Jimi Hendrix - Beyond the "big 3"
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 7:26 pm
The three studio albums are essential, but what about the rest? A friend of mine is a Hendrix fanatic who scooped up most of the Hendrix Family releases. I've read dusty, decade-old rants about how Jimi's been repackaged, blah, blah, but I never listened to Jimi until 1998, by which point most of those shoddy posthumous releases were being axed in rapid succession.
So anyway, most of these CD's are mastered by Kramer/Marino and they have the same basic signature: pretty loud, hot, but I still dig 'em, and much of this can't be found elsewhere in this form, so I'm not gonna complain. Besides, no ear-bleeders, best possible tapes, no bass-shaving, no NoNoise...
"First Rays..." is up first, and it's great. Still frustrating how most of these tracks are still a step or two away from completion, but this is a pretty damn good presentation of what could've been a great fourth album, a double-Lp at that. The tunes are strong, the playing's great, a bit more polish and this would've been great. Even Christgau, who has a strong aversion to any Hendrix CD re-issue, praised this as the one exception, in HIS book, at least.
"South Saturn Delta" looks nondescript, but it's actually a pretty good compilation. Not sure if this was the thinking at the time, but it's like they wanted to keep the catalog lean, with no endless reissues (yet), so they put out only the best studio outtakes they had. None of these tracks really fit into the purpose of the "First Rays" CD so they put this disc out as a way of making it presentable and affordable. In other words, this is probably the best studio outtakes collection you can get after "First Rays" and "Blues" (which is partially live, but it's an excellent comp, the best and aesthetically most successful 'blues' themed compilation of any guitar-god out there). Doesn't cohere as an album, think of like "Odds & Sods."
Which leads us to the box set from 2000. This is everything "With The Lights Out" was to Nirvana. My God, this exceeded my low expectations. They already put the best stuff out, it's been thirty years of unabated plundering, and from the looks of the track listing a lot of it are excerpts of concerts, so my first thought was 'barrel scrapings.' That and the crappy Time-Life box set from a decade back, which I no longer have.
This box set is good because of the way it's put together. John McDermott did a FANTASTIC job with this, and in a way, he uses the Beatles Anthology as a model. The big difference is, no fucking around, with fabrications of 'alternative versions' (well, almost no fucking around, more on that later), no interviews plopped in, and only a 3-4 year time frame to work with, which helps things a bit.
The annotation is similar but MORE extensive, with notes for each track going in to great detail about the session/show itself, where Jimi was at artistically in his career, everything, and even better these notes cohere and have a complete, unbroken flow so it doubles as a biography, better than anything you'll find at All Music Guide.
Quick rundown of the music, disc one has some great live tracks like the JHE's earliest known live recordings and highlights from Monterey Pop. BTW, if you're a collector, you'll want the concerts complete, but for those of you who dislike boots in general, this is still palatable because it takes the highlights and leaves Jimi's less-than-glorious moments - the wanking off, etc. - off the box. Most of the studio outtakes are kind of like the best studio outtakes on the Beatles Anthology - earlier versions that show you how these tracks were put together in the studio. If you like studying this kind of shit, you'll like this, but personally, I'll reach for AYE? 99 times out of 100. Still good to hear at least once. There are a few outtakes that didn't make AYE?, and these are worth repeated listening. Title #3 is an instrumental, short, but smokin.' Taking Care of No Business is pretty solid, Here He Comes is a great instrumental of a song that was recorded many times but never released.
BTW, there's the first stereo mix of Highway Chile on disc one, but it SUCKS. If you hated the narrow stereo remixes of "My Generation," you ain't gonna be happy with this one.
Disc Two has better studio material and more great live stuff. The studio stuff includes a GREAT, extended instrumental version of Bold As Love that was just Jimi working out the arrangement, but it's GREAT, you'd never think it was a run-through or whatever it's supposed to be. If you love the song, you'll love this version.
