Hendrix in the West - Jimi Hendrix

Hendrix in the West
Jimi Hendrix
Reprise Records MS 2049
1972 

Hendrix in the West

Jimi Hendrix

Experience Hendrix Records/Sony Legacy

2011

In my post on "War Heroes" I complained about the shoddy treatment of Hendrix's legacy by greedy record companies since his death.  The Reprise issue of this record exemplifies that.  It was among the earliest of Hendrix posthumous releases.  It was already out of print when I got into Hendrix and I ended up with a used copy.  I debated with myself whether I needed the 2011 reissue but when I saw a cheap one, I decided to pick it up.  The music on both albums is outstanding, but neither version is entirely satisfactory.  The concept of the album was to create a Hendrix live album and it was largely drawn from a pair of shows in California which presumably gave the album its title.  One show featured the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the San Diego Sports Arena on May 24, 1969 and the other was two shows at the Berkeley Community Theater with Hendrix backed by Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox on May 30, 1970 which was documented in the film "Jimi Plays Berkeley."  The album also contains a short musical excerpt from Hendrix's performance at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30, 1970.  The San Diego show is a terrific show, one of the best I've ever heard.  It was released in its entirety on the CD box set "Stages" which is one of my favorite posthumous Hendrix release.  The second of the two shows at Berkeley has also been released on its own.  I  prefer having complete shows rather than compilations of performances.  That's hardly the only problem with the Reprise release.  The performances of "Little Wing" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" on the record listed as being from the San Diego show are actually from the Experience's performance at the Royal Albert Hall on February 24, 1969.  Hendrix didn't even perform "Little Wing" at the San Diego show.  Furthermore "Voodoo Child" is misspelled on the gatefold and outer sleeve where it is listed as "Voodo Chile" and the song running order is incorrect in both places.  Such sloppiness is more worthy of a bootleg than a release from a major record label.  The reissue attempts to rectify this.  There is a handsome booklet that features a short essay by John McDermott (author of the excellent book "Jimi Hendrix Sessions") which discusses the background of the original album and the concerts it documents.  The revised album replaces the Royal Albert Hall performance of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" with the San Diego performance but since Hendrix didn't perform "Little Wing" in San Diego, that song is replaced by a 1968 performance of the song from the Experience's series of concerts at Winterland in San Francisco (which have been released extensively in an awesome box set.)  The album is expanded into a double album by the inclusion of three additional songs from the San Diego show.  For a double album it is a bit skimpy with two sides that are less than 15 minutes long.  There would be room to include all the San Diego concert if they wanted.  I presume they rejected "Hey Joe" because it is a little sloppy (although I still like it) but I can't imagine why they omitted the fiery performance of "Purple Haze."  The most obvious flaw in the new album is that they list the incorrect date of the San Diego show in the liner notes for the album, all the more galling since McDermott provided the correct date in his essay.  So both albums are flawed, but what about the music?  It is essential.  If you dig Hendrix you are going to want to have the San Diego show in some form.  I would opt for the "Stages" version even if it is on CD since it has the entire show in its original order and preserves Hendrix's stage patter which is typically wonderful.  The reissued "Hendrix in the West" is a decent alternative, especially since the remastered vinyl sounds great.  The highlight of the show is a 13 minute workout on "Red House" which many people (myself included) consider the best version on record.  Hendrix's epic solo is full of drama and passion, the blues doesn't get any hotter than this.  The other highlight is the smoking 10 minute performance of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return.)"  It is one of the most exciting versions of the song that I've ever heard.  It is superior to the Royal Albert Hall version on the original album although that one is worth having too.  The three other new additions from San Diego aren't quite as strong but all are worthwhile.  My favorite is the cacophonous take on "I Don't Live Today" which blows away the studio version on "Are You Experienced."  The 10 minute long version of "Spanish Castle Magic" is marred by an overly long Mitch Mitchell drum solo but Hendrix's part is outstanding.  The song also includes an instrumental version of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" that is uncredited on the album, probably to avoid paying royalties.  "Fire" has a lot of energy but doesn't stray far from the studio version.  The Berkeley show is nearly as great as the San Diego one.  My favorite cut is the incendiary cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" from the first show.  It is the most exciting performance of that venerable classic that I've ever heard by anybody.  Either version of this album is worth buying for that track alone.  "Lover Man" comes from the second show and it is also an exciting performance with a dynamic solo from Hendrix that incorporates "The Flight of the Bumblebee."  The final Berkeley track is a rocking cover of Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" which comes from the soundcheck for the show.  Hendrix might have just been messing around but his solo is brilliant.  It is a testament to the man's incredible genius that his soundchecks were better than other people's actual shows.  As for the other cuts the graceful Winterland version of "Little Wing" is my favorite version of that song because of its deeply soulful vocal from Hendrix but I like the forceful solo on the Royal Albert Hall performance.  Both versions are worth having.  The medley of "God Save the Queen" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" from the Isle of Wight is minor but fun and it makes a nice introduction for the album.  I enjoy this record but I still don't get it.  Why not just leave the exploitative Reprise "Hendrix in the West" alone and simply issue remastered vinyl albums of the complete San Diego concert and both shows of the Berkeley performance?  That would show Hendrix the proper respect for the integrity of his performances.  I hate this cherry picking approach.  Hendrix played his music like a jazz musician.  He never performed anything the same way twice.  All his shows are worth hearing, even the weaker tracks.  That is not to say that I don't recommend this new version of "Hendrix in the West."  It sounds great and has nice packaging, it was certainly made with more care and respect than the Reprise original.  My initial impulse was to get rid of my original copy, but I worship Hendrix too much to part with any of his records.  Unless you are a devoted collector you can skip the Reprise version, the reissue is the only one you need.  Recommended to people who can't get enough Hendrix. 

