The Mike Jeffery Estate – The Jimi Hendrix Record Guide

Alchemy – Burning Airlines
Radioactive – Reclamation – Spanish Castle Magic Records
Voodoo Chile Export – Rock Of Ages Export – Msi – Rock Giants,
Fat Freddy, Pali Gap,…

From 2004, these other outlets of recordings appeared on the market, on websites and in European shops. Some labels here (right up to the Reclamation releases and probably beyond) were leased by the so-called Mike Jeffery Estate. This “Estate” had no rights whatsoever to release Hendrix recordings, so these were all simply bootlegs that found their way into mainstream shopping outlets. What happened was that after Mike Jeffery’s death in a plane crash near Nantes, France in 1973, some tapes that were in his private possession were left in the hands of his parents. When they died in the 90s, their estate was left to fourteen charities*. None other than crafty Ed Chalpin was following what was going on and he approached the various charities saying that he could make them a bigger profit on the assets of the estate that they had inherited.
Chalpin convinced the charities and was instated as “curator” for the estate – “The Mike Jeffery Estate”.
Jeffery must have been rolling in his grave.

* Asthma Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Brook Hospital, Kings College Hospital, Leukaemia Research Fund, Lewisham Hospital, Maudlsey Hospital, Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Association for Mental Health, National Deaf Blind and Rubella Association, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Royal National Lifeboat, The Salvation Army and The Samaritans.

So here are the various labels that Ed Chalpin set up in order to (illegally) exploit the recordings.
Soon after, Chalpin also set up another way to release Hendrix tapes under the banner of Purple Haze Records (see my other page specifically about that label). When the tapes ran out, Chalpin didn’t hesitate to simply copy and repackage existing bootlegs!

This is a long page.

ALCHEMY - BURNING AIRLINES

LA FORUM – 26th APRIL 1969 (+ Fehmarn Island Sept. 6, 1970) ♥♥♥

Released 2004 (Burning Airlines/Alchemy)

CD1 – LA Forum 26th April 1969
Tax Free, Foxy Lady, Red House, Spanish Castle Magic, Star Spangled Banner, Purple Haze, I Don’t Live Today, Voodoo Child (Slight Return)/Sunshine Of Your Love/Voodoo Child (Slight Return) reprise

This concert had previously been released officially as “Lifelines IV” in the 90s and here, there is an extra song, “Foxy Lady”. The track “Tax Free” is unedited also and clocks in at 14 minutes (only 10 on “Lifelines”). Unlike Alan Douglas’s over-separated stereo “Lifelines” mix, this one has a denser mono mix which is better in my opinion, locking Jimi, Mitch and Noel together.

We find the band just two months after the UK Albert Hall gigs and six dates into their final US American tour. They begin with three heavyweight 10 or 12 minute extravaganzas, illustrating how much their attitude had changed since the more showbiz pop approach of the early days. Like at the the Albert Hall gigs, guitar explorations take priority and there is some great playing in there. However, the band don’t seem totally “together” in parts, Jimi’s improvisation on “Spanish Castle Magic” for example tends to meander rather flatly, in fact sounding a bit like the Woodstock “Improvisation” of four months later.
The very enthusiastic audience wouldn’t sit down (this wasn’t tolerated by the authorities at the time !) and some fans rush the stage, forcing the band to plea for calm on many occasions. The heavy policing resulted in officers taking the stage while the band were playing, prompting Jimi to sing “… scuse me while I kiss that policeman” during “Purple Haze”. The roudy atmosphere clearly bothers the band and spoils the performance somewhat.

On the previous “Lifelines” version, Jimi’s vocals drop out on “Voodoo Child” but here, despite a slight drop in clarity, we can hear Jimi ! After a drum solo, the song goes into “Sunshine Of Your Love” staying close to the Albert Hall version of a couple of months earlier, before rather clumsily returning to “Voodoo Child”.

One hilarious detail: on this version of the concert, we hear more inter-song banter from Jimi and before “Voodoo Chile”, as things get pretty wild with the crowd and after an annoyed exchange with stage security (or a cop), incredibly, Jimi makes his guitar say “Fuck You motherfucker !” I swear it’s true. One hears that the crowd understood the gag also as they all burst into laughter. It kills me everytime.
The excellent version here of “I Don’t Live Today” had also turned up on the 2000 MCA box set and Star Spangled Banner/Purple Haze in the West Coast Seattle Boy box.
The full set, with a new Eddie Kramer mix finally got an official release in November 2022.

CD2 – Love And Peace Festival, Isle Of Fehmarn, Germany 6th Sept 1970
Killing Floor, Spanish Castle Magic, All Along The Watchtower, Hey Joe, Hey Baby/Message To Love, Foxy Lady, Red House, Ezy Rider, Freedom, drum solo/Room Full Of Mirrors, Purple Haze/Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

The second CD features Jimi’s last concert*. Two sources for the Fehmarn concert are known to exist, a “windy” tape and a “stage” tape (which has recently appeared on Dagger Records). I know this “windy” recording, which is from a very good audience tape. Guitar and vocals are clear but Mitch’s drums are a little weak). I in fact prefer this version to the Dagger release, despite the problems of wind across the mike and the occasional pitter-patter of the rain.
As Jimi takes the stage, some irate Hells Angels boo him, so he replies (“I don’t give a fuck if you boo, so long as you boo in key, you mothers !”). Despite the bad atmosphere and the rain which soon broke out, Jimi puts in a very good set, one of the best of his disastrous 1970 European tour. His vocals and guitar playing are forceful and enthusiastic as he was perhaps getting into his stride after the shakey start to the tour. Interesting to note that he played “Killing Floor” which he had recently re-introduced into his set-list at Gothenberg five days earlier (he hadn’t performed the song since early 1969). “Watchtower” is better than the Isle Of Wight, as are “Ezy Ryder” and “Freedom”. Because of the bad weather and the fights breaking out in the audience, Jimi does seem to hurry things along towards the end, going directly from one song to the next without a pause.
Poignantly, at the end of “Voodoo Chile”, the “Wild Man Of Rock” rears his head for the very last time, to say goodbye, with a superb teeth-pecked guitar climax. Goodbye Jimi.

*After this last gig Jimi did briefly appear as a guest at a gig by Eric Burdon and War at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club in London , on September 16 only two days before his death. He only jammed loosley on “Mother Earth” and “Tobacco Road”. The following night he was supposed to accompany Mitch to a jam with Sly Stone but uncharacteristically he never turned up.

THE COVER
Behind the filtering, that is Jimi in 1967, so it is out of context here. Naff lettering also – 3/10

> A newly discovered” recording of the Fehmarn Island concert was released in 2005 by the Hendrix Estate on Dagger Records (see Live Releases 2000+).

VILLANOVA JUNCTION ♥♥½

Released 2004 (Burning Airlines & Alchemy)

Belly Button Window, Hear My Train A Comin’, Villanova Junction Jam, 3 Little Bears, The Things I Used To Do, New Rising Sun (M.L.K.), Country Blues

Another hotch potch of studio outtakes here from 1968 to 1970. This selection of tracks was previously put together as a nicely presented bootleg called “By Night” though in a different order . This release came out shortly before the “Am I Blue” on Purple Haze Records and has three identical tracks.
Track by track, here we go.
“Belly Button Window” is an alternate (inferior) take of the song we know from “First Rays” (and initially “Cry of Love”) which falls apart.
Hear My Train A Comin” (Record Plant May 21, 1969) as put together by Alan Douglas while he was working on the “Midnight Lightning” album. There are no posthumous overdubs, but it is assembled from two separate takes which rather awkwardly merge together. Both takes are great, with some superb guitar but the first features Buddy Miles and the second Mitch Mitchell! The two serparate james turned up later officially.
“Villanova Junction” features the Band Of Gypsys an it’s a hell of a long jam and lasts about 30 minutes. It begins with the basic “Villanova Junction” theme before going into some “jungle sounds” as Jimi instructs, then it goes into a superb free-form rock workout (similar feel to “Watchtower” and “Ezy Ryder”) with Cox providing a solid groove over which Jimi puts in some stunning guitar work. The track finally slows down into a basic blues structure with someone on harmonica. This all sounds very close in texture to the “Once I Had A Woman” on “:Blues”. The track turned up later (divided into three tracks) on the official “Burning Desire” (Dagger Records).
“3 Little Bears” (oh no, not again !) seems to be the same one that appeared on the so called “Axis Outtakes” (Purple Haze Records). “The Things I Used To Do” is that blues jam again with Johnny Winter and Steve Stills, already seen in some form or other on “Lifelines” and the above “Astro Man” and Radioactive “Outtakes”. The sound is excellent here, Jimi takes lead vocals, rather half heartedly (perhaps just a guide vocal), but he puts in some lovely guitar, as does Winter. This appeared later officially on “Both Sides Of The Sky”.
The track “New Rising Sun (M.L.K.)” is the original recording of what eventually became part of “Captain Cocanut” on Alan Douglas’ “Crash Landing” album of 1975. It was also the source of the “New Rising Sun” that turned up on “Voodoo Soup”. It does meander a bit, but it’s interesting to hear it complete, as Jimi left it (we presume), complete with his own drum accompanyment and backward guitar tape. “Country Blues” is listed as a “straight mix” and a tiny bit longer than the version found on the MCA 2000 box set.

THE COVER
They should have called this “Star Spangled Blues” with a cover like that. Jimi (from at the Albert Hall 69) over the American Flag. – 6/10

ASTRO MAN ♥♥

Released 2004 (Burning Airlines & Alchemy)

CD 1- STUDIO OUTTAKES VOLUME 1, 1966 – 1968
Voodoo Chile (Alternate Studio Effects Version), Purple Haze #1 (Abandoned Experimental Mix), La Pouppe Qui Fait Non (Incomplete Instrumental Track), Come On (Take 9), One Rainy Wish (Alternate Mix), Angel (Early Home Recording), Look Over Yonder (Alternate Early Version), 51st Anniversary (Alternate Version), Can You See Me (Alternate Version), Cat Talkin’ To Me (Backing Track), Red House (Takes 1 – 4 Alternate Takes), Fire (Instrumental Track), Purple Haze #2 (Edited Alternate Mix Of Track 2), I Don’t Live Today (Takes 1 – 4 Alternate Takes)

CD 2 – STUDIO OUTTAKES VOLUME 2, 1969:
Lover Man (Unreleased Alternate Version), The Things I Used To Do (Edited Version Of The Fourth Vocal Take), Instrumental Jam (Unreleased Track), Midnight Lightning Jam (Unreleased Track), Izabella (Alternate Version with Percussion), Ezy Rider (Take #1 Earlier Alternate Version), Stepping Stone (Alternate Version), It’s Too Bad (with Larry Young – Edited Version Of Part Of Session with Buddy Miles), World Traveller (with Larry Young), Larry Young Jam (Unreleased Track), Room Full Of Mirrors (Alternate Version)

CD 3 – STUDIO OUTTAKES VOLUME 3: 1969 – 1970:
Ezy Rider #2 (Alternate Edited Mix), Room Full Of Mirrors (recorded with The Ghetto Fighters and the Band Of Gypsies. Alternate Version), Earth Blues (Alternate Mix), Highway Of Broken Hearts (Unreleased Track), Bleeding Heart (Alternate Mix), Freedom (Alternate Version), Valleys Of Neptune (Unreleased Track), Further On Up The Road (Unreleased Track), Dolly Dagger (Different Vocal Take), Astro Man (Instrumental Backing Track From Take 7), Send My Love To Linda (Unreleased Track), Drifters Escape (Three Guitar Part Alternate Version), Midnight Lightning Jam (Unreleased Track), Lover Man (Unreleased Track)

CD 4 – LIVE IN PARIS, JANUARY 29th, 1968:
Killing Floor, Experience The Blues, Foxy Lady, Red House, Driving South, The Wind Cries Mary, Fire, Little Wing, Purple Haze

CD 5 – LIVE IN STOCKHOLM, FIRST SHOW, JANUARY 9th, 1969:
Killing Floor, Spanish Castle Magic, Fire, Hey Joe, Voodoo Chile, Red House, Sunshine Of Your Love

CD 6 – LIVE IN STOCKHOLM, SECOND SHOW, JANUARY 9th, 1969:
I Don’t Live Today, Spanish Castle Magic, Hey Joe, Voodoo Chile, Sunshine Of Your Love, Red House, Fire, Purple Haze, Star Spangled Banner

A six CD megaboot set, again featuring many alternate studio outtakes plus the Paris 1968 show again (Stages 68), and the two Stockholm 69 concerts that were put out around the same time amid much controversy by Purple Haze Records.