Disc Three is even better. The remake of "Stone Free" is interesting at first, but now it bores me. Some think it's a cool version that sounds like a Curtis Mayfield track, but I think that's stretching it. Spanish Castle Magic gets THE definitive studio version here as does Hear My Train A Comin'. The LA Forum and San Diego Sports Arena probably deserve to be heard in their entirety, but they picked a few great tracks from them.
Disc Four is the weakest period, but it's been presented very well. It's a lot less interesting if you already have "First Rays," but it's cool to hear a good studio version of Message To Love, Country Blues is good, and the live oldies covers are nice. To be honest, though, this disc is the weakest in terms of live material, simply because Jimi's shows during this time were his weakest. The one cut from Mauii is interesting, not great but worth having for being the only fusion of Hey Baby and In From The Syorm that I know of from Jimi, but the IOW cuts are disappointing. I was never a fan of that show, and the two cuts from it just aren't good. If it wasn't 'historical' (I think it was one of Jimi's last shows, or his last recorded show), it would probably have been forgotten. But as it is, the entire IOW show has been reissued, but based on these two cuts, I'll avoid it. From the liner notes it sounds like Jimi was more interested in finishing that double Lp that was taking 2+ years to make, which may be the reason for the lackluster live performances. His playing on the studio stuff is still top-notch, and it's telling that when he performs the new, unreleased stuff live, it doesn't live up to the studio incarnations. He was doing all right in the studio, but not doing it on stage.
So a suprisingly good set. If you already have the live material on boots, you may not be interested, because that eliminates half this set, and if it was just studio stuff, it wouldn't play as well. The live stuff SOUNDS really good, though, with some original mixes and some newly mixed. Kramer seems to do a good job remixing live stuff.
But this is one expensive set, so if you're looking beyond the big 3, start with "First Rays" and "Blues." From there, "South Saturn Delta," but if you want to unload the cash, get the box set.
So anyway, most of these CD's are mastered by Kramer/Marino and they have the same basic signature: pretty loud, hot, but I still dig 'em, and much of this can't be found elsewhere in this form, so I'm not gonna complain. Besides, no ear-bleeders, best possible tapes, no bass-shaving, no NoNoise...
"First Rays..." is up first, and it's great. Still frustrating how most of these tracks are still a step or two away from completion, but this is a pretty damn good presentation of what could've been a great fourth album, a double-Lp at that. The tunes are strong, the playing's great, a bit more polish and this would've been great. Even Christgau, who has a strong aversion to any Hendrix CD re-issue, praised this as the one exception, in HIS book, at least.
"South Saturn Delta" looks nondescript, but it's actually a pretty good compilation. Not sure if this was the thinking at the time, but it's like they wanted to keep the catalog lean, with no endless reissues (yet), so they put out only the best studio outtakes they had. None of these tracks really fit into the purpose of the "First Rays" CD so they put this disc out as a way of making it presentable and affordable. In other words, this is probably the best studio outtakes collection you can get after "First Rays" and "Blues" (which is partially live, but it's an excellent comp, the best and aesthetically most successful 'blues' themed compilation of any guitar-god out there). Doesn't cohere as an album, think of like "Odds & Sods."
Which leads us to the box set from 2000. This is everything "With The Lights Out" was to Nirvana. My God, this exceeded my low expectations. They already put the best stuff out, it's been thirty years of unabated plundering, and from the looks of the track listing a lot of it are excerpts of concerts, so my first thought was 'barrel scrapings.' That and the crappy Time-Life box set from a decade back, which I no longer have.
This box set is good because of the way it's put together. John McDermott did a FANTASTIC job with this, and in a way, he uses the Beatles Anthology as a model. The big difference is, no fucking around, with fabrications of 'alternative versions' (well, almost no fucking around, more on that later), no interviews plopped in, and only a 3-4 year time frame to work with, which helps things a bit.
The annotation is similar but MORE extensive, with notes for each track going in to great detail about the session/show itself, where Jimi was at artistically in his career, everything, and even better these notes cohere and have a complete, unbroken flow so it doubles as a biography, better than anything you'll find at All Music Guide.
