every other song crackles and bristles with energy, it results in a profound slowing of the album's momentum. This might have been redeemed at the time by the novelty of the noises Hendrix was making, but 35 years later we are left with what some consider a boring period piece.

Remember

Following "3rd Stone ." as it does (on the U.K. version of the album, at any rate), the conventionality of "Remember" is thoroughly refreshing, although it's not only by comparison that this song triumphs. "Remember" is a ludicrously underrated song in the Hendrix canon. Yes, it is an R & B number (although had the word been more common then it would have been labeled soul) that lovingly embraces all the traditions of that genre-from its strident melody to its punchy rhythm to its use of the mockingbird motif-but it is in no way pedestrian. 

Hendrix delights in the traditions of the type of song he had once played night after night on the Chitlin circuit, but he does so with the aid of a superb backing band and his own inimitable inventiveness. These make all the difference. The melody is simply delicious and makes for a wonderfully fresh and exuberant sound. That, and a lyric that holds out hope in the face of desertion, results in a track that, like many great love songs, has a sunny and life-affirming quality despite its sad tale. of course, it's Hendrix's guitar playing that also lifts the track above the merely generic, those distinctive Hendrix qualities of quicksilver patterns and colossal volume serve to make of the form something that is grander and more resplendent, as though the genre has been dressed up in sonic ruffles and bows. 

The only black mark is a minor one: after Hendrix says that before his baby left him his mockingbird used to sing so "sweet," shouldn't the next line end with "week" rather than the non-rhyming "day"?

One should be suspicious of Hendrix fans who dismiss the likes of "Remember." Not only do their views smack of self-conscious edginess, they also betray a lack of understanding of both Hendrix the musician and Hendrix the man: "Remember" is no less quintessentially Hendrix than "Purple Haze."

Are You Experienced

The placing of "Remember" (in the U.K. album version) in front of the albums title and closing track neatly-and startlingly-shows just far Jimi Hendrix had come in the space of less than a year. If "Remember" represents Hendrix's roots, "Are You Experienced" demonstrates how he built upon those roots to take his music into the stratosphere. "Remember"-and all the songs like it that Hendrix had performed in 101 dim and dark venues on the Chitlin circuit-is performance. "Are You Experienced" is creation: the use of instruments to paint an aural picture. Integral to this is the obtaining from those instruments not their expected sounds, but the sounds you would least expect-and integral to that are production effects.

The track fades in. A fluttering backward guitar part (sounding uncannily like modern-day deejay scratching techniques) provides a fanfare for spangled guitar work and a very heavy percussive track. Hendrix's vocal, which occurs almost immediately, is both intimate (he's speaking in the second person) and distant (he doesn't waste time with formalities as he begins to almost hector the listener). Hendrix is encouraging the listener to become an initiate. Of what, however, is unclear. He could, of course, easily be talking about drugs (although he provides room for ambiguity with the final line' "Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful.") or, just as easily, he could be referring to sex. 

Then again, the song might be meaningless-the result of a whimsical desire to provide a sort of theme tune for a band called the Experience. It's irrelevant, both the lyric and the music are impressionistic. Shimmering strands of interweaving sounds in various degrees of focus dance across the rhythmic backdrop of shuffling backward rhythm guitar and quasi-militaristic drumming. The wheezing, fluttering backward guitar solo is truly stunning and clearly well thought out: the arbitrary sequences of noise that usually resulted from the tactic in this era would not have been so easy on the ear.

Whatever its considerable qualities, however, the album could have done with a less fey closer-something with more of an impact than this musical equivalent of a view through a kaleidoscope.

Hey Joe

"Hey Joe" sounds unlike anything else in Hendrix's canon, but, to the credit of the band (and Chandler) seems any- thing but the flag of convenience and foot-in-the-door tactic it was. In his rendition of Billy Roberts' tragedy (filtered through Tim Rose's vision), Hendrix manages a remarkable feat' to create the definitive reading of a song that anybody and everybody (a lot of them supremely talented) had already tackled.

Strangely, the opening guitar figure and the rest of the song are almost like two un-matching components, the intro is so sudden, dramatic, and dagger-sharp, it makes one expect something altogether more searing and up-tempo than the downbeat affair that follows. It's no matter, though, for the subsequent performance is exquisite in its brooding atmosphere and mood of defiance. Mitchell deserves much of the credit here. He adroitly sidesteps the problems many drummers face as to what to play on slow songs, crashing about his kit but doing it with such care and intelligence as to not destroy the mood in any way. Conceptually, the track's ending is magnificent (if probably unintended), Hendrix saying that no hangman is going to put a noose around his neck as the track is faded out paints a picture of a man disappearing into the distance-utterly opposite for a protagonist on the run. Hendrix's singing here and everywhere else on the track would be impressive in any case, but knowing how shy and insecure he was about his vocals then, his passion and presence takes on another dimension.