Radioactive Records would soon remaster the source recordings of this box set, to create many of their own releases, so more details below.

THE COVER
Not much to say about this. Jimi peers at us through a musical haze. Don’t really like it – 4/10

RADIOACTIVE RECORDS

After the above releases, the Jeffery estate leased their material for release on this label. Note that Radioactive made “good sound” a priority and initially these albums were vinyl-only, however there was such a demand for CD versions that they soon became available in both formats. I was told by their PR manager that the sound was “improved” for these releases.
Legality of the initial Radioactive releases was contested by Experience Hendrix and they finallly won in court and put and end to releases on that label. However, the Jeffery Estate promptly continued to issue releases on Reclamation Records (further down the page) before being silenced also. They now continue regardless releasing these and new CDs under the labels of Voodoo Chile Export, Rock Of Ages Export and Msi !
Here is an interesting resume of what happened. 

THE LA FORUM CONCERT ♥♥♥

Released 2004 (Radioactive)

LA Forum 26th April 1969
Tax Free, Foxy Lady, Red House, Spanish Castle Magic, Star Spangled Banner, Purple Haze, I Don’t Live Today, Voodoo Child (Slight Return)/Sunshine Of Your Love/Voodoo Child (Slight Return) reprise

The same concert as released on the above Burning Airlines double package.

THE COVER
That’s more like it. After all, Jimi Hendrix is the cosmic psychedelic blues God ! – 9/10

LIVE AT PARIS OLYMPIA ♥♥♥♥

Released 2004 (Radioactive)

Killin’ Floor / Catfish Blues / Foxy Lady / Red House / Drivin’ South / The Wind Cries Mary / Fire / Little Wing / Purple Haze

This concert was included on the 90s release “Stages 68”. I don’t know if this has identical sound but it’s a superb performance (January 29, 1968) of The Experience on top form. What a set list !

THE COVER
Very tasteful adaptation of Toulouse Lautrec’s “Ambassadeurs – Aristide Bruant” poster. I love it ! – 10/10

LIVE IN COPENHAGEN ♥♥♥

Released 2004 (Radioactive)

Catfish Blues (Tivolis Koncertsal, 07/01/68), Tax Free/Fire/Voodoo Child (Slight Return)/Foxy Lady/Spanish Castle Magic (Falkoner Centret, 10/01/69), Freedom (K.B. Hallen,03/09/70).

Ah ha! What have we here ? The same source as Univibes’ “Jimi In Denmark” ! (see end of Posthumous Live – 90s). Only the interviews are absent here. Radioactive do make an effort to improve sound quality through remastering, so I imagine this is a little clearer than the Univibes version.
The vocals are rather faint but Jimi’s guitar comes over well and you can hear Mitch’s cymbols. The CD opens with a nice “Catfish Blues” from a 1968 performance in Denmark but he bulk of the content here is from a performance at the Falkoner Centret in early 1969. Jimi was evidently on top form here. That “Tax Free” is excellent even if at the end he seems to loose a little direction. “Spanish Castle Magic” is terrific and we hear Jimi going into a totally wild improvisation with some screeching feedback sustain.
The last track,“Freedom”, is from the K.B. Hallen in 1970 (two other songs fom the gig were on “Calling Long Distance”). It was one of the better concerts of the last tour but this particular song is pretty rough.

THE COVER
Oops, that’s Jimi 67 ! Wild hair, military jacket, red pants, sunburst Strat. The famous statue of The Little Mermaid is listening to Jimi on headphones. Nuff said. No hang on, Jimi must obviously playing “1983, a merman I should turn to be” ! (Thanks to Feb for sleeve shot). – 2/10

The 2008 re-release on the MSI label and the mermaid has gone.

Three seperate volumes of outtakes followed, with many tracks familiar to collectors and traders from the multitude of bootlegs and files in circulation. Pretty well all these outtakes have been widely distributed in the past on bootlegs such as “Freak Out Jam”, “Drone Blues”, “Diamonds In The Dust”, “Acoustic Hendrix”, McLaughlin Sessions”, which were shoddy collections really. Here, sound quality is improved as Radioactive have remastered the tapes that were used by Alchemy for their “Astro Man” set.

STUDIO OUTTAKES Vol. 1 – 1966-1968 ♥♥½

Released 2004 (Radioactive)

Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), Purple Haze #1, La Pouppe Qui Fait Non, Come On (Take 9), One Rainy Wish, Angel, Look Over Yonder, 51st Anniversary, Can You See Me, Cat Talkin’ To Me, Red House, Fire, Purple Haze #2, I Don’t Live Today (4 Takes)

Here we go with a track by track breakdown:

Voodoo Chile – A live-in-studio bash form May 68. Starts well but Jimi is out of tune and it crashes at 3:38. Perhaps this was on “Lifelines” in the 90s.
Purple Haze #1 – Seems like a test mix, with the main tracks fading out in parts leaving only the spacey vocal mutterings up front.
La Pouppe Qui Fait Non – Simply a rhythm track with Noel on guitar. Not sure if Jimi is on bass (if there is any). They must have heard the tune during a visit to France (it was a hit in 1966 for the legendary French pop star Michel Polnareff who in fact shared the bill with The Experience once during a 1967 TV show in Holland).
Come On – A great alternate live studio take which ends a little abruptly. On “Lifelines” before.
One Rainy Wish – This is listed as “One Rainy Night” . I love this song but this differs little from the “Axis” version. An inferior mix but still beautiful with the actual drone ending rather than the album’s fade out. This Jeffery Estate had this, so why the hell disdn’t they put it on “Axis Outtakes” on Purple Haze Records ? Stupid.
Angel – This is not the same thing as on “South Saturn Delta” and MCA box but a lovely little home-base demo from early 68 (previously on “Jimi By Himself” – see Home Recordings section).
Look Over Yonder – The basic track was recorded in May 67 and finished off by Chas in 1988 with the help of Mitch and Noel ! This is also known as “Mr Bad Luck” (the original title I think). Not as richly finished as the “South Saturn” version but it rocks along nicely with a great vocal from Jimi.
51st Anniversary – Pretty close to the original “Purple Haze” B-side (now on “AYE”) but this is stereo with multrack vocals. It’s great fun as Jimi raps along from all sides until again we hear the actual abrupt ending as he coughs away.
Can You See Me – Slightly muffled mix of the familiar masters. Ends with “…you can’t see me”. This must be on “AYE & More” also.
Cat Talkin’ To Me – A great instrumental version recorded well after the version that is on “Axis Outtakes”. This one even has some neat lead guitar overdubs.
Red House 1-4 – This is a different set of live studio takes than those on “AYE & More”. The last version here received overdubs to become what I call “Version 2” which was initially on the US “Smash Hits”.
Fire – Pretty much the same as the original but without the vocal track. The sequence on “AYE & More” was far more rudimentary than this.
Purple Haze #2 – Like the #1 but with even more of the mutterings up front. Spoils the flow of the disc in a way. Interesting but that’s all.
I Don’t Live Today 1-4 – The same sequence that was on “AYE & More”.

All in all a nice collection of tracks with excellent sound quality. Only those “Purple Haze” mixes get in the way.

THE COVER
What ? – 2/10

STUDIO OUTTAKES Vol. 2 – 1968-1969 ♥♥♥

Released 2004 (Radioactive)

Lover Man, The Things I Used To Do, Instrumental Jam, Midnight Lightning Jam, Izabella, Ezy Rider, Stepping Stone, It’s Too Bad, World Traveller, Larry Young Jam, Room Full Of Mirrors

Lover Man – Live in studio from Feb 69, just before the Albert Hall gigs and again 1988 overdubs from Mitch and Noel. Nice mid tempo arrangement on this. Great sound.
The Things I Used To Do – An edited version of the track that was on “Villanova Junction” (see below) which has a better balanced sound.
Instrumental Jam – A short rock & roll bash at Olmsted studios NY in April 69 (from the same series of sessions as the “Trashman” on “Hear My Music”)
Midnight Lightning Jam – A long jam (12 minutes) with Pau Caruso on harmonica, a percussionist and Jimi’s girlfriend Devon Wilson on occaisional vocal accompaniement which fits in very well. Jimis raps a few vocals around the “Keep On Grooving” theme (which he incorporated later into “Midnight Lightning”. I think this is great, really pure and Jimi is just freewheeling as it all gets quite tribal in feel.
Izabella – A rather slushy sound on this interesting November 69 outtake which is different from all the other studio versions we know from MCA.
Ezy Rider – An weaker mix of the familiar master with a few vocal and guitar differences.
Stepping Stone – This loose studio jam with the Woodstock band was really titled “Tryin To Be” at this stage. It begins with “Machine Gun” before adopting a basic chugging rhythm. Jimi improvises a vocal with some nice guitar along the way. Towards the end is a riff he later worked into “Burning Desire”.
It’s Too Bad – This track has already appeared on the MCA box and “Martin Scorcese Presents” though it is longer here. It’s from a jam session with Buddy Miles and Duane Hitchings on keyboards.
World Traveller – This is just great and from the same Duane Hitchings jam. A nice funky-chicken rhythm and a superb off the cuff rap vocal from Jimi, strong enough to be listed as a song in its own right. Incedible the way he was taking his music elsewhere here, while the Experience were in their last months.
Larry Young Jam – A superb jazzy jam with Larry Young, famous for its inclusion on “Nine To The Universe” back in the early 80s. One of the best examples of Jimi’s ability to bounce off other talanted musicians taking things to great heights.
Room Full Of Mirrors – The sleeve says Feb 69 but this is a shakey early mix of the familiar “First Rays” track with alternate effects.

Very interesting collection and a good listen.

THE COVER
Hang on. That’s Jimi up to his arm pits in water as a plastic sun shines it’s “first rays” (ho, ho). A merman I should turn to be ! Photoshop is fun but the designer got a bit carried away there. – 1/10

STUDIO OUTTAKES Vol. 3 – 1969-1970 ♥♥½

Released 2004 (Radioactive)

Ezy Rider, Room Full Of Mirrors, Earth Blues, Highway Of Broken Hearts, Bleeding Heart, Freedom, Valleys Of Neptune, Further On Up The Road, Dolly Dagger, Astro Man, Send My Love To Linda, Drifters Escape, Midnight Lightning Jam, Lover Man

Ezy Rider #2 – A great little early version, far less finished than the “First Rays” version with different instrumental tracks, percussion and a raw guide vocal.
Room Full Of Mirrors – Closer to the finished master than the version on Volume 2 but still quite basic. Jimi’s ring slide effects are far back in the mix (as Alan Douglas claimed that they should have been). Pretty close to the version on “Lifelines”.
Earth Blues – A little wobbly but a great early mix full of alternate guitar and vocal parts. Very different from the alternate version that was on the MCA box.
Highway Of Broken Hearts – This long BOGs jam (14 minutes here, it was longer) begins as a skeletal “Freedom” riff with the beginnings of the “Ezy Ryder” lyric. Then Jimi raps on as the pace slows down to a plodding blues. One lyrical passage is on some bootlegs as “$7 In My Pocket”. Some harmonica in there aswell.
Bleeding Heart – A rough mix similar to the master. Bass up front.
Freedom – Only a rough live-in-studio run through as the band feel around the song.
Valleys Of Neptune – An instrumental rhythm track. Rather tedious. This belongs to Jimi, not us.
Further On Up The Road – A great spontanous jab at the blues classic which unfortunately falls apart before the band prepare to go into “Astro Man” which unfortunately doesn’t follow here. Inattentive compilation.
Dolly Dagger – A slushy early mix without backing vocals.
Astro Man – A good live studio jam (11 minutes) with some great improvisation from Jimi.
Send My Love To Linda – Jimi solo, on guitar and vocal, approching a song in it’s earliest stages. Very short, it fades after 1:25. (On “Lifelines” long ago)
Drifters Escape – A nice alternate mix and different from the “South Saturn” and “Loose Ends” versions.
Midnight Lightning Jam – Some of this sounds like the basic track that Alan Douglas had used on the collage album of the same name. It’s a great live studio workout and really the best version there is of the song. Some gorgeous guitar.
Lover Man – Yet another live studio version, this time from May 70. Sounds more like a warm-up practice take. Not much punch and not intended for us fools.