Quick rundown of the music, disc one has some great live tracks like the JHE's earliest known live recordings and highlights from Monterey Pop. BTW, if you're a collector, you'll want the concerts complete, but for those of you who dislike boots in general, this is still palatable because it takes the highlights and leaves Jimi's less-than-glorious moments - the wanking off, etc. - off the box. Most of the studio outtakes are kind of like the best studio outtakes on the Beatles Anthology - earlier versions that show you how these tracks were put together in the studio. If you like studying this kind of shit, you'll like this, but personally, I'll reach for AYE? 99 times out of 100. Still good to hear at least once. There are a few outtakes that didn't make AYE?, and these are worth repeated listening. Title #3 is an instrumental, short, but smokin.' Taking Care of No Business is pretty solid, Here He Comes is a great instrumental of a song that was recorded many times but never released.
BTW, there's the first stereo mix of Highway Chile on disc one, but it SUCKS. If you hated the narrow stereo remixes of "My Generation," you ain't gonna be happy with this one.
Disc Two has better studio material and more great live stuff. The studio stuff includes a GREAT, extended instrumental version of Bold As Love that was just Jimi working out the arrangement, but it's GREAT, you'd never think it was a run-through or whatever it's supposed to be. If you love the song, you'll love this version.
Disc Three is even better. The remake of "Stone Free" is interesting at first, but now it bores me. Some think it's a cool version that sounds like a Curtis Mayfield track, but I think that's stretching it. Spanish Castle Magic gets THE definitive studio version here as does Hear My Train A Comin'. The LA Forum and San Diego Sports Arena probably deserve to be heard in their entirety, but they picked a few great tracks from them.
Disc Four is the weakest period, but it's been presented very well. It's a lot less interesting if you already have "First Rays," but it's cool to hear a good studio version of Message To Love, Country Blues is good, and the live oldies covers are nice. To be honest, though, this disc is the weakest in terms of live material, simply because Jimi's shows during this time were his weakest. The one cut from Mauii is interesting, not great but worth having for being the only fusion of Hey Baby and In From The Syorm that I know of from Jimi, but the IOW cuts are disappointing. I was never a fan of that show, and the two cuts from it just aren't good. If it wasn't 'historical' (I think it was one of Jimi's last shows, or his last recorded show), it would probably have been forgotten. But as it is, the entire IOW show has been reissued, but based on these two cuts, I'll avoid it. From the liner notes it sounds like Jimi was more interested in finishing that double Lp that was taking 2+ years to make, which may be the reason for the lackluster live performances. His playing on the studio stuff is still top-notch, and it's telling that when he performs the new, unreleased stuff live, it doesn't live up to the studio incarnations. He was doing all right in the studio, but not doing it on stage.
So a suprisingly good set. If you already have the live material on boots, you may not be interested, because that eliminates half this set, and if it was just studio stuff, it wouldn't play as well. The live stuff SOUNDS really good, though, with some original mixes and some newly mixed. Kramer seems to do a good job remixing live stuff.
But this is one expensive set, so if you're looking beyond the big 3, start with "First Rays" and "Blues." From there, "South Saturn Delta," but if you want to unload the cash, get the box set.
A handwritten tracklist for the first 3 sides that Jimi wrote in the summer of '70 survives. Not only did EH not adhere to the tracklist but they didn't even INCLUDE all of the songs that Jimi had earmarked for the album. Sure, it's likely that this was just a temporary list and Jimi would of revised it later but you would think EH would at least include all the tracks Jimi had listed for the album. Drifter's Escape, Cherokee Mist and Coming Down Hard on Me should of been on First Rays. My Friend (an EL outtake) has no business on there - that's akin to putting Graduation Day on Smile. EH repeated the same mistake the Cry of Love compilers made. Hats off to them for using all of the original Hendrix/Kramer mixes though.