JIMI HENDRIX

Songwriting, songwriting, and more songwriting: that is what separates Axis from its predecessor Are You Experienced. On Axis, Jimi seems to actually put thought into the music being committed to tape. And the results are simply revolutionary. Take "Spanish Castle Magic" for instance. The core of this song is still blues- based riffing. But thanks to interesting supplemental chords, syncopated drumming, and a dose of Hendrix magic, the song is a hard rock trip unlike anything heard before.

The record is further bolstered by a legendary rhythm guitar performance by Hendrix. Though usually known for his bombastic soloing, Hendrix's rhythm guitar work on tracks like "Little Wing," "Bold as Love, " and "Castles Made of Sand" is nothing short of masterful.

This record is best described with one word: overrated. This applies even to the modern-day compilation version of the record that includes tracks from both the US and UK versions as well as singles recorded during the same recording sessions. The majority of songs on this record are loosely built around a weak riff that sounds as if Jimi spat it out shortly before the producer hit the record button. The psychedelic "innovations" on this record, such as they are, don't stack up well against similar releases from the time, specifically The Beatles. "Love Or Confusion" is basically the same song as The Beatles' "Rain" only significantly inferior.

The record is saved by the fact that a handful of riffs, riffs that eventually formed the basis of hard rock and proto-metal going forward, made their way into the final product. These include the riffs on "Foxy Lady," "Stone Free," and, of course, "Purple Haze."

Both Sides of the Sky is a 13 track release of studio recordings made between 1968 and 1970. Of these 13 songs, 10 have never been published (or at least authorized to be or as such). This album is the third release launched by Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings of a trilogy of posthumously released recordings intended as a "true to life" follow-up to Electric Ladyland (1968), starting with Valleys of Neptune (2010), and People, Hell and Angels (2013).

Well! Enough info. I was kind of surprised by the fireworks and parades which preceded Valleys of Neptune and People, Hell and Angels and the complete oblivion of this one, which is to me what those first two were for the rest, it never gets old.

Anyway, this is a very coherent compilation of Jimi Hendrix´s strong connection with his Blues/Rock roots which means, to my benefit, there are few funky music sections which I repell organically.

Accompanied by a modest guest star list with very modest one track or two appearances and as straightforward as only he did, Jimi Hendrix plays a masterclass of his perfect knowledge of the geographically diverse universe of Blues stylings, which is why maybe this album is/was not that popular, but do not feel discouraged it also features some doses of his unique experimental songwriting.

You have been forewarned.

****4 PA stars

THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE may have had a short shelf life having only existed for four years and crafting three albums but they really knew how to make things count and take things to the next level on each subsequent release. The final chapter of the power trio that consisted of JIMI HENDRIX on vocals and guitar (and various other instruments such as comb and tissue paper kazoo!), Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums resulted in one of the most complex and enduring albums that the late 60s had to offer. In addition to the trio's dominate instrumental prowess on the third and final album ELECTRIC LADYLAND, there was a whole army of guest musicians and production personnel involved making this one of the most expensive albums to have come out in 1968 and with eleven musicians and vocalists adding touches of flute, saxophone, Hammond organ, piano, 12-string guitar, congas and backing vocals, it's also one of the most diverse and magnanimous sounding albums of the band's three album career.

Keeping things in the same cosmic flow as their previous two albums, the EXPERIENCE continued in the lines of the psychedelically fueled blues rock that alternated between hard rock, blues and funk that added jazz touches. The indefatigable JIMI HENDRIX himself spent countless hours recording and re-recording tracks and then polishing them into pure perfection to the point where his perfectionist tendencies which coupled with the open invitation for friends to join in on the studio time led to a break in the professional relationship between HENDRIX and the man responsible for his initial success, Chas Chandler. The track "Gypsy Eyes" alone took 50 takes in 3 sessions to record. Despite the magnanimous nature of what went into the recording and production values, ELECTRIC LADYLAND sounds as if it was created in an impromptu performance as it flows fairly naturally from beginning to end, production techniques excluded of course.

So fertile was HENDRIX's output that there was enough material to create a double album and at a playing time of over 75 minutes, was quite the commitment for the fans to wrap their heads around but nonetheless ELECTRIC LADYLAND instantly shot to the top of the charts and generated the band's only top 40 hit in the US with the Bob Dylan cover of "All Along The Watchtower," a track that Dylan himself has admitted to being a vast improvement over his original. While the public enthusiastically supported the new album, the critics who had trouble finding a way to relate to the album weren't so kind but was the decades have elapsed and new generations have discovered the ambitious nature of this album, it has since been deemed one of the greatest rock albums of all time as it effortlessly coalesced the disparate elements of funk, blues, hard rock, jazz and psychedelia under one anthemic banner.