Loads of fun to be had going through these tracks.

THE COVER
From bad to worse ! That is Jimi 67 aswell. – 0/10

STUDIO OUTTAKES 1966-1970 ♥♥♥

Released 2004 (Radioactive)

Loads of fun to be had going through these tracks.

THE COVER
From bad to worse ! That is Jimi 67 aswell. – 0/10

BLUES AT MIDNIGHT ♥♥½

Released 2005 (Radioactive)

Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, Stormy Monday Blues, Three Little Bears, Instrumental Jam 1 in D, Instrumental Jam 2 in A, Little Wing, Blues Jam (San Ho Zay).

This release features extracts from two live club jams recorded in early 1968 with members of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. These have both seen the light of day already on bootlegs but here the tapes have been remastered. These tapes are fascinating as they give us the chance to evesdrop on Jimi doing what he liked best, jamming the blues. Vocals (none from Jimi) can be a little faint here and there, but there is a nice sleazy, after hours feel to all this. Jimi used his own reel-to-reel to record this and luckily his guitar comes across strongly. Other instruments are a little weak and a boost of treble is needed to bring up the drums a little.

Café Au Go Go, NY – March 17, 1968
This was recorded right in between the Clark University and Ottawa concerts that were released by Dagger Records. Jimi attended the Paul Butterfield gig and was of course invited up to jam with the band. Breaking with tradition, the sleeve notes don’t even list Butterfield, attributing harmonica to Paul Caruso! Bizarre. Trading guitar licks with Jimi is Elvin Bishop, Herbie Rich on organ, Harvey Brooks on bass, Phil Wilson and Buddy Miles on drums and James Tatum on sax. Miles takes vocals on “Stormy Monday”.
Jimi puts in some great playing here, whether during the blues numbers or on the jam around the basic riff he later used as “Three Little Bears”. The real treat is of course the “Little Wing” instrumental jam, complete with some great guitar from Jimi and good contributions from Herbie Rich and Harvey Brooks.

The Generation Club, NY – April 9 ?*, 1968
The Generation Club was bought by Jimi’s manager Michael Jeffery and later became Electric Lady Studios ! In April 68, Jimi spent three nights down at the club to check out various acts. On the 7th he attended a Buddy Guy gig and afterwards jammed with Roy Buchanan! That jam was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker (who made “Monterey Pop”) and used in his film “Wake A Generation”. The following night Buddy Guy appeared again (Janis Joplin and BB King were thought to be there also) and Jimi jammed with him.
Third night at The Generation and Jimi is invited up to jam with BB King who is backed by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band basically (minus Herbie Rich and Harvey Brooks) with Al Kooper (organ), Buzzy Feiten (bass), Don Martin (guitar) and a certain “Stewart” (piano). Jimi played “Like A Rolling Stone” that night (absent here, it had appeared on “Lifelines”) before going into a very long inspired (but at times tedious) jam around Freddie King’s “San Ho Zay” again with some stunning guitar playing form Jimi. Mister B.B. King evidently sat this one out.

This is a far more satisfying affair than the overkilled 1968 Scene Club jam (“Woke Up This Morning…”) and a fascinating opportunity to hear what sort of thing Jimi got up to on a “night off”.

*The sleeve says April 15 and the “Plug Your Ears” site suggests that, but Tony Brown’s “Concert Files” and the “Just Ask The Axis” site, date it as April 9th.

THE COVER
A nice photo of Jimi 67 (again!) with a sombre 1969/70 stage shot in the background. A bit all over the place. – 2/10

LIVE AT BERKELEY – 1st SHOW ♥♥♥♥

Released 2005 (Radioactive)

Fire, Johnny B. Goode, Hear My Train A’comin’, Foxy Lady, Machine Gun, Freedom, Red House, Message to Love, Ezy Rider, Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

When MCA put out the 2nd set at Berkeley in 2003, it left us asking “what about the 1st set ?” It didn’t happen, so Radioactive adopted a bold stance with this release. These recordings have been circulating among traders for some time with top soundboard quality and that is the case here. This is the same mix as the three track CD that was free with the old videocassette “Jimi Plays Berkeley”.
Jimi came out that evening looking tough in leather pants and a multicoloured waistcoat to delivered a great set apart from the usual little difficulties with the newer songs. “Freedom” isn’t too bad but seems to suffer from tuning problems and drags in parts as Jimi tries to put across what he was busy putting together in the studio. “Message To Love” gets off to a shaky start but soon pulls together well. “Ezy Ryder” suffers a little from a couple of moments of uncertainty, but it’s great to hear it live. Mitch puts in a little drum solo on that one.
On the opening “Fire”, we hear Billy Cox sing what used to be Noel’s backing vocals. He also tends to overplay his bass lines a little but it comes over well, as does that other Experience showstopper “Foxy Lady”.
There are of course the terrific and now legendary versions of “Johnny B. Goode” and “Hear My Train a Comin” (previously heard on Rainbow Bridge). Jimi’s playing is perhaps his best ever here and this is I feel the best sounding recording there is of him in action. A special effort had been made for the recording, destined for an eventual live album. The two sets were filmed of course and the footage eventually became “Jimi Plays Berkeley”.
The set also features excellent performances of “Voodoo Child”, “Machine Gun” and “Red House” (“that we’ve been playing for about 99 000 years” says Jimi).
To make this a single CD release, the superb “Star Spangled Banner”/”Purple Haze” has been left off (if the details I have here are correct). Whatever, this is a great release and it captures Jimi at his best on the last American tour.

THE COVER
Jimi 67 by the look of it again. Nice seventies style illustration technique though. – 6/10

RECLAMATION RECORDS

The same people were behind the following CDs which cropped up first on Japanese sites and then in Europe.
Like Radioactive’s “Studio Outtakes”, the tape boxes were prised open for us to listen too. This is a priviledge for hardcore fans of course but not recommended for the casual buyer.
Again, perhaps all of this has already seen the light of day on bootlegs but sound quality here is generally very good.
Starting off here with 10 CDs of studio outtakes, demos rehearsals,… (I go through these in detail, not because they are particularly important but to simply help to understand what is on there).

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 1 ♥

Released 2005 (Reclamation)

Wait Until Tomorrow, Spanish Castle Magic, Golden Rose (One Rainy Wish), Ain’t No Telling #1, South Saturn Delta, Little One #1, Little One #2, Castles Made Of Sand, Ain’t No Telling #2, She’s So Fine, Up From The Skies, Bold As Love, Little Miss Lover, Waterfall (May This Be Love), Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland), Dream, Dance

This first volume features similar material to that found on Purple Haze’s “Axis Outtakes”, but with better sound overall and some “new” alternates. Here is a track by track run-down to help identify the versions involved:

Wait Until Tomorrow – Recorded 26th October 1967 at Olympic Studios alternate mix using automatic double tracking on the vocal part. An nice alternate version.
Spanish Castle Magic – Recorded 27th October 1967 at Olympic Studios. A rather clothy sound for this very rudimentary early take without vocals.
Golden Rose (One Rainy Wish) – Recorded 3rd October 1967 at Olympic Studios with overdubs on 29th October . A slightly longer alternate mix – A little different than the version on Radioactive’s “Studio Outtakes 1” (which had a shorter intro).
Ain’t No Telling #1 / #2 – Recorded 26th October 1967 at Olympic Studios. Two pretty identical and relatively finished versions.
South Saturn Delta – Recorded December1967 at Olympic Studios with Dave Mason and an unknown drummer. This is the early version without brass and the same as on “Axis Outtakes” but with slightly better sound.
Little One #1 / #2 – Identical to “Axis Outtakes” with slightly better sound
Castles Made Of Sand – Recorded 29th October 1967 at Olympic Studios this is an alternate mix with a sparser sound isolating Jimi’s vocal.
She’s So Fine – Identical to “Axis Outtakes” with slightly better sound
Up From The Skies – Recorded 29th October1967 at Olympic Studios, this is an alternate mix with the vocals on one channel. Nice to hear an alternate of this one. Basic mix with strong vocals and brushes less evident (if any). This should have been on “Axis Outtakes”.
Bold As Love – This is great. The same as the “Axis Outtakes” version but with much better sound and at the right speed this time. What a vocal ! (The same vocal track as on “Axis”).
Little Miss Lover – Identical to the wolf-whistle version on “Axis Outtakes” (and Univibes’ “Calling Long Distance”).
Waterfall (May This Be Love) – Recorded 3rd April 1967 at Olympic Studios, this is an alternate less finished mix.
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) – Recorded at some time in January1968 at Olympic Studios Jimi with unknown musicians rumoured to be Dave Mason of Traffic on bass. This is interesting, Jimi’s guitar parts are very similar to the instrumental we
know from the MCA box (and “Loose Ends” before that). It lasts nearly four minutes. Just a rough run through of the basic structure.
Dream -Identical to acetate featured on “Axis Outtakes” with the bass lighter, which is an improvement.
Dance – Identical to acetate featured on “Axis Outtakes” and just as rough.

THE COVER
I think that shot is from a TTG studios session. Jimi of course filled the place with psychedelic wonderment. Nice idea. – 7/10

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 2 ♥

Released 2005 (Reclamation)

Valleys Of Neptune, Lover Man, Machine Gun, Trying To Be (Stepping Stone) / Earth Blues, Stepping Stone, Untitled Guitar Improvisation, Keep On Grooving (Midnight Lightning), Come Down Hard On Me Baby, Drifters Escape, Belly Button Window, Bolero

The second volume is a bit more interesting, featuring many jams with Jimi’s various bands in 1969 and 1970 but it repeats some things from Radioactives’ “Studio Outtakes Vol. 2”. Excellent sound on most of the tracks.

Valleys Of Neptune – 23rd September 1969 – Record Plant. Jimi and Buddy Miles (I presume) during a live studio jab at this promising number that Jimi never finished. This is the same as the “Lifelines” version but much longer.

Lover Man – Band Of Gypsys – 6th September 1969.- Hit Factory. This is a nice funky instrumental version which begins with Jimi clowning around like an over zealous radio announcer followed by the engineer (Kramer ?) who replies with “One for the money, two for the show…”. There is also some clanking percussion in there.

Machine Gun – 29th August 1969 – Hit Factory. It says Band Of Gypsys but it’s Gypsy Sun And Rainbows. A great early tryout around the basic riff, with a rather tired vocal from Jimi. He leaves room for Larry Lee to solo.

Trying To Be (Stepping Stone)/Earth Blues – Band Of Gypsys with Juma Sultan – 15th September 1969 – Record Plant. Identical to the version on Radioactives “Studio Outtakes Vol. 2” but with better sound.

Stepping Stone – Record Plant – Not a version I’ve heard before. An earlier mix of what appeared as the 1970 single, with some different vocal and guitar tracks.

Untitled Guitar Improvisation – Source unknown (thought to be Electric Lady Studios – summer 70). I’ve heard this before, can’t think where. It is just Jimi strumming away at various ideas. Some parts hint at “Gypsy Boy” and “Heaven Has No Sorrow”.

Keep On Grooving (Midnight Lightning) – 17th April 1969 – Record Plant. A loose jam with Paul Caruso (harmonica) and Devon Wilson (backing vocals). Identical to the version on Radioactives “Studio Outtakes Vol. 2”

Come Down Hard On Me Baby – Electric Lady Studios – July 1970. A bizarre clothy earlier version, it has a zoomy guitar jab incorporated into the riff.

Drifters Escape – Electric Lady Studios – 17th June 1970 with overdubbing done 22nd August. Only one lead guitar part rather than the layered effect. Not as richly finished as the version on “Studio Outtakes Vol 3”.

Belly Button Window – Electric Lady Studios – 23rd July 1970. A rough sounding instrumental version that I know from the “Acoustic Jams” bootleg. It has quite a nice sleazy blues feel to it.

Bolero – Electric Lady Studios -1st July 1970. This was new to me when it appeared here. It has nothing to do with Ravel’s “Bolero”. The liner notes indicate that it is also known as “Here Comes The Sun” and it is also known as “Pride Of Man”! It’s a basic rhythmic instrumental (with percussion) that goes on a bit without finding any real form. It fades out as Jimi seems to go into his “flamenco” intro that he would often use before “Hey Baby”. In fact this was destined to be developed as the intro to “Hey Baby”. See the “Song by song” section.