War Heroes - Jimi Hendrix

War Heroes
Jimi Hendrix
Reprise Records  MS 2103
1972

I think the question with posthumous Hendrix is "are you still being ripped off if you know you are being ripped off?"  I don't think any artist in pop music has been as ruthlessly exploited as Hendrix has since his premature death.  He only released three studio albums in his lifetime, but I would guess at least 50 albums have come out since he died.  It started with Warner Bros. and then MCA/Universal and now the Hendrix estate, all endlessly repackaging his outtakes and live recordings.  I'm not complaining, I eat this stuff up.  I've bought lots of these albums and never regretted a single one.  Warner Bros. was the worst of the three as far as I'm concerned.  They packaged the material shoddily and then compounded the offense by bringing in Alan Douglas to supervise the releases and he had the gall to tamper with the original tapes adding overdubs and erasing original backing tracks.  This album fortunately pre-dates the Alan Douglas era.  It was produced by Eddie Kramer who was the original engineer on many of the tracks.  It is still kind of shoddy though.  The title doesn't make much sense and there are no notes about the origin of the tracks.  Also some of the tracks were clearly never intended for release.  The album opens with a cover of Elmore James' "Bleeding Heart" from 1970 with Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell.  It is a terrific song with a smoking hot solo from Hendrix.  It sounds more funky than bluesy, he really makes it his own.  It is one of my favorite songs on the album.  It is followed by "Highway Chile" from 1967 performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  It is not an outtake but rather the b-side of the British single "The Wind Cries Mary" yet it was surprisingly never released in the United States.  It is another great song, but it stands out from the rest of the album stylistically since it is so old.  Reprise should have stuck it on "Smash Hits."  "Tax Free" is an instrumental by Bo Hansson and Janne Karlsson recorded by the Experience during the "Electric Ladyland" sessions in 1968.  I've never understood why Hendrix liked the song so much, I think it is kind of monotonous.  On the plus side it does give him a lot of room to do his thing particularly in the manic rave-up at the end which is awesome.  The medley of "Peter Gunn" and "Catastrophe" (a parody of Frankie Laine's "Jealousy") was recorded during a session in May 1970 with Cox and Mitchell.  It is essentially a joke that was obviously never meant for public consumption.  I like it, but I'm sure Hendrix would never have approved of it being released.  The side ends with "Stepping Stone" which was originally recorded by the Band of Gypsys in 1969.  This song was briefly released on a single as the b-side to "Izabella" but was quickly withdrawn.  Hendrix was unhappy with the song and continued tinkering with it in 1970 and eventually replaced Buddy Miles' drum track with a new one with Mitch Mitchell which is the version that is on this album.  Judging from a surviving potential track listing, Hendrix apparently intended to include the song on the "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" album that he was working on at the time of his death.  The song is kind of messy but Hendrix plays up a storm on it.  By the time he finishes my speakers are practically on fire.  "Midnight" is an instrumental recorded by the Experience in 1969.  It sounds like a jam, I doubt that Hendrix would have allowed it to be released although of course the guitar work is outstanding and I dig the heavy riff.  "3 Little Bears" is another leftover from the 1968 "Electric Ladyland" sessions.  It is nowhere close to release-ready, I find it kind of embarrassing.  As Hendrix says at one point "this is really silly."  I don't think it is worthless, but then again I even enjoy listening to the man tune his guitar.  This is the censored version of the song with Hendrix's profanities mixed out.  "Beginning" was recorded in July 1970 with Cox and Mitchell as part of the "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" project.  The song is credited to Mitch Mitchell but on the "Woodstock II" album (where the song is listed under the title "Jam Back At The House") the song is credited solely to Hendrix which is probably closer to the truth.  The song sounds unfinished but it has enough great riffs running through it to fill an entire Bachman-Turner Overdrive album and Hendrix's solos are dazzling.  The final track,"Izabella," was also played at Woodstock and intended for "First Rays of the New Rising Sun. "  It was recorded in 1969 by the band Hendrix used at Woodstock, Gypsy Sun & Rainbows.  It is among my favorite songs from the "Rising Sun" sessions and I have no idea why Reprise waited so long to stick it on an album, especially since it was briefly released as a single.  I would have put it on "The Cry of Love."  Aside from "Highway Chile" it stands out as being the most polished and well-constructed Hendrix original song on the album.  There is some excellent music on this album, I enjoy Hendrix's outtakes more than I like many of his peers' completed songs.  However you can find most of the best tracks here on more intelligent and better packaged compilations.  Recommended for Hendrix completists. 