ELECTRIC LADYLAND crafted a much denser and sophisticated compositional approach than either "Are You Experienced?" or "Axis: Bold As Love." While clearly still rooted in the bluesy heavy rock riffing and guitar soloing showmanship style that had propelled HENDRIX into the limelight, the album shows a rock band evolving past the limitations of what a rock band was considered to be and much like The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" which changed the musical landscape the year prior was in the forefront of experimental techniques that included extensive use of backmasking, chorus effects, echoing and flange. Likewise the 15 minute long "Voodoo Chile" presaged the entire progressive rock revolution that would become official once King Crimson launched their ground zero detonating "In The Court Of The Crimson King" the following year. In short, ELECTRIC LADYLAND had the simplicity and hooks to draw in the crowds and the subtle complexities to keep them coming back for more.

Eclectic and diverse, ELECTRIC LADYLAND showcased HENDRIX's own sundry stylistic approaches. While some tracks like "Voodoo Chile" exorcised his deepest inner blues, others like "Come On" focused on R&B whereas "Crosstown Traffic" was more in the acid hard rock camp. "Little Miss Strange" was one of the few tracks to feature Mitch Mitchell on lead vocals and is a strange little 60s beat pop song tucked into the layers of psychedelically tinged externalities that provide the unifying factor. HENDRIX seemed to realize that this would be his magnum opus as his attention to this exhaustive labor of love only became apparent to the world that his works were indeed the makings of a mad genius who ceaselessly toiled over his worktable to create the next addition to his musical canvas. With a message presented in the album's final track "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" that said "If I don't meet you no more in this world, then I'll meet you in the next one, and don't be late, don't be late" makes you wonder if HENDRIX didn't know on a higher level that his days on Earth were limited.

Having not been around for the original release of this magnificent album has been one of my biggest hurdles in appreciating its brilliance as i've had to work my way back through the timeline to wrap my head around the mindset that launched the whole 60s psychedelic rock scene in the first place. While any progressive rock or metalhead who delves deep enough in the way back machine will ultimately end up here, it does not mean for a second that the album will be regarded in such high esteem. The album has to be not just heard but EXPERIENCED on a higher plane to truly understand. It's almost a transcendental meditative experience in its own right once the left-brained antics of comparison to those who were influenced by this era are allowed to dissipate. Overall the album comes off as a dream sequence at rock concert where the performers exist in multiple dimensions simultaneously and are able to connect on a cosmic level superseding the 3D limitations of the Earth plane. Something struck a chord with the fans. ELECTRIC LADYLAND remains the JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE's most successful album of the mere three album career and one that may not transcend the time it was created but on the contrary takes the listener back to the best aspects of what made the era so great.

"The world's most famous autodidact guitar player!"

Little Jimi Hendrix grew up in a family where he was torn between two extreme worlds: a caring but often absent father and an alcoholic mother who frequently beated him up and gave most of her attention to men for sex. She died at the age of 32, due to extreme alcohol abuse, Jimi was 15 years old and had developped a very unbalanced emotional world. A few months later his father gave him a guitar, because many members of the family showed interest in music. Soon Jimi discovered that he could put his rollercoaster of emotions into playing guitar. He practised hours and hours on 'his best friend', imitated all sounds around him and finally turned into professional guitarist in 1961. However, it took a long road before his virtuosic and innovative but also unconventional guitarplay was recognized. Eventually his mindblowing gig at Monterey Pop mid 1967 made Jimi Hendrix a guitar hero who changed the world of rock music. Jimi's 3 albums sold very well and he was highly praised. But how sad that Jimi, like his mother, had a too self-destructive nature. Because without making music he felt increasingly angry, rejected, restless and depressed and numbed himself more and more with sex, drugs and alcohol. This ultimate downward slide ended at the very bottom: late 1970 he suffocated in his own vomit, after taking an extreme overdosis of sleeping pills and died, only 27 years old. But his music is timeless and still inspires many people to let their guitars speak, like Jimi Hendrix did in his unique and unsurpassed way.

This comprehensive compilation CD contains mainly tracks from the three studio albums he released during his life: Are You Experienced? and Bold As Love from 1967 and Electric Ladyland from 1968, the rest is from posthume released albums like Cry Of Love (1971) and the highly acclaimed 1969-1970 recordings compilation Rainbow Bridge (1971).