THE COVER
Simply a variation of the first volume – 4/10

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 3 ♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Drifting (try out) 3:52, Keep On Groovin’ Drifting (try out) 0:57, Midnight Lightnin’ (try out) 0:24, Freedom (alternate take) 4:04, Cherokee Mist/In From The Storm 6:31, Valleys Of Neptune (instrumental) 4:37, Lil Dog Of Mine/Heaven Has No Sorrow (session) 12:50, Valleys Of Neptune (session) 21:21
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York, on the 26th June 1970

Improvisation/Drifting(try out) 3:34, Had To Cry Today 1:27, Angel (intro instrumental #1) 0:27, Angel (complete instrumental) 4:45, Angel (intro instrumental #2) 0:35, 14) Drifting (alternate take) 3:41, Angel (alternate version complete with vocals) 4:21, Belly Button Window (instrumental) 5:11
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York, on 23rd July 1970

This third volume proposes two sessions at Electric Lady Studios in the summer of 1970. Unfortunately there are very few complete songs here (which is why I have put the timings). Reclamation are really scraping the barrel here.
The tapes keep rolling in the studio as Jimi plays a little, chats or does God knows what, as one sits and listens to long periods of tape hiss and not much else. It is of course an insight into how Jimi worked in the studio but this is far from being a rewarding listening experience (apart from one or two tracks). I have put up the timings so one can realise just how short some of the sequences are. Sound quality is clear throughout.

Drifting (try out) 3:52 – Jimi and the band in a quite a nice dreamy instrumental run through.

Keep On Groovin’ / Drifting (try out) 0:57 – jimi doodles away for a minute

Midnight Lightnin’ (try out) 0:24 – A bit of tape of little interest

Freedom (alternate take) 4:04 – A nice early alternate “Freedom”, with overdubs. Vocal and guitar tracks different from the master.

Cherokee Mist/In From The Storm 6:31 – Yes, again ! It was on the MCA box, on Purple Haze Records “Am I Blue” and countless bootlegs.

Valleys Of Neptune (instrumental) 4:37 – A long rhythmic run through. Already on Radioactives “Studio Outtakes Vol. 3”. Tedious.

Lil Dog Of Mine/Heaven Has No Sorrow (session) 12:50 – This is ridiculous. Jimi jokes on a little comic ditty, then can’t remember what he had done before hand for “Heaven Has No Sorrow”. So he asks Eddie to play it back to him. So we listen to Jimi listening to the prevoius take. A good 7 minutes pass before he has another go, which results in what was already on “In The Studio 2” !

Valleys Of Neptune (session) 21:21 – Twenty minutes of doodling around. I think it was on this part that I heard Jimi sorting tapes and come across a some jazz trumpet. “Jazz?” he exclaims, and I remember that this was spliced into the “Blue Suede Shoes”
fooling around on “Loose Ends” years and years and years ago.

Improvisation/Drifting(try out) 3:34 – Jimi and Billy jam a little on the riff of Blind Faith’s “Had To Cry Today” before trying out “Drifting”.

Had To Cry Today 1:27 – No, that was the previous track ! This is a strange little winding rock riff from Jimi.

Angel – Three practice takes

Drifting (alternate take) – This is similar to what was on Purple Haze’s “Truth & Emotion”. It is evidently what Kramer used as raw material to construct the “Drifting” that is was on “Cry Of Love” and now on “First Rays”. It’s really nice, without the vibraphone and slushy percussion. Jimi’s guitar is fed through a Leslie organ speaker I think, like on “Tax free”.

Angel (alternate version complete with vocals) – Same applies here, this is how “Angel” sounded before Kramer and Mitchell had dressed it up for inclusion on “Cry Of Love”. I prefer this version, the way Jimi had left it.

Belly Button Window (instrumental) 5:11 – Oh dear. This was also on “In The Studio Volume 2” !! This time it does have much better sound quality however. A silly mistake to have put the track out on two successive releases.

THE COVER
Gives you an idea of the contents. Photo taken only a second away from the one used on the cover of the bootleg “Ball & Chain” – 3/10

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 4 ♥♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Lover Man, Message To Love, Izabella (take 2), Bleeding Heart, Izabella (take 1), Blue Suede Shoes, Power Of Soul (takes 1 to 16)

The forth installment from Reclamation which features mainly 1969 studio work. This volume is an uneven mix of relatively accomplished tracks and raggedy studio tryouts. The sleeve-notes are very innacurate.

Lover Man, Message To Love – Identical to the versions on the MCA 2000 box! Lover Man does have a nicer, fade-out conclusion though.

Izabella (take 2) – Same source as the last track on CD 3 of the MCA box but with a confused slushy mix with the percussion up front.

Bleeding Heart – Identical to the version on “Jimi hendrix :Blues”!

Izabella (take 1) – In fact Take 1 falls apart and then we get an uneventful instrumental run through the song, which also eventually falls apart. I’ve never heard this before. It is from a different session than the other “Izabella” here and features somebody on piano with Jimi and Buddy. It doesn’t come to much, and Buddy does his trademark unfuky, metronome thing again.

Blue Suede Shoes – This was released on Purple Haze Records’ “Truth & Emotion” last year. Here is what I said about it then:
An extract of this jam was previously seen on “Loose Ends” back in the seventies. Here, we don’t get Jimi explaining the drum pattern to Miles and the track begins with Jim’s Elvis Presley impersonation. Then we understand why the track faded out on “Loose Ends” as the band (of Gypsys) soon break down after two minutes but Jimi immediately keeps it running with improvisation, inspiring the others (plus a harmonica player) to carry on. Miles kicks into his metronome mode and things chug along for a few minutes, with some lovely guitar along the way. Vocals come back before Jimi takes off into space and then puts in some improvised vocals (“Blue Suede Blues” about being busted). The band jam on, until the track fades out at 11.33. A nice surprise and great jam.

Power Of Soul (takes 1 to 16) – Like on Volume 3, this is “fly-on-the-wall” stuff as we hear how the Band Of Gypsys worked in the studio. This sort of material is familiar to those who know the mega-bootlegs such as “Unsurpassed Masters”. We hear take after take, without a complete song anywhere in site. Jimi is feeling around the riffs of the song to pin it down (on a Gibson SG I’d say).
Around this time, Alan Douglas dropped by to see how Jimi was working. He couldn’t beleive what he saw. Jimi was just using the studio to search for ideas, taping absolutely everything, in case he stumbled on a good idea ! Jimi didn’t write music so this was the way he kept notes. This is why Chas Chandler couldn’t take it any more and why Mike Jeffery, Warner Brothers and Polydor were pulling their hair out, waiting for Jimi to come up with a follow up to “Electric Ladyland”.

THE COVER
The same photo source as Radioactive’s Berkeley release but given a line treatment, a paisley wallpaper background and some Monty Python-like flowers growing in the foreground. IT’S ! … Jimi Hendrix’s Flying Circus !* – 2/10

*I’m referencing the title sequence original British TV series for those who are unfamiliar with it.

**IN THE STUDIO – Volume 5 – Inside the Record Plant 1** ♥♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Bleeding Heart, Rainy Day Dream Away (False Start), Rainy Day Dream Away (Practice Session), Rainy Day Dream Away/Still Raining Still Dreaming (alternate), Send My Love To Linda/Live And Let Live, Mannish Boy/ I’m A Man (Morgenfield/Mcdaniel)

These outtakes are from Record Plant sessions from June 68 to April 70 apparently.

Bleeding Heart – This sounds like a studio playback for Jimi as he does some rhythm guitar. Vocals are feint in the background. At the end we hear the band wind down after the master’s fade out. It’s the funky reading of the song, not the blues.

Rainy Day – This sequence is familiar from other bootlegs, with Jimi and the musicians jamming away to get the feel for the song. That alternate (or rather unfinished) mix in fact begins with some freeform jamming until the tracks that turned up on “Electric Ladyland” come in, with the two parts of the song fused as one.

Sending My Love To Linda/Live And Let Live – This is a basic stop-start studio tryout (without vocals) but it does feature some superb guitar soloing from Jimi. I don’t see the reason for the “Live At Let Live” tag.

Mannish Boy/I’m A Man – This is a mammouth 40 minute jam around Muddy Waters “Mannish Boy” (and Bo Diddly’s revamp version “I’m A Man”). There was a glimpse of this on the “:Blues” album, it’s the Band Of Gypsys struggling to make music again. It goes on and on, breaking down many times as Jimi searches for the right treatment of the song. It’s interesting to hear how Jimi worked in the studio (which is what this collection is about) but God it’s tedious.

THE COVER
I like this one with its shot of Jimi reclining “in the studio” while he listens to a playback – 6/10

**IN THE STUDIO – Volume 6 – Inside the Record Plant 2** ♥♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Jam including Stepping Stone/Sending My Love To Linda/Freedom/Here Comes The Sun/Cherokee Mist/All Devils Children, Closer To The Truth (Room Full Of Mirrors recital), Jam Back At The House, Midnight/Valleys Of Neptune Arising, Pride Of Man (Bolero) , Pride Of Man (Bolero)

Jam including… – On bootlegs, this is known as “Acoustic Jam With Mitch”. It lasts 23 minutes and sounds like a hotel room time killer with Mitch slapping his thighs and whatever was at hand. The sound isn’t very good but this is fascinating “fly on the wall” stuff of course and interesting to hear Jimi doodling on acoustic guitar.

Closer To The Truth (Room Full Of Mirrors Recital) – This has got to be the strangest bit of Hendrix tape there is. Jimi rambles some “poetry”, whatever come into his head really, as some music plays in the background (Eric Burdon). Then we hear someone’s breathing as they sleep (Jimi ?) while some fuzzy music and barely audible Jimi ramblings continue ! At the end we just here some fuzzy music and that is all. Reclamation really hit rock bottom here. Did anyone actually listen to this before manufacturing ?

Jam Back At The House – A poor sounding “mix” of “Beginning” with Mitch’s drumming quite up front.

Midnight/Valleys Of Neptune Arising – This loose studio jam opens as “Midnight Lightning” in fact, before it goes into Jimi’s “Pride Of Man/Bolero” thing. It stops and starts and repeats over and over.

Pride Of Man/Bolero – From the same session it would seem. Very early days for this composition which begins in a nice dreamy way before going into a rather monotonous galloping rythm which goes nowhere. A waste of CD space really.

THE COVER
Jimi playing amidst a psychedelic haze. Call me old fashioned but I quite like it ! – 7/10

The next four “In The Studio” albums were I believe only available in the 10 CD box set that follows them here.
Many thanks to François for helping out and to Glenn for the cover shots.

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 7 ⊗

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Cherokee Mist, Jam H290, Voodoo Chile, Ships Passing In The Night, Calling All Devil’s Children Jam

Cherokee Mist – This is that rough version of the song with the thumping indian drum beat and sitar effect. I know this from a couple of bootlegs but here the sound is very clear and the whole thing comes across much better. It’s not a great musical acheivemnent however and the drums are pretty weak (perhaps by Jimi himself).

Jam H290 -This is 01’33 of relaxed studio bashing with a riff that Jimi would use within “Midnight Lightning”, before he goes into a basic Chuck Berry type riff (almost “Little Queenie” at one point).

Voodoo Chile – As on the bootleg “Voodoo Chile Sessions”, a 36 minutes of jamming with Stevie Winwood on organ which resulted in the monster “Voodoo Chile” on Side One of “Ladyland”. Here however, the audience noise that Jimi recorded (to give the song a club feel) runs alongside the music in a clumsy way. Perhaps it’s an early mix that Jimi tried and abandoned. At the end, the conversations are very clear and go on a little longer.

Ships Passing In The Night – Again, a clearer version of something that I know from bootlegs. This is a pretty sluggish jam with some Miles Davis style muted trumpet in the background. Doesn’t really work and Jimi soon brings it to a halt. Perhaps he continued with more takes but this is all that has ever surfaced.

Calling All Devil’s Children Jam – This isn’t the heavy “Calling All Devil’s Children” with Jimi’s political style shouting but a basic bass and drum jam until it packs in and then we hear Jimi doing some strumming and searching which develops into a riff he used in “Burning Desire” (somebody accompanies him a little on keyboards).

