Jimi Hendrix - People, Hell & Angels

 

Self made compilation

A1 Freedom

A2 Earth Blues

A3 Cherokee Mist

A4 Angel

B1 Dolly Dagger

B2 In From The Storm

B3 Beginning

B4 Night Bird Flying

B5 Drifter's Escape

C1 Straight Ahead

C2 Drifting

C3 Pali Gap

C4 Astro Man

D1 Hey Baby

D2 Hear My Train A-Comin'

D3 Belly Button Window

The third and final instalment of the Hendrix recorded archive compilations is here.

This album attempts to pull together the recordings made by Hendrix and The Cry Of Love band (Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox). After Band Of  Gypsys, Henedrix really tried to get his new album together; completing and mixing many of the tracks he had started over the last year or so.

Again, presented in album format length, this represents the final recordings. 

Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys, Suns & Rainbows

 

Bootleg 2023

A1 Izabella

A2 Valleys Of Neptune

A3 Room Full of Mirrors

A4 Message To Love

A5 Burning Desire

B1 Bleeding Heart

B2 Power of Soul

B3 Stepping Stone

B4 Come Down Hard On Me

B5 Ezy Ryder

A while ago, I made a compilation of material by Jimi Hendrix called 'Midnight'. That was an attempt to gather together recordings made by The Jimi Hendrix Experience after the completition of 'Electric Ladyland'. I wanted to make a cohesive album from the most complete recordings in that time span.

This new compilation attempts the same for the period between September 1969 and early 1970.

The earliest material on here is by Gypsys, Suns & Rainbows; Jimi's band that played Woodstock, featuring Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Larry Lee, Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez. The sessions didn't produce much and only 'Message To Love' appears here.

The majority of this material comes from the sessions by Band Of Gypsys (with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles) and their attempt at a studio album. Some of the tracks include Juma Sultan from the Woodstock band, and those tracks end up with a hybrid sound.

The songs here are different from the Experience recordings; funkier and with more of a genre fusion.

Compiled with era limitations in mind; a 40 minute L.P. across two 20 (approx) minutes per side.

Cover art is by 'Bitchs Brew' artist Mati Klarwein.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Midnight

 

Self Made Compilation 2018

01 New Rising Sun

02 Look Over Yonder

03 Midnight

04 Red House

05 Stone Free

06 Calling All the Devil's Children

07 Hear My Train a Comin'

08 Peace in Mississippi

A fictional Hendrix album now. All material presented here was performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and recorded after the completion of 'Electric Ladyland' but before sessions for the final (but never completed) album.

Hendrix continued recording after the session for 'Electric Ladyland', but with no real focus in mind.

Shortly after, he would dissolve the Experience and start the funk trio Band Of Gypsys. The material from this interim period wasn't carried over for inclusion on the 'First Rays of the new Rising Sun' / 'Straight Ahead' project.

A lot of the stuff here is strong; loud, fuzzed out jams, with three instrumental tracks included. The 'Band Of Gypsys' album was handed over to the record label as a contractual obligation, this album of completed Experience tracks could of done that. 

Not that I'm complaining about 'Band Of Gypsys', it's wonderful.

Jimi Hendrix - Straight Ahead

Self made compilation

Disc 1: Hendrix Approved Mixes

01 Ezy Ryder

02 Freedom

03 Message To Love

04 Drifter's Escape

05 Come Down Hard On Me

06 Earth Blues

07 Dolly Dagger

08 Night Bird Flying

09 Straight Ahead

10 Astro Man

11 Room Full of Mirrors

12 In From The Storm

13 Belly Button Window

Disc 2: Posthumous Masters

01 Bleeding Heart

02 Izabella

03 Valleys Of Neptune

04 Stepping Stone

05 Drifting

06 Pali Gap

07 Beginning

08 Angel

09 Power of Soul

10 Cherokee Mist

11 Hey Baby

Jimi Hendrix may not seem entirely suitable for this blog, but there is a reason behind this post.

I fell in love with the music of Hendrix in my early teens. While at school, I collected the three Jimi Hendrix Experience albums as well as the live Band of Gypsys LP. 

I read a couple of biographies and was fascinated to learn Hendrix had an astonishing amount of unreleased material. Shortly after, during a stop at a service station on a school trip in 1993, I bought my first Hendrix bootleg. It was also the first bootleg of any artist I owned. I suppose that purchase would lead to me constructing this blog and my love of rare, secret, unreleased and hard to find music also began there.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience broke up in April 1969. From then until Hendrix's death in September 1970 he recorded material for what would of been his fourth studio album.

Hours and hours of songs in various stages have been on posthumous albums over the years, most notably on 'The Cry Of Love', 'Rainbow Bridge' and 'War Heroes'. Those three albums were compiled and mixed by engineer Eddie Kramer and long time drummer Mitch Mitchell and released shortly after Hendrix's death.

Since then, more tracks have came to light, including several mixes by Hendrix himself, making some of the versions finished masters. These songs were spread across many releases, some easier to find than others and details could be sketchy.

Hendrix was tantalisingly close to completing his vision. Although no definitive tracklisting or album title exists, the finished album would certainly have been a double, if not a triple (as some handwritten notes suggest). Prospective album titles included 'The First Rays Of The New Rising Sun', 'People, Hell & Angels' and 'Strate Ahead'.

This compilation is an attempt to collect together both the songs that Hendrix had signed off as final mixes, as well as the other songs that were under consideration. These songs are complete for the most part, with only the final mix being done without Hendrix's supervision. Some did require further overdubs, but I have not included songs for which only a backing track or demo version exist.

This music is truly psychedelic; blues, soul, pop, funk, psychedelia, heavy, beautiful, experimental and completely unique.