An important part of Jimi his work is raw, high energetic and steamy rock featuring Jimi Hendrix his screaming, crying, howling and blistering guitar, fueled by a propulsive and dynamic rhythm-section (reminding me of Cream, The Who and Led Zeppelin). We can enjoy this creative powerhouse trio in most tracks, especially in the exciting Purple Haze and Manic Depression (the title points at his own mental condition, that shifted frequently from hyperactive to deeply depressed).

Jimi played a lot of legendary riffs, like in Hey Joe (wonderful melodic guitar work and pumping bass play), All Along The Watchtower (subtle Hawaii guitar and wah-wah pedal and finally fading howling guitar runs), Foxy Lady (fiery guitar solo) and Voodoo Child - Slight Return (exciting blend of rock, blues and psychedelia with heavy and raw wah-wah drenched guitar play). These songs are topped with his outstanding vocals, from tender to powerful, Jimi himself was not very positive about his voice but we know better.

His mellow side can be traced in the wonderful songs The Wind Cries Mary (fragile guitar and warm vocals) and the bluesy Little Wing.

In the swinging Castles Made Of Sand (inspired by his Cherokee bloodline) the vocals sound like 'embryonal rap', very special to hear and another example of his varied musical taste. And as a 'genuine genius' he was ahead of his time.

It's blues time in Bold As Love (sensitive guitar work and in the end a phaser sound and piano), Angel and especially the exciting Red House, an Old School blues atmosphere (his hero was Muddy Waters) by the vocals and guitar and with subtle use of overdubs and echo.

Finally the instrumental composition Star Spangled Banner: how unique, played by Hendrix on stage since 1968, this wide range of distorted sounds, like bombs, machine guns, crashing heli's, crying and screaming people, up to your imagination. It's a great example how creative and innovative Jimi Hendrix was with 'his best friend'.

Enjoy the most progressive guitar player of all times on this excellent compilation!

This album is the closest we've had commercially released of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Until the excellent West Coast Seattle Boy) than could be thought of as The Beatles Anthology. Or even the closest to the recent Pink Floyd studio boxset. It contains three tracks of Mitch Mitchell and the legend Noel Redding overdubbed in 1987, under the watchful eye of Chas Chandler. It predates "Free As A Bird" by many years and is more satisfying than the final two Beatles singles made from Lennon's gifted tapes. Possible legalities negated as all the personnel involved are no longer on this planet to hear the 'Valleys Of Neptune" as it was released in 2010.

12 tracks and excluding the three tracks not mentioned as in introduced, there is enough material of the Experience that together with some of the highlights of the second disc of "West Coast Seattle Boy" would have made an impressive stop gap and final word on the band had it been compiled and released in 1969 and what an insight into Jimi's perfection the album is. And what an oversight of management my fantasy outtakes album never happened in 1969.

One interesting part of the album for me are the time snaps of Noel Redding in 1969, sounding flippant and bored with yet another play through of a life staple "Hear My Train A'Coming". My preferred version is the BBC version if not his single acoustic filmed. Despite how bored Noel sounds, Hendrix paints a canvas and sounds so relaxed but confident. Compare that to the post-9/70 Redding on the final track "Crying Blue Rain". A snapshot of Jimi recorded in London self produced that in June the 5th, Noel and Mitch added their parts that not just pick up from where they left off with the slow blues, they keep up and follow Jimi as he has an instrumental freakout of chord sequences. Leaving the album and listener left alone in the stratosphere to descend back to your lives.

Although some material was reworked by the driven Jimi, the fact that Ezy Ryder got the riff means we were robbed of "Lullaby For The Summer" being associated with the greatest way the band could have bowed out of.

It sounds great listened to in full on these bright warm nights, the studio take of Red House is better than the version on the US Are You Experienced?. But it sounds more lived in. You can hear the fact Hendrix wanted to get the sound bigger. You can hear the band having everything they could possibly do just give expert performances that make the wrong notes and off beats hard to notice at first.

As excellent the recent live CDs of Hendrix have been, this studio album is as essential as First Rays Of The New Rising Sun and even Axis : Bold As Love. (Despite it being recorded after Electric Ladyland). When he lets the guitar do the taking there really is no other. Stripped away from the endless retakes and attempts intended to be optimum, Jimi's messages still sound like they could have been made today.

5

The initial US release of Are You Experienced featured "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary" replacing "Redhouse", "Can You See Me" , and "Remember" from the UK version released earlier. And the album was all the better for it. Combined with psych rock classics like "Manic Depression", "Foxy Lady", "May This be Love" along with the studio manipulated space rock classic titled "3rd Stone From The Sun", made the album a musical, as well as a cultural statement, that rock was never going to be quite the same again. There was no pretending that Hendrix was an American rock pioneer like Chuck Berry, Elvis and all else who preceded him, which was far from the case with so many copycat British artists. Hendrix ironically reclaimed rock from the hands of the Brits and simply showed how it should be done, after starting off his brief but ultimately cataclysmic career in the UK before heading back to the US and forever cementing his guitar god status.