THE COVER
A TTG Studios shot again . Not a great shot making a weak cover – 2/10

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 8 ♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Electric Church, Hear My Freedom, Honey Bed , Room Full Of Mirrors, All Along The Watchtower, Ezy Rider, Dolly Dagger, South Saturn Delta, Shame Shame Shame, Gypsy Blood (Crying Blue Rain), Sunshine Of Your Love

Electric Church – We know an edited version of this from the “:Blues” album. It starts of with a long introduction before the “Red House” jam cuts in. Some fantastic playing from the man.

Hear My Freedom – Lee Michaels was on the previous track and now we here more jamming with him (that is known from the “Ball & Chain” bootleg). This doesn’t seem to have any form whatsoever until Jimi tunes up a comes in on wah-wah and things take off. Towards the end, Jimi improvises some rapping vocals “…singing from the bottom of my heart…”

Honey Bed – A series of takes of Jimi working on what became “Bleeding Heart/Come Down Hard On Me”

Room Full Of Mirrors – This is from the tapes that Chas Chandler came back to in 1988, asking Mitch and Noel to add accompaniment to Jim’s solo workouts. Already known to the planet form the “Studio Haze” bootleg.

All Along The Watchtower – A low-fi, more primitive version of the Olympic mix (that was on “South Saturn Delta”) by the sound of it.

Ezy Rider – A confused and hissy early version of the song where Jimi says “Roger, take it away…” at the beginning. A rough vocal from Jimi.

Dolly Dagger – Like the previous track this is a test mix with a raw guide vocal.

South Saturn Delta – A bizarre, raw version of the brass backed instrumental that we know from the album of the same name. Halfway through it fades into a terribly dull studio jam version which goes nowhere.

Shame Shame Shame – Another track from the Chandler tapes which is obviously a continuation of the “Room Full Of Mirrors” jam. Jimi raps a passage about Leon (as he did on “It’s Too Bad” – see 2000 MCA box).

Gypsy Blood (Crying Blue Rain) – Chandler tape again which is a basic slow blues from Jimi which is built around the “Catfish Blues”/”Voodoo Chile” riff, as he mouths some “Oooohs” and “Yeah yeahs” over the top.

Sunshine Of Your Love – Another Chandler outtake to finish and this is a great studio take of the famous Cream song. Jimi is brilliant here but the drums which were overdubbed some twenty years later sound a bit too clean and stuck on and they don’t blend as they could have done.

THE COVER
That is a lovely photo of a shirtless Jimi strumming away but the wallpaper frame ruins the cover – 1/10

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 9 ♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Angel, 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be), Astro Man/Valleys Of Neptune, Gypsy Eyes, Cherokee Mist, Cherokee Mist/Gypsy Eyes, Power Of Soul (a.k.a. Money), Long Hot Summer I, Long Hot Summer II, Hear My Train A Comin’, Hear My Train A Comin’, Gypsy Eyes (3rd take), Gypsy Eyes (riff), South Saturn Delta, 3 Little Bears ,1983(A Merman I Should Turn To Be – instrumental), Acoustic Jam With Mitch

This volume gathers together recordings of Jimi solo on electric and acoustic guitar. The electric tracks are from “Jimi By Himself” (see Home Recordings section) and the acoustic tracks I know from the “Acoustc Jams” bootleg but the sound quality is better here. If finishes with the same Acoustic Jam With Mitch that was on In The Studio Volume 7!

THE COVER
A great photo of Jimi already used by Radioactive for “Blues At Midnight”, this time with a more spacey approach. – 5/10

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 10 ♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Hey Joe, Purple Haze, Red House, Crosstown Traffic, Takin Care Of Business, I Don’t Live Today, Wind Cries Mary, One Rainy Wish (alternate mix), La Poupee Qui Fait Non, 51st Anniversary, 51st Anniversary, Can You See Me? Can You See Me, Fire, Fire

As if they didn’t what to do next, the people behind these stupid releases jump back to 1966/67 and serve up mostly tapes that have already appeared on “Are You Experienced & More (Purple Haze Records) and “Studio Outtakes Vol.1” (Radioactive)! Oh well, here goes:

Hey Joe – This was on the 2000 MCA box set with better sound !
Purple Haze – This was on “Studio Outtakes 1”. A hissy mix which drops back occasionally to reveal the vocals alone.
Red House – This was also on “Studio Outtakes 1”. The four tryouts of the song that led to theUS Smash Hits version.
Crosstown Traffic – Can’t see the point of this. Its a bad mix of the “Ladyland” track.
Takin’ Care Of No Business – Not again. A hissy version of the brassy Chandler 1988 version.
I Don’t Live Today – The same sequence of takes that was on “Studio Outtakes 1” and “AYE & More”?
Wind Cries Mary – An nice version without vocals.
One Rainy Wish – As on “Studio Outtakes 1”.
La Poupée Qui Fait Non – As on – “Studio Outtakes 1”
51st Anniversary – First one, as on “Studio Outtakes 1” and the second features some great instrumental run throughs.
Can You See Me – As on “AYE & More”.
Fire – As on “AYE & More”.

THE COVER
The same intense portrait of Jimi that was used with a line effect for Volume 4 and on Radioactive’s “Live At Berkeley – 1st show” – 4/10

**IN THE STUDIO – 10 CD limited edition box set ♥**♥½

Released 1969 (Track)

This 10 CD collection was released just after Volume 6 of the series. Four new volumes therefore, as detailed above. Volumes 7 to 10 were not released individually as far as I know. Evidently ideas were running out for the sleeve art.

THE COVER
A reworking of the same photo used for “In The Studio Volume 3”. Again, it nicely defines the contents – 5/10

MESSAGE FROM NINE TO THE UNIVERSE ♥♥♥♥

Released 1969 (Track)

CD1 – Nine To The Universe, Jimi/Jimmy Jam, Young/Hendrix Jam, Easy Blues, Drone Blues

CD2 – Midnight Lightning Jam (11:58), Highway Of Broken Dreams (14:16), Lonely Avenue Jam (2:48), Lover Man (4:13), Trying To Be (7:15)

A clone of the official Nine To The Universe album (the same edited versions of the jams are featured) plus some extraother (often circulated) jams.

THE COVER
That’s Jimi dressed up for his Toronto bust court appearance. Nice colour balance but not a great cover. – 3/10

3 NIGHTS AT WINTERLAND ♥♥♥♥

Released 2006 (Reclamation)

Oct 10 68 – 1st show – Are You Experienced, Voodoo Child, Red House, Foxy Lady, Like A Rolling Stone, This is America* ,Purple Haze
Oct 10 68 – 2nd show – Tax Free, Lover Man, Sunshine Of your Love, Hear my Train A Comin, Killing Floor, Hey Joe, This is America, Purple Haze

Oct 11 68 – 1st show – Are You Experienced, Voodoo Chile, Red House, Foxy Lady, Star Spangled Banner, Purple Haze
Oct 11 68 – 2nd show – Tax Free, Spanish Castle Magic, Like A Rolling Stone, Lover Man, Hey Joe, Fire, Foxy Lady, Purple Haze

Oct 12 68 – 1st show – Fire, Lover Man, Like A Rolling Stone, Foxy Lady, Tax Free, Hey Joe, Purple Haze, Wild Thing
Oct 12 68 – 2nd show – Foxy Lady, Manic Depression, Sunshine of your Love, Little Wing, Spanish Castle Magic, Red House, Voodoo Chile, This is America, Purple Haze

This 6 CD Box set (which as with many releases here simply cloned already circulating recordings) was supposedly limited to 2000. The official site has already mentioned that they were planning a future release of all the Winterland (October) 68 recordings and along came Reclamation with yet another sneer in the face of the Hendrix Estate, despite the court rulings. This is in fact merely a copy of the bootleg that has been circulating for years among collectors and I have learned that the source here was medium definition MP3! The sleeve notes are a mess also with inacuracies in the track listings also. All the songs are on it even if they are absent on the listings.
Many songs here have seen the light of day previously on the official albums “Live At Winterland” and “The Jimi Hendrix Concerts” and on the other unofficial label Purple Haze Records, with their “Winterland Night” (which was a copy of the official “Winterland +3”!). Those albums had a much superior sound (thank you Alan Douglas), but everything on this release is very good soundboard (though a little hissy), with the exception of the last three tracks of the October 11th second set which is taken from an audience source.

These are of course, historic recordings. At this stage The Experience had modelled their live performances into great electric art. I see these shows as being a last huge celebration of their work, a farewell to the fun days before the rot fully set in within the band as the tours dragged on until their demise 8 months later.

Despite the great difficulties that the band had with the sound system they put some great sets together. This is a chance to hear “This Is America” here. It begins in a similar way to his 1967 live intros to “Purple Haze” with lots of wild feedback then it’s basically “Star Spangled Banner” with things like the “Bonanza” theme tune thrown in. It’s a shame that Jimi didn’t develop this collage further. There is also an interesting moment born out of chaos when Jimi guitar packs in during “Foxy Lady” (October 12 – 1st show). Things grind to a hault while the amps are changed, so Mitch and Noel come to the rescue with a great drum & bass improvisation. I’m not sure, but I think Jimi also joins in on extra percussion (on Mitch’s kit ?) then he finally comes back in on guitar, to lead the band into “Tax Free”.

The band welcomed friends to the stage during this residence and Jack Cassidy of the Jefferson Airplane steps in to jam on “Killing Floor”. We also hear Virgil Gonsalves on flute for “Are You Experienced” on the 11th (his contribution had been edited out on the “Winterland +3” collection). Herbie Rich of Buddy Miles Express adds some organ later the same evening (from “Like A Rolling Stone” onwards). This permits one to realise that, even if Jimi’s sessions with Stevie Winwood, Lee Michaels and Larry Young were very rewarding, the addition of keyboards to a regular Experience workout doesn’t work very well at all. To make things worse, some of the time Rich seems to be playing in the wrong key, his organ sounding like a siren in the background.

All in all, a rather raggedy series of shows with great moments along the way.

THE COVER
That is the same photo that was used on the official limited edition album “Winterland +3”! A nice treatment with the cosmic swirls but spoilt by those bands. 5/10

From here on, the releases kept on coming on a multitude of other “labels”:

2 NIGHTS AT THE FILLMORE EAST ♥♥♥

Released 2007 (Voodoo Chile Export)

DISC ONE – First Show 31st December 1969 – Power Of Soul, Lover Man, Hear My Train A- Comin’, Changes, Izabella, Machine Gun, Stop, Ezy Rider, Bleeding Heart, Earth Blues, Burning Desire

DISC TWO – Second Show Midnight 31st December 1969/1st January 1970 – Auld Lang Syne (traditional), Auld Lang Syne, Who Knows, Stepping Stone, Burning Desire, Fire, Ezy Rider, Machine Gun, Power Of Soul, Stone Free

DISC THREE – Second Show conclusion – Changes, Message To Love, Stop, Foxy Lady, Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Purple Haze

DISC FOUR – Third Show 7.30pm 1st January 1970 – Who Knows, Machine Gun, Changes, Power Of Soul, Stepping Stone, Foxy Lady, Stop, Earth Blues

DISC FIVE – Fourth Show 9pm 1st January 1970 – Stone Free, Changes, Power Of Soul, Message To Love, Earth Blues, Machine Gun , Burning Desire

DISC SIX – Fourth Show conclusion – Voodoo Child (Slight Return), We Gotta Live Together, Wild Thing, Hey Joe, Purple Haze

This massive 6 CD set was a limited edition of 2000 copies worldwide. Traders are familiar with these complete Band Of Gypsys performances at the Fillmore East from the “Box Of Gypsys” for example. On that bootleg, there is a mix of soundboard and audience recordings, so we can presume that the same is true here. Remember that Reclamation had previously put out the similarly titled “Three Nights At Winterland” which turned out to be merely bootleg MP3s burned to disc!
Again, those who are not into downloading free recordings and ready to pay, will be pleased to see this collection available. This is fascinating stuff of course as one gets the chance to sit through every BOG concert at the Fillmore. Unfortunately, as with the official “Live At The Fillmore East” on MCA, one discovers how disjointed the band was in parts, despite the legendary jaw dropping moments from Jimi (which he had for the most part selected for his own “Band Of Gypsys” album of 1970). Some very good performances dotted throughout this however (despite Buddy’s annoying chanting and ham-fisted drumming).

> November 2019: the official release of nearly all these performances (from the original multi-track recordings) as Songs For Groovy Children!

THE COVER
I like it ! – 8/10

LIVE & UNLEASHED ♥♥♥

October 2007 (Rock Of Ages Export)

Merely a 5CD collection of their previous live releases in one package.