Are You Experienced - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Are You Experienced
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Reprise  RS 6261
1967

Are You Experienced
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Experience Hendrix/Sony Legacy 88765441751
2013

This is the American debut album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and a recent mono reissue of the British debut album that was originally released by Track Records.  The American debut was the first Hendrix album I owned.  I bought it at Tower Records in Berkeley about 1979.  I was a late convert to Hendrix.  I saw "Woodstock" while I was in high school and Hendrix's performance gave me a headache - too many close-ups and too much noise.  I also saw "Monterey Pop" as a young teen and thought his performance was self-indulgent and gimmicky.  Fortunately I've since realized the errors of my ways and Hendrix is now my favorite guitarist and one of my favorite performers.  This is one of the great debut albums in rock history, particularly in its U.S. release version on Reprise - for once the U.S. record company made a better version than its U.K. counterpart.  I prefer the psychedelic record cover that Reprise used and I approve of substituting the classic singles "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary" for "Can You See Me," "Red House" and "Remember" although if it were up to me, "Third Stone From the Sun" or "May This Be Love" would be the songs coming off the album instead.  "Red House" is a great performance, but it is pretty much a straight blues song and disrupts the flow of an otherwise psychedelic album.  "Remember" is one of the worst songs that Hendrix ever wrote, I find it lackluster and dull.  "Can You See Me" on the other hand is terrific, I wish Reprise had kept it on the album.  As for the issue of mono versus stereo, I prefer the stereo versions for the most part.  Maybe I'm just used to hearing the stereo versions having been listening to them for 35 years, but they sound more expressive to me particularly on the more expansive psychedelic numbers like "Are You Experienced" or "I Don't Live Today."  The reissue sounds very crisp though, they did a great job mastering it.  In either version I think the most remarkable thing about this record is that it represented something entirely new, nothing like this had ever been heard before.  I'm a little envious of people who bought this in 1967 and heard it for the first time.  How astonishing it must have sounded, I'll bet they were blown away.  Admittedly when I listen to "Love or Confusion," I am reminded of the Yardbirds in the Jeff Beck era and prior to Hendrix's arrival, Jeff Beck was the most inventive and creative guitarist in rock.  Certainly the Yardbirds explored the heavy psychedelic blues before Hendrix did, but they were just as likely to deliver silly pop ditties as well.  Hendrix was a far superior songwriter and a more consistent artist.  As inane as "Third Stone From the Sun" may be, it is still far more interesting than "Hot House of Omagarashid" or "Little Soldier Boy."  Besides, nothing in the Yardbirds catalog (great as it is) can really compare to "I Don't Live Today" or "Purple Haze."  This is the boldest and heaviest rock music ever, played with unprecedented skill and passion.  This isn't just lumpen heaviness like Blue Cheer, this is heaviness with a purpose.  Even now, 44 years later, it still sounds impressive, state of the art heavy rock.  No metal guitarist will ever approach Hendrix at his zenith.  Every riff he touched turned to gold, the man was one of the few bona fide geniuses in rock.  Aside from "Remember," "Third Stone From the Sun" or "May This Be Love" every song on either version of the album is brilliant and even those three are enjoyable.  This is a record with intelligent and poetic lyrics and dazzling playing throughout, what more do you want from a rock album?  1967 was such an amazing year, so many great albums were released that year but I have yet to hear a better one than this.  Recommended to anyone who has never been experienced.