But what is incredibly missed is the appreciation of Hendrix as a songwriter. All the screaming guitar notes drenched in feedback would be nothing more than noise without solid catchy songs to be attached to. And Hendrix's chart rivals were no slouches at song craft and included the Beatles, The Who, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, et al.

Heavily influenced by the Beatles' studio craft of vari speed tape effects, flanging, phasing, etc., it is the only thing that dates some of Hendrix's songs. Even jazz inflected drummer Mitch Mitchel and bassist Noel Redding elevated their playing to complement and, frankly, not to be overpowered by Hendrix's guitar assaults, while also being able to mellow out sufficiently on Hendrix's quieter reflective moments and provide lush backing..

There's really noting more that I can say about a group of songs, or an artist, so well known except this. Are You Experienced in it's former US released format on CD, with omitted UK's issued songs added in as bonus tracks, is still a refreshing mind blowing listening experience that is still as enjoyable and as ground breaking today as when Are You Experienced was first released in 1967.

This is the greatest box set ever associated with Jimi Hendrix.A DVD containing a Timeline (Expertly narrated by Bootsy Collins) of Jimi's letters from the Army. All the way up to his plans before his death. News reports of this are also included. Full song clips of TV performances. The greatest DVD (It knocks the Joe Boyd film!) is also available separately, should you find the box set price too much at the moment.

4 discs, the first is an alternative R'n'B Also Fans Of The 1960's. As it charts Jimi's session and early bands. The second disc starts us off during the making of "Are You Experienced?", and goes up to "Electric Ladyland", complete with acoustic demo tracks. This is probably the disc I play the most. The third disc is post "Electric Ladyland" in the first half and post Noel Redding for the second half. Woodstock guitarist Larry Lee sings a self composed sing "Mastermind" which is one of my highlights of the box. The final disc is either my second most played, or joint first, but it starts with an incredible Band Of Gypsies live take of "Stone Free" that Jimi transforms into a New Year's Eve celebration. Disc four has some incredible studio material from the same Band Of Gypsies that were tragically broken up. The last half of the fourth disc has Jimi paired with Billy Cox from his last band and Mitch Mitchell. One of my other highlights of the box is the instrumental "All God's Children" and finally the box ends with "Suddenly November Morning". A haunting acoustic demo which begs the confirmation and release of a whole album of acoustic Hendrix!

It was 2010 when I first got this box. I still listen to it constantly until forcing myself to change the discs. I feel it is a full five star effort. It is significant Experience Hendrix hasn't made another box. This would take some beating in both presentation (Book with rare photos sandwiched between the two discs on either bookend. DVD in envelope page at the end of the text), content and overall musicianship in the "West Coast Seattle Boy- The Jimi Hendrix Experience" box set.

Contracts, conflicts and confusion. This pretty much sums up the Band Of Gypsys (Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles and Billy Cox) first set performed and recorded on December 31, 1969 at the now legendary Fillmore East. As many Hendrix fans know, this was the premier live outing of Hendrix's new vehicle that is claimed to have put him back into the arena of black music after two years of Hendrix vehemently dodging the long held stereotype that black guitarists could only play the blues and R&B. Both genres in which Jimi cut his teeth both on an amateur and professional level, before skyrocketing to international stardom playing feedback drenched acid rock and psychedelic with an accessible pop vibe as part of the famous Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Experience also featured white British cohorts in the form of bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchel. These four Fillmore concerts recored in two days were also a means for Hendrix to honor a contract dispute and eventual settlement to deliver a album to PPX/Capital Records as part of a court settlement.

Hendrix's motivation to go into a soul, R&B, funk, and blues direction is manifold and frankly, quite speculative. However, it's the 1969 Band Of Gypsys album that has solidified his long time standing as a blues guitarist of renown, regardless if the capricious Hendrix had possibly not intended to keep pursuing that musical direction had he not perished.

This first set on the first night of the Fillmore New Year's Eve concerts is basically a run through of Hendrix's newer, if not brand new songs, and the introduction of Buddy Miles as an R&B force, both vocally and musically, in the newly formed Band Of Gypsys.