Live At The LA Forum 69
Live At L’Olympia Paris 68
Blues At Midnight – Generation Club 68
Live In Copenhagen 69
Live At The Berkeley 70 (1st show)

> In May 2008, all these CDs were re-released individually.

THE COVER
The same visual as on the “LA Forum Concert” on the Radioactive label with a colour change. It loses a point for lack of originality but I always quite liked the image. – 8/10

LIVE IN SCANDINAVIA
Volume 1 ♥♥

October 2007 (Voodoo Chile Records)

Disc 1 – 24TH MAY 1967 : STORA SCENEN – Foxy Lady, Rock Me Baby, Hey Joe, Can You See Me, Purple Haze, Wild Thing
4th SEPTEMBER 1967 : STORA SCENEN – Sgt Pepper, Rock Me Baby, Catfish Blues, Hey Joe, Purple Haze, Interview 25th May 1967

Disc 2 – 4th SEPTEMBER 1967 : DANS-IN EVENING SHOW – Killing Floor, Foxy Lady, Catfish Blues, Hey Joe, Fire, The Wind Cried Mary, Purple Haze

Disc 3 – 5th SEPTEMBER 1967 : RADIOHUSET, STOCKHOLM – Sgt Pepper, Fire, The Wind Cries Mary, Foxy Lady, Hey Joe, I Don’t Live Today, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, Purple Haze, Interview 05/09/67 (Noel, Mitch and Jimi)

Disc 4 – 10th SEPTEMBER 1967 : LUND – Sgt Pepper, Foxy Lady, Catfish Blues, Fire, The Wind Cries Mary, Have Mercy (incomplete), Manic Depression, Purple Haze
11th SEPTEMBER 1967 : STORA SCENEN – Foxy Lady, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, Fire, Catfish Blues, Hey Joe, Purple Haze

Disc 5 – 7th JANUARY 1968 : COPENHAGEN – Sgt Pepper, Fire, Hey Joe, Catfish Blues, The Wind Cries Mary (aborted), Purple Haze, Spanish Castle Magic, Wild Thing

Disc 6 – 8th JANUARY 1968 : STOCKHOLM – Sgt Pepper, EXP, Up From The Skies, Spanish Castle Magic, Foxy Lady, Little Wing, Fire, Catfish Blues, The Wind Cries Mary

A 6 CD collection of pretty good audience recordings (except Disque 3 which is from FM radio). The Michael Jeffery Estate have evidently exhausted their stock of quality recordings and now resort to putting out collections of sub-standard material. I’m talking about sound quality there because the concert performances here are generally very good, capturing The Jimi Hendrix Experience in the relatively early days and full of fun.
This is evidently not from tapes that were in the possession of Michael Jeffery when he passed away (plane crash in the seventies). The people behind this are simply duplicating bootlegs. That was already the case with the 6 CD Winterland and Band Of Gypsys Fillmore sets from what I have been informed by fans who have analysed them. It is all getting very silly now.
Again, this will no doubt anger the Hendrix Estate (they already won in court to stop Radioactive) but it will please many hungry fans, enabling them to get hold of rare material in one go. All of this can be found through trade or torrent sites for free of course. In the past, Radioactive made a point of “improving” the sound, it remains to be seen if that is the case here in relation to the usual bootleg material.
Here is a run-down of the contents with more accurate venue details (this required a lot of concentration !).

Disc 1
24TH MAY 1967 : Stora Scenen, Grona Lund, Tivoli Gargens, Stockholm – Previously circulated on the bootleg “Lost In Sweden”. Jimi’s vocals a little muffled but instruments, including Mitch’s cymbols come over well. “Can You See Me” was on the Univibes CD “EXP Over Sweden” (see Live 90s section – bottom of page)
4th SEPTEMBER 1967 : Stora Scenen, Grona Lund, Tivoli Gargens, Stockholm – Same venue, four months later (after Monterey) and pretty rough sound this time. Only five songs.

Disc 2 – 4th SEPTEMBER 1967 : Dans-In, Grona Lund, Tivoli Gargens, Stockholm (Evening show) – Later the same day, this was also on the Univibes’ “EXP Over Sweden”. Similar sound to Disc 1. Great show.

Disc 3 – 5th SEPTEMBER 1967 : Radiothuset, Studio 4, Stockholm – The day after. This is the radio show previously released officially as “Stages 67” and unofficially as part of “No More A Rolling Stone” (Purple Haze Records). This time the sound quality has been “improved”.

Disc 4 – 10th SEPTEMBER 1967 : Stora Salen, Akademiska Foreningen, Lund – Also previously on the bootleg “Lost In Sweden”. Pretty good sound here and an interesting track list featuring “Have Mercy” which unfortunately cuts out in the middle. Shame.

11th SEPTEMBER 1967 : Stora Scenen, Grona Lund, Tivoli Gargens, Stockholm – The next day, back to Tivoli Gardens (this was also on the bootleg “Lost In Sweden”). Not bad sound apart from distant vocals. “Burning Of The Midnight Lamp” opened Univibes first CD “Calling Long Distance”.

Disc 5 – 7th JANUARY 1968 : Tivoli Konsertsal, Copenhagen – Pretty rough sound on this one even if guitar and drums come over fairly well.

Disc 6 – 8th JANUARY 1968 : Stora Salen, Konserthuset, Stockholm – The next day and very rough sound on this one. “EXP”,”Up From The Skies” and “Little Wing” were on “EXP Over Sweden”

THE COVER
That visual is taken from an old European concert poster. It makes quite a nice cover. – 8/10

LIVE IN SCANDINAVIA
Volume 2 ♥♥

October 2007 (Voodoo Chile Records)

Volume 2 completes the audio history of Jimi’s tours of Scandinavia. The first two CDs here are the same as the 2004 Purple Haze Records release “Stockholm Concert” which had prompted the Hendrix estate to attack and eventually silence the label. Sound is top notch soundboard with a shoddy first set and a better second set.
The other CDs are audience quality but there are some good concert performances in there, apart from the 31st of August show at Tivoli Gardens where Jimi had taken the stage after having finished his set at the Isle Of Wight early in the morning of the same day ! He was evidently exhausted and disorientated. Things had much improved by the 3rd of September however and Jimi put in perhaps the best performance of his last tour (the ATM merge version is the best one of this show – has it been copied here ?).

Disc 1 – 9th January 1969 Konserthuset Stockholm Sweden – First Show : Killing Floor/ Spanish Castle/Magic/Fire/Hey Joe/ Voodoo Child/ Red House/ The Sunshine Of Your Love

Disc 2 – 9th January 1969 Konserthuset Stockholm – Second Show : I Don’t Live Today/ Spanish Castle Magic/ Hey Joe/Voodoo Child/ The Sunshine Of Your Love/ Red House/ Fire/Purple Haze-Star Spangled Banner

Disc 3 – 10th January 1969 Falkoner Centret Copenhagen Denmark – First Show: Fire/ Foxy Lady/ Tax Free/ Spanish Castle Magic/ Red House/The Sunshine Of Your Love/ I Don’t Live Today-Star Spangled Banner/ Purple Haze

Disc 4 – 10th January 1969 Falkoner Centret – Second Show (incomplete) : Fire/ Voodoo Child/ Foxy Lady/ Spanish Castle Magic ;
31st August 1970 Stora Scenen, Grona Lund, Tivoli Garden, Stockholm, Sweden – Lover Man/ Catfish Blues/ Ezy Rider/ Red House/ Come On/Room Full Of Mirrors-Hey Baby- Drum Solo

Disc 5 – 31st August 1970 Stora Scenen (continuation) – Drum Solo- Message To Love/ Machine Gun/ Voodoo Child/In From The Storm/ Purple Haze/ Foxy Lady
3rd September 1970 K.B. Hallen Copenhagen Denmark – Stone Free-Foxy Lady/ Message To Love-Hey Baby- All Along The Watchtower

Disc 6 – 3rd September 1970 (continuation) – Machine Gun-Spanish Castle Magic-Ezy Rider/Freedom/Red House/ In From The Storm/ Purple Haze-Voodoo Child-Hey Joe/ Fire

THE COVER
A rather boring duplication of Volume 1. Thanks to Byrdman for the photo ! – 2/10

COMPLETE RAINBOW BRIDGE ♥♥♥

January 2008 (Rock Of Ages)

CD 1 First set- Intro de Chuck Wein/Jimi’s Inro-tune-up/Spanish Castle Magic/Lover Man/Hey Baby/In From The Storm/Message To Love/Foxy Lady/Hear My Train A Comin/Voodoo Child (Slight return)/Fire/Purple Haze/Star Spangled Banner
CD 2 Second set – Dolly Dagger/Villanova Junction/Ezy Ryder/Red House/Freedom/Jam Back At The House/Straight Ahead/Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)/Sone Free-Hey Joe-Stone Free

Recorded live at the Rainbow Bridge Vibratory Color/Sound Experiment, Rainbow Bridge, Haleakala Crater, Maui, Hawaii – 30 July 1970

This features four songs which were absent on the Purple Haze release “The Rainbow Bridge Concert” of 2002. Here, there is “Spanish Castle Magic” from the first set and “Straight Ahead”, “Stone Free-Hey Joe” from the second. With the stage introductions as well that’s about 20 minutes extra. This claims to be a “remaster” and apparently has better sound than the PH release.
To improve the movie soundtrack, Mitch Mitchell had overdubbed drums on some tracks. Two overdubbed tracks had been released officially, “Hey Baby/In From The Storm” on the MCA 2000 box and “Foxy Lady” on the “Voodoo Chile” double CD compilation.
In 2020, Experience Hendrix finally released the restored live recording and all the surviving footage of the Maui performances as Live In Maui (Sony Legacy), thus rendering this and the Purple Haze Records release rendundent (except for keen collectors).

THE COVER
A very colourful cover here, using elements of the original cinema poster with Jimi Hendrix logo signature again which is really the property of Experience Hendrix. Messy design. – 3/10

JAMMIN WITH JIMI ♥

February 2008 (Msi)

Disc 1 – Generation Club early to mid april 1968. jam with bb king and others
1.Like a rolling stone 2. Jam san-ho-zay 3.intro jam by b.b. king 4.slow blues 5.fast blues 6. It’s my own fault 7. Intro by b.b. king

Disc 2 – Track 1: Generation Club NYC 7th april 1968* ”A wake at generation”. Track 2: NewYork club, april 1968. Rest: Newport Pop festival, 22nd june 1969 jam (jam with Buddy Miles and freinds).
1.Buddy guy jam 2. oochie man 3.Earth v. space (inc. midnight lightning/gypsy eyes/machine gun/red house 4.the thing I used to do 5.the sky is crying 6.jam pt. 1 we gotta live together 7.jam pt.2 feel so good/sunshine of your love

Disc 3 – Tracks1-4: Newport Pop Festival, 22nd june 1969 jam. Tracks 5-11: Jimi’s house, Shokan, Woodstock possibly 14 aug 1969.
1.jam inc. message to love/train kept a rolling/power of soul 2.jam pt.2 inc. earth blues/hear my train a comin 3.jam pt.3 inc. voodoo chile 4.jam pt.4 express horns jam 5.izabella/machine gun jam 6.univibe jam 7.message to love 8.manish boy 9. Manish boy/izabella/you make me feel 10.the dance 11.izabella

Disc 4 – Shokan House (Gypsy Sun & Rainbows)
1.izabella 2.izabella 3.message to love 4.jam back at the house 5.jam in e 6.jam back at he house 7.machine gun/if six was nine 8.sundance 9.free from jazz 10.lover man 11.lover man 12.jam alt. mix

Disc 5 – Shokan House (Gypsy Sun & Rainbows jams + Mike Ephron jams)
1. Hear my train a comin 2. Spanish castle magic 3.jam villanova junction 4.jam 1 inc. gypsy boy/new rising sun (aka baroque 1)/(aka young jim) 5. Jam 1 pt.2 free thunder 6.jam 1 pt.3 swifts wing (aka baroque 2) 7. Jam 1 pt.4 down mean blues 8.jam 1 pt. 5 fried cola 9.jam 2 flying-virtuoso (aka feels good)(aka spiked with heady dream) 10.jam pt.2 Monday morning blues 11. Jam 3 lift off 12. Jam 4 madagascar

Disc 6 – Shokan House + Tnker Street cinema 10th aug. 1969 (Gypsy Sun & Rainbows) + Mike Ephron jams
1.key tot the highway (aka jimi’s tender too) 2.cave man bells 3.stepping stone (aka she went to bed with my guitar) 4.villanova junction (aka Strokin’ a lady on each hip) 5. Earth blues (aka giraffe) 6.baby chicken strut 7.the dance 8.sundanc 9.jam inc. earth blues 10.star sprangled banner

Oh what a mess this collection is. For a start, the Jeffey estate have already released the Generation Club jam (BB King on at least one track) and the rest is a very tatty affair. The Newport jam with Buddy Miles is in there along with the Shokan House pre-Woodstock festival rehearsals by Gypsy Sun & Rainbows. Sound on those is not too bad and there are some nice moments from Jimi but the jams are very loose with little sparks flying. For completeness, the Tinker Street Cinema jam is included and again it’s interesting but not much more than that. At one point Jimi goes into a frustratingly brief “If Six Was Nine” riff.
The awful Mike Ephron jams at Shokan House are also tagged on. Read about these on the Home Recordings page, they came out in the 70s as “Jimi Hendrix At His Best”.