Purple Haze

"Purple Haze" was as great a departure from Hendrix's debut as could possibly be imagined. "Hey Joe" is, in terms of both theme and musical style, gritty reality. "Purple Haze" drives a coach and horses through the very concept of reality. The first bars are lumbering, dinosaur footsteps. Then the dinosaur speaks in the form of a gargantuan, growling riff, with Mitchell shadowing it for emphasis. The riff moves seamlessly into a swinging rhythm guitar part, the type of which Hendrix specialized in at the time: a supple, melodic, multiple-stringed affair-with outer margins blurred by distortion-that is far removed from the stabbed rhythm guitar style common at the time, yet avoids the equally unimaginative wall-of-sound rhythm guitar that is fashionable nowadays.

The lyric-whose rendition is EQ'ed to make it sound like Hendrix is declaiming from Mars-is genuinely poetic and clever. Overfamiliarity has dulled us to its charms, but just think about that frisson of delight you experienced the first time you heard Hendrix say-in an insane aside to the listener - "Scuse me while I kiss the sky!" The guitar solo is a stream of molten gold followed by some heavy breathing and the repetition of that growling riff once more. Another verse of grand-scale bewilderment-the protagonist, rather than not knowing what day of the week it is, is instead confused as to whether the time space he occupies is tomorrow or the end of time-and soon we reach the end of the song, a fade where the molten gold guitar tone, counterpointed by some fine rocket-ship-engine bass, once again reigns.

The Wind Cries Mary

"The Wind Cries Mary" boasts probably Hendrix's finest lyric. All the studying at the feet of Bob Dylan came together in a track that could pass for the missing verses of "Desolation Row." The two lines that counterpoint a queen weeping and a king having no wife are the high points of a song that is packed with dazzling imagery.

The music, however, is not as beautiful as the words-at least, if one hears it in stereo. 

This author remains unconvinced of the claims for the superiority of the mono versions of Are You Experienced tracks, but without doubt, Mary gains power in that mix. Hendrix's guitar playing is a rather rude presence in stereo-emphasizing how his three-note descending part at the end of each verse is unimaginative by his standards-but in mono, everything slips into focus, especially his lovely, warm singing. The music is a little too stiff, unfortunately. Improvisation generally worked for the Experience, but here, the lack of suppleness inherent in first takes is just a little too evident. [extract from 'Not Necessarily Stoned, But Beautiful' by Sean Egan, Unanimous Ltd, 2002. p185-202]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my German Vinyl pressing which I came across at a garage sale some decades ago. Full album artwork for vinyl and label scans are included. (This compilation has never been released on CD).  The condition of the vinyl is spectacular, as is the cover and the pressing quality lives up to its high German standard.  I played this double LP compilation set quite regularly until I acquired equivalent CD 'Best Of' releases, when I wanted to hear my favourite Hendrix songs.

Australian Gatefold 

However, there are two essential tracks missing from this 'Story Of Hendrix Compilation' - notably "Fire" and "Redhouse" and I always thought that these should have replaced the lesser known tracks "Gypsy Boy (New Rising Sun)" and "Trashman".

This compilation set is hard to find and doesn't appear on eBay that often. When it does it usually sells for $100+     One bizarre feature of my copy is that the Side 3 & 4 labels are on the wrong side of the record,  which I only discovered while ripping the vinyl for this post!  Not sure if this pressing error makes my copy super collectable or actually devalues it, but I can't believe I haven't discovered this earlier.  Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this comprehensive collection of Hendrix tracks and the Experience!

Tracklist

01 Purple Haze 2:40

02 Love Or Confusion 3:05

03 Message To Love  3:14

04 Gypsy Boy (New Rising Sun)  3:51

05 Little Miss Lover 2:10

06 I Don't Live Today 3:48

07 And The Gods Made Love 1:20

08 She's So Fine  2:31

09 Hey Joe   3:22

10 Remember 2:43

11 Are You Experienced 4:02

12 3rd Stone From The Sun 6:30

13 The Wind Cries Mary 3:15

14 All Along The Watchtower   3:58

15 Manic Depression 3:31

16 If Six Was Nine 3:53

17 Bold As Love 3:55

18 Little Wing 2:25

19 Foxy Lady 3:10

20 Burning Of The Midnight Lamp 3:35

21 Trashman   3:16

22 Castles Made Of Sand 2:35

23 Voodoo Chile 3:32

24 Stone Free Again   3:25

Story Of Jimi Hendrix Link (472Mb)

New Link 12/10/2023