With out a doubt, this first set is subpar to what has been officially released on either the Band Of Gypsys LP and the additional material released much later on Live At The Filmore East in 1999. Sticking out glaringly is that the magnificent solo on the song "Machine Gun", recorded the second night and released on the Band Of Gypsys album, is nowhere to be found on this first night's jittery performance and that Buddy Miles, as rock steady as is his drumming is, is a bit over the top with his "soulful" backing vocals on songs such as "Power Of Soul." In fact both "Power of Soul" and "Message to Love" would be both be better performed on the Band Of Gypsys album. Another glaring omission is any form of the powerhouse song "Who Knows", which was not to be performed until the second set of the first night's shows and done better on the following day's sets. Songs featured on this first set such as "Hear My Train A Comin' and" Isabella" are perfunctionary at best.

Where the confusion comes in is on the part of the subdued audience, their unfamiliarity with Hendrix's new material and his refusal play past well known hits like "Purple Haze" and "Foxy Lady." He would do so shorty later on the second of the night's set as more than likely, it was in reaction to Hendrix's own startled response when a member of the subdued crowd wished him a Happy New Year. It's seems that Jimi forgot.

Imagine that. New Year's Eve in NYC and the Band Of Gypsys sounded like they just finished playing at a wake. Stick with the Band Of Gypsys album form 1969 and seek out the now out of print Live At The Fillmore East CD from 1999, as both feature far superior performances. And keep Machine Gun: The Filllmore East First Show only for it's historical value. If you're of a mind to.

At the beginning of 1966, JIMI HENDRIX was struggling to even make minimum wage playing R&B covers. By the end of 1966, he had finished recording his first album "Are You Experienced?" and released it to great success as THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE band giving the rock world a must needed kick in the arse. By the beginning of 1967, the band was famous worldwide and penuriousness was replaced by every pressure known to the successful musician and piled upon the trio due to contractual obligations, thus a second album was demanded to be released within the same year of 1967. Sooooo THE EXPERIENCE rushed into the studio and recorded their second album AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE which came out in December, 1967 in the UK but was held back in the US because it was feared it would interfere with sales of the first album, so it was released in May of 1968. Typical record company malarky of the day!

AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE basically continues offering the same psychedelic, energetic and innovative blues rock concoctions that HENDRIX was so successful in constructing on album number one with his elegant display of melodic expansion in the most creative ways. The fact that this band so deftly and proficiently pumped out a majorly spectacular array of brilliant songs is a testament to the power of JIMI HENDRIX and explains how he was able to record decades worth of music in a very short time span when new material is still being released almost fifty years after his untimely passing. The tracks on this album were done with a healthy dose of studio recording techniques of the day and as a result most were never performed in a live setting with the exception of "Spanish Castle Magic" and "Little Wing" but THE EXPERIENCE successfully conjured up a brilliant followup to their spectacular ground breaking debut with grace.

Neck in neck with The Beatles in innovating rock'n'roll, AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE begins with the lysergic mind expansive trip of "EXP" which takes the art of microphone and harmonic feedback to new extreme levels for the day and simulates a strange close encounter of the third kind with extraterrestrial contact. After this strange album introduction, we get some more familiar HENDRIX action with a psychedelic funk rock narration of concerned extraterrestrial life returning to the Earth concerned of the abuses of the top dog species, namely, homo sapiens and how they are degrading the ecosystems upon which their lives are dependent. HENDRIX was totally in tune with the ecological issues plaguing humankind and was ahead of the rest of the world in adapting these issues to music. That would have made a great concept album actually but the album continues on a track by track basis with each song having its own theme and meaning.

Brilliantly THE EXPERIENCE eschews AXIS: from being a clone of "Are You??" Instead it creates a somewhat similar but more nonchalant way of incorporating the recent upgrades in the rock universe with the usual psychedelic rock guitar riffage of HENDRIX himself with the jazz inspired drum workouts of Mitch Mithcell while the bass guitars of Noel Redding provide the most stable and grounding attributes of the music with the occasional jazz inspired methods as well. The album also adds lots of new instruments to the mix adding a more diverse feel from the debut. HENDRIX contributes piano and recorder, Mitchell adds some glockenspiel and Redding offers his best foot stomping percussion. AXIS: also has the best album cover of all THE EXPERIENCE years releases!

THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE is certainly an archival type of band beyond most our musical experiences unless you are well into you 60s at this point. I did not start out loving this album by any means. In fact i always thought HENDRIX was fairly boring! However, there is something about these albums including this second one that has the power to burrow into the future and into my DNA that has infected me with admiration. True this is not technically as adept as what has come to develop over the decades that follow, but this was truly innovative at the time and if the listener simply resonates with the music, it will surely reveal its time period prowess and charm with merely a few attentive and open-minded listens. I now regard this album as much as a brilliant masterpiece as the debut. The musical elements sewn together with the concepts are outstanding and considering this was a trio makes it all the more impressive.