*This is listed erroneously as a jam with Buddy Guy. The confusion arose because of the D.A. Pennebaker film “Wake At Generation” in which Jimi is seen watching Buddy Guy perform. The track here is thought to be with Dave Woods on guitar, Ed “Bugs” Gregory on bass, and possibly Glenway McTeer on drums.

Thanks to Tom and Régis for all this information.

> This album was re-released on the Pali Gap label but as a 3CD box, with only the Newport Pop festival discs.

THE COVER
Rather sober approach with Jimi floating over images of his past. – 5/10

STUDIO SESSIONS – Volume 1 ♥♥

May 2008 (Voodoo Chile Records)

What do you do when you have already released everything that you have? You simply take the same materiel, jumble up the order and put it out all over again ! There are some tracks here that weren’t on the previous releases by Radioactive and Reclamation. That applies to those six takes of “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” for example, but they have already been in the shops on Purple Haze Records’ “Electric Ladyland and beyond” (the takes are also known to collectors from the bootleg “The Voodoo Chile Sessions”. Difficult to identify some of the jams here from simply looking at the track list. Note that “Calling All Devil’s Children” is in there as well as “Peace In Mississippi”, out of the “shops” since the deletion of “Voodoo Soup”.
I don’t beleive it, “Three Litle Bears” again ! Aaaargh !

Disc 1 – EXP, Bold As Love, Hear My Train A’ Comin, Dance, Long Hot Summer Night, 1983, Angel, Cherokee Mist, Hear My Train A’ Comin, Voodoo Chile, Cherokee Mist, Gypsy Eyes, All Along the Watchtower, Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland), Dance

Disc 2 – My Friend, Somewhere, Somewhere, Little Miss Strange Instrumental, 1983, Gypsy Eyes, Gypsy Eyes, Gypsy Eyes, House Burning Down, Three Little Bears/South Saturn Delta Instrumental Jam, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (6 takes)

Disc 3 – Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – 7 takes, Little Miss Strange, Jazz Jimi Jazz Jam, Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland), Rainy Day Shuffle, And The Gods Made Love, JS6 Jam 1

Disc 4 – JS7 Jam 2, JS8 Jam 3, Sunshine of Your Love, JS9 Jam 4, Sunshine of Your Love, JS10 Jam 5, JS11 Jam 6, JS12 Jam 7, JS2 Izabella, Calling All Devil’s Children, Calling All Devil’s Children

Disc 5 – Calling All Devil’s Children, Look Over Yonder (Mr Bad Luck/Mr Lost Soul), Look Over Yonder (Mr Bad Luck/Mr Lost Soul), New Rising Sun (aka MLK), Peace in Mississippi, Peace in Mississippi (Take 15), JS28 Jam, JS29 Jam, JS30 Jam, Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, Lover Man (Here He Comes) (Take 1), Lover Man, Lover Man

Disc 6 – Session Thing, Gloria (Take 8), JS31 Jam Messenger (Take 15), JS1 Heavy Jam, JS4 Jam (Last Thursday Morning), JS3 Instrumental/Winter Blues

THE COVER
Even the cover is a repeat of a previous release, that’s the same photo as “In The Studio – Vol.5” but the other way round ! – 0/10

STUDIO SESSIONS – Volume 2 ♥♥

August 2008 (Voodoo Chile Records/Msi)

A 6 CD collection of 1969 studio recordings released in Japan. This is full of things that have already appeared before and even some tracks that turned up on Daggers’ “Hear My Music” !

Disc 1
It’s Too Bad, Slow Version, Ezy Rider/Star Spangled Banner, Olympic Blues Jam, Message To Love, Gypsy Blood, Valleys Of Neptune(Guitar), Valleys Of Neptune(Piano), Jimi/Jimmy Jam
February 11 – Buddy Miles Express session, February 14 Olympic Studio session, February 22 Jimi Hendrix demo recording, and March 25 jam session with JimMcCarty , Dave Holland, and Buddy Miles.

Disc 2
Driving South/Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, Bleeding Heart, Trash Man, Ships Passing In The Night, Stone Free, Mannish Boy Sessions (14 Tracks)
March 25 – John McLaughlin jam session, April 1 and 3 Jimi Hendrix Experience sessions, April 14 session, and April 22 Mannish Boy session with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles.

Disc 3
Mannish Boy Sessions (30 takes)

Disc 4
Crash Landing, Drone Blues, Things I Used To Do, Young/Hendrix Jam, Js18 Fuzzy Guitar Jam, Jam 292, Hear My Train A Comin’April 24 – Billy Cox and Rocky Isaac session, May 7 Stephen Stills and Johnny Winter session, May 14 Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell session, and May 21 recording session.

Disc 5
Message From Nine To The Universe, Midnight Lightning, Easy Blues, Izabella (4 Takes), Machine Gun, Izabella/Machine Gun(Composite)
May 22 – session, various April and solo recordings, plus August 28 and 29 Hit Factory sessions.

Disc 6
Valleys Of Neptune, Lord I Sing The Blues For Me And You, Stepping Stone, Power Of Soul (5 Takes), Power Of Soul, Message To Love (3 Takes), Room Full Of Mirrors, Instrumental Jam, Jungle
September 6 – Hit Factory session, September 15, 24, and 25 Record Plant sessions, September 30 session with Stephen Stills, John Sebastian, and Buddy Miles session, November 14 Billy Cox and Buddy Miles session.

Thanks to Lars and Sven for this information !

THE COVER
I love this old poster. The superb painting by Martin Sharp was based on a Linda McCartney photo of Jimi in Central Park New York. It has already been used on a Hollywood Bowl vinyl bootleg in the past. – 10/10

RE-RELEASES OF PURPLE HAZE RECORDS CDS
After duplicating Purple Haze Records’ “An Evening With The JHE” (Albert Hall 69), the Jeffery estate continued the exercise by re- releasing other CDs under the banner of Spanish Castle Magic Records. This CD has recently appeared in Holland. As was the case here, these releases were perhaps issued new covers.
Thanks to Walther for this info.

The Jeffery estate re-released these albums in paper sleeves (on the other labels) in Japan :

Live At The Royal Albert Hall 1969
Live At L’Olympia Paris
Blues At Midnight
Live In Copenhagen
Live At Berkeley
Live At The LA Forum

LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL 1969 ♥♥♥♥♥

August 2008 (Msi) – (Spanish Castle Magic Records)

Hear My Train A Comin’, Room Full Of Mirrors, Bleeding Heart, Concert Intro, Lover Man, Stone Free, Hear My Train A Comin’, I Don’t Live Today, Red House, Foxy Lady, Sunshine Of Your Love, Bleeding Heart, Fire, Little Wing, Voodoo Chile(Slight Return), Room Full Of Mirrors, Purple Haze, Wild Thing, Star Spangled Banner

This one is a duplicate of Purple Haze Record’s “An Evening With The Jimi Hendrix Experience”, which was the best ever version of the concert recordings. The first three tracks are from the soundchecks (and they are excellent).

THE COVER
I initially thought that this was just a recent sloppy line illustration but fellow fan Chris informs me that the sleeve art is from the original concert program!
It looks like Heinz Edelmann’s graphic style (Yellow Submarine) – 7/10

ROCKIN’ THE USA – Volumes 1 & 2 ♥♥

September 2008 (Msi)

February 3 and 4, 1968, Winterland and Fillmore West, San Francisco
March 15 1968, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
February 16 1968, Dallas
February 17 1968, Fort Worth
May 10 1968, Fillmore East, New York
May 18 1968, Miami
November 28 1968, New York

April 27 1969, Oakland
January 28 1970, Madison Square Garden, New York
May 24 1969, San Diego
June 20 1969, San Francisco
May 8 1970, Oklahoma
July 17 1970, New York.

The Jeffery estate really are throwing everything they can get their hands on at the Japanese public. This is again simply a bunch of bootlegs that they have downloaded and dressed up for release. Ridiculous. Sound quality varies from poor audience to excellent soundboard. They have even copied a couple of Dagger releases (Clark University, Oakland and Fillmore West-4 Feb.). Nobody should buy this stuff.
I can’t be bothered to detail all these concerts, check the sites “Plug You Ears” and “Just Ask The Axis” for set lists (see my links page).

THE COVER
Lousy ! Photos of Jimi 67 that they have already used for “Live In Copenhagen”, “Blues At Midnight” and “In The Studio Vol. 9”! – 0/10

MOONBEAMS & FAIRY TALES ♥♥♥

2008 (Rock Of Ages)

This is a massive 22 CD box covering the first fourteen months of The Jimi Hendrix Experience from 18 October 1966 to 28 December 1967. There are 372 tracks of live, studio, and interview material which totals up to over 23 hours of recordings.
Again, the Jeffery estate have duplicated a bootleg as the source for all this was a 2 DVD archive which was put into circulation among collectors in 2005. In fact that began life as an 11 CD set titled “Jimi Saga 66/67”.
The package claims to feature all studio recordings, outtakes, radio and TV sessions, live recordings and interviews from the 1966 to 1967 period (excluding the Curtis Knight sessions). The live recordings of varying sound quality include Paris Olympia 1966 and 1967, Flamingo Club, Saville Theatre (sample tape) Monterey, Stockholm, Lund,… Some of this has already appeared on Purple Haze Records, Radioactive/Reclamation and the rest on regular bootlegs. I haven’t seen this anywhere yet apart from on Ebay. The title comes from the “Little Wing” lyric of course.

Thanks to Tom, Walther the French forum and BigO for this information.

Track details here

THE COVER
That superb underwater fantasy painting (titled “Sadko in the underwater kingdom”) was by the Russian artist Ilya Repin (1986) looks like a scene from Jimi’s song “1983, A Merman I Should Turn To Be” (thanks to Blazej for that info!) – 7/10

ROCKIN’ THE USA – Volumes 1, 2 & 3 ♥♥

May 2009 (Msi)

Vol.1
CD1 – Winterland, San Francisco – 03/02/1968 – 1st show + 2nd show
CD2 – Fillmore West, San Francisco – 04/02/1968 + Clark University, Worcester – 15/03/1968

Vol.2
CD1 – State Fair Music Hall, Dallas – 16/02/1968
CD2 – Will Rogers Auditorium, Fort Worth – 17/02/1968

Vol.3
CD1 – Fillmore East, New York – 10/05/1968 + Miami Pop Festival – 18/05/1968
CD2 – Philharmonic Hall, New York – 28/11/1968

The Jeffery estate continue to exploit Jimi’s name with this re-release of “Rockin’ The USA Volume 1” as three separate 2 CD editions.

THE COVER
Well they tried a little harder this time. A psychedelic Jimi (67 !) for Vol.1, a nice 67 portrait for Vol.2 but with an awkward type mix and a completely mad Vol.3 which looks rather like a Monty Python, Terry Gilliam animation in style ! – 2/10

ROCKIN’ THE USA – Volumes 4, 5 & 6
♥♥♥

June 2009 (Msi)

Vol.4
27th April 1969 : Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California
28th January 1970 : “Winter Festival For Peace” Madison Square Garden, New York

Vol.5
24th May 1969 : International Sports Arena, San Diego, California
20th June 1969 : “Newport 69” San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, California

Vol.6
8th May 1970 : University of Oklahoma Field House, Norman, Oklahoma
17th July 1970 : “New York Pop” Downing Stadium, Randall’s Island, New York

As expected,a re-packaging of the previous “Rockin’ The USA Volume 2” into three double CDs.

THE COVERS
Volume 4 uses the same photo as on “Jamming With Jimi” but it works nicely here with those swirls. 6/10
Volume 2 uses that 67 shot yet again and is a confused mess. 1/10
Volume 6 is very strange and far out. An original approach. 6/10

ENJOY JIMI HENDRIX ♥♥♥

November 2009 (Msi)

Spanish Castle Magic, Foxy Lady, Lover Man, Getting My Heart Back Together (Hear My Train A Comin’), Message To Love, Ezy Ryder, Machine Gun, Room Full Of Mirrors, Hey Baby, Villanova Junction/Drum Solo, Freedom, Star Spangled Banner, Purple Haze, Voodoo Child (Slight Return)/Keep On Groovin’

This time it’s a copy of the much circulated audience recording of the excellent LA Forum 1970 concert. There are many different audience sources for this gig so I don’t know which one was used here. The best version on the collectors circuit is the ATM 130 merge.

THE COVER
This is taken from an old vinyl bootleg of the concert. – 6/10

LOOSE ENDS ♥♥

June 2010 (Rock Giants)

CD 1 L’Olympia, Paris, France 18th October 1965: Killing Floor, Hey Joe, Wild Thing – Marquee Club, London U.K. 2nd March 1967 (German “Beat Club” TV show): Hey Joe, Purple Haze, Hey Joe, Purple Haze – Twenclub” Radio Show, NDR Studio 1 – Hamburg, Germany. 18th March 1967: Interview with Jimi and Noel, Foxy Lady, Hey Joe, Stone Free, Fire, Purple Haze – Theatre D’Issy Les Molineaux, Paris, France. (Music Hall De Paris, TV show) 11th May 1967: Hey Joe, Wild Thing – Stadthalle, Offenbach, Germany (Beat, Beat, Beat” German TV Show) 18th May 1967: Stone Free (incomplete), Hey Joe, Purple Haze – Falkoner Centret, Copenhagen, Denmark 25th May 1967: Wild Thing (incomplete) – Olympia, London, U.K. (Christmas On Earth Continued) 22nd December 1967- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Foxy Lady, Wild Thing (incomplete)

CD 2 L’Olympia, Paris, France “Musicorama”, 9th October 1967: Stone Free, Hey Joe, Fire, Catfish Blues (incomplete), Foxy Lady, The Wind Cries Mary, Chat, Rock Me Baby, Red House, Purple Haze, Wild Thing – Vitus TV Studio Bussem, Netherlands (Hoepla”, Channel 1 VPRO), 10th November 1967: Introduction/Foxy Lady, Catfish Blues, Purple Haze false start, Purple Haze, Purple Haze

CD 3 Sporthalle, Koln, West Germany 13th January 1969: Come On (Let The Good Times Roll), Foxy Lady, Red House, Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Fire, Spanish Castle Magic, Hey Joe, Sunshine Of Your Love, Star Spangled Banner

CD 4 Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, West Germany 17th January 1969 Second Show: Come On (Let The Good Times Roll), Fire, Red House, I Don’t Live Today, Little Wing, Foxy Lady, Sunshine Of Your Love, Hey Joe/Purple Haze, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (incomplete)

CD 5 Sportpalast Berlin West Germany 23rd January 1969: Fire, Hey Joe, Spanish Castle Magic, Foxy Lady, Red House, Come On (Let The Good Times Roll), Sunshine Of Your Love, Purple Haze – Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Arhus, Denmark 2nd September 1970: Introduction, Freedom, Introduction, Message To Love, Hey Baby/Instrumental, Drum Solo

CD 6 Isle Of Fehmarn, West Germany. -“Love and Peace Festival”, 6th September 1970: Introduction, Killing Floor, Spanish Castle Magic, All Along The Watchtower, Hey Joe, Hey Baby (New Rising Sun), Message To Love, Foxy Lady, Red House, Ezy Rider, Freedom, Room Full Of Mirrors, Purple Haze, Voodoo Child

That first disc and half of the second collect together some nice TV and radio performances. I love that Paris 67 show also. Note the inclusion of the Koln 69 show which was available on streaming at the official site a few years ago (are Experience Hendrix keeping it back for a Dagger release?).
Sound quality varies here (some sounboard but mostly audience recordings) but some great performances along the way.

THE COVER
Ugly but a good likeness of Jimi (from an old 60s poster I think. – 2/10

THE LATE STUDIO SESSIONS 1969 – 1970 ♥♥

June 2010 (MSi)

CD 1 : Izabella, Stepping Stone/Villanova Junction Blues, Keep On Grooving, Power of Soul Session (20 takes)

CD 2 : Room Full Of Mirrors, Izabella, Ezy Rider, Ezy Rider, Earth Blues, Message To Love, Strato Strut, Night Bird Flying, Honey Bed (4 Takes), Cherokee Mist/Astro Man, Power Of Soul Session (5 takes), Send My Love To Linda, Backwards Guitar Experiment, Power Of Soul, Villanova Junction

CD 3 : Ezy Rider/MLK Jam, Villanova Junction Jam, Burning Desire, Country Blues/Astro Man, Once I Had A Woman

CD 4 : Once I Had a Woman, Blue Suede Shoes, Freedom/Highway of Desire/Seven Dollars In My Pocket Jam, Lover Man, Valleys Of Neptune, Jam Thing

CD 5 : (JS26), Freedom, Further On Up The Road, Astro Man (Take 7), Beginning (Jam Back At The House), Bolero, Midnight Lightning Jam, Come Down Hard On Me Baby, Midnight Lightning, Bolero Session (17 Takes), Belly Button Window

The usual bootleg stuff, in great quantity.

THE COVER
A very apt cover which sums up what is going on here: repetition, repetition, repetition,… – 10/10

JIMI IN REHEARSAL – A Collection Of Antiques And Curios ♥♥

June 2010 (Rock Giants)
CD 1 Hey Joe, Hound Dog (5 takes), Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (2 takes), Hear My Train A’comin (2 takes), Tuning, Room Full of Mirrors (5 takes) Bleeding Heart (3 takes) Message to Love (5 takes)

CD 2 Message to Love (Take 6), Ezy Rider (3 takes), Message to Love (2 takes), Who Knows (7 takes), Message to Love (2 takes), Isabella/machine Gun, Message to Love, Ezy Rider (Take 4), Power of Soul

CD 3 Them Changes (2 takes), Lover Man (2takes), Burning Desire, Hoochie Coochie Man, We Gotta Live Together, Baggy’s Jam, Earth Blues, Burning Desire, Little Drummer Boy/silent Night/auld Lang Syne, Astroman/valleys of Neptune, Jam 3 (Ja15)/power of Soul Jam

CD 4 County Blues (Jam 4), Instrumental Jam (Ja16), Instrumental Jam (Ja14), Room Full of Mirrors, Jam (Ja17)

CD 5 Blue Suede Shoes, Hey Baby (Instrumental), Earth Blues (2 takes), Earth Blues, Room Full of Mirrors, Villanova Junction/midnight Lightning, Freedom, Power of Soul, Machine Gun, Ezy Rider, Interview with Keith Altham, Cumberland Hotel, Itv News Report, Cbc/abc News Report

In this pack, you can see that there are the Albert Hall rehearsals and Baggy’s sessions among other things.

THE COVER
Thank you to Walther for this cover whick is a psychedelic filtering of a Berlin 1970 photo by the look of it with some awful typography. – 2/10

2012 and a new batch of bootlegs have found their way onto German and Dutch purchase sites.
These look like they are from the same organisation as the bootlegs above.
A big Thank you to Walther again for spotting these!

Beginnings 66-68 ♥♥

June 2012 (Fat Freddy)

CD 1 Intro~Killing floor Start, Hey Joe (Musicorama, Olympia theatre Paris), Hey Joe (instrumental), Hey Joe (De Lane Lea Studios London), Can you see me (demo) (De Lane Lea Studios London), Can you see me – cbs studios, london uk, december 13, 1966, 51st anniversary (De Lane Lea Studios London), Fire, The wind cries mary (Olympic Sound Studios London), Purple haze, No no no no (Olympic Sound Studios), I don’t live today, I don’t live today, Red house (Olympic Sound Studios London), Hey Joe, Purple haze (Beat Club, Marquee Club London, Foxy lady, Hey Joe, Stone free, Fire, Purple haze (Twen Club, NDR Funkhaus Studio 1, Hamburg)

CD 2 Manic depression, Remember (Olympic Sound Studios London), Are you experienced? (Olympic Sound Studios London), She’s so fine, Taking care of no business, Cat talkin’ to me (Olympic Sound Studios London), Stone free, Hey Joe, Purple haze (Beat Beat Beat Stadthalle Offenbach), The wind cries mary, Purple haze (Popside, Stockholm), The stars that play with laughing sam’s dice (acetate), Little miss lover (acetate) (Mayfair Studios New York), You got me floatin’, One rainy wish (Olympic Sound Studios London), Little one(Olympic Sound Studios London), Foxy lady, The wind cries mary, Rock me baby, Purple haze (Musicorama, Olympia theatre Paris)

CD 3 Wild thing (Musicorama, Olympia theatre Paris), South saturn delta (Olympic Sound Studios London), Wait until tomorrow, Ain’t no telling (Olympic Sound Studios London), Spanish castle magic, Instrumental jam (Olympic Sound Studios London), Castles made of sand, Bold as love (Olympic Sound Studios London), Dream (acetate), Dance (acetate) (Olympic Sound Studios London), Crosstown traffic (Olympic Sound Studios London), Sgt. Pepper’s lonely hearts club band, Foxy lady, Wild thing – olympia theatre, london, uk december 22, 1967, All along the watchtower (Olympic Sound Studios London), Long hot summer night (demo) (Record Plant New York), Little miss strange (Record Plant New York), Demo, Record Plant New York

A mix up of early live and studio recordings which we have already seen on official and unofficial releases.

THE COVER
A bit messy. – 2/10

The Baggy Rehearsals & Gypsy Sun Rainbow Sessions ♥♥

June 2012 (Fat Freddy)
CD 1 Message to love (takes 1-6), Ezy ryder (take 1), Message to love (takes 7-8), Little drummer boy/Silent night/Auld lang syne Start, Little drummer boy (overdubbed), Burning desire, I´m your hoochie Coochie man, Earth blues (diff. lyrics), Message to love (takes 1-2), Ezy ryder (take 1), Ezy ryder (take 2).

CD 2 Who knows (instrumental takes 1-2, Who knows (with vocals by Jimi & Buddy – take 3), Who knows (instrumental – take 4), Who knows (long version with vocals by Jimi & Buddy), Message to love (with vocals by Jimy & Buddy – takes 1-2), Paper airplanes, Machine gun, Peoples peoples (C# blues)1, Earth blues, Burning desire

CD 3 Intro by Dick Cavett, Getting my heart back together again, Izabella/Machine gun, Message to love, The dance, Sundance, Jam back at the house part 1, Instrumental jam, Jam back at the house part 2, If six was nine, Why I sing the blues, Free-form jam

CD 4 Here comes your lover (takes 1-2), Gettin my heart back together again, Spanish castle magic, Message to love, Get my heart back together, Master mind, Gypsy woman, Press conference, Intro/Izabella, Machine gun, Interview

CD 5 Izabella (takes 1-3), Tune up, Izabella (takes 4-6), Machine gun (takes 1-2), Machine gun (alt.version with percussion), studio chat (Buddy and Jimi), Blue window (just 23 of the song), Blue window/Message of love (instr.)

Baggy’s Studio, Dick Cavett Show, Tinker Street Cinema jam, Blue Window jam and other stuff.

THE COVER
Quite a nice montage – 6/10

Hey Joe I’m Stone Free ♥♥

June 2012 (Pali Gap)

CD 1 Interview with Jimi by Brian Matthew, Hey Joe, Stone free, Love or confusion, Foxy lady (outtake), Foxy lady, Killing floor, Fire, Purple haze, Interview with Jimi, Noel & Mitch, Intro by Tommy Vance, The burning of the midnight lamp, The burning of the midnight lamp, Hound dog, Intro by Tommy Vance, Little miss lover, Experiecing the blues, Drivin’ south (edited version), Drivin’ south (alternate take), I was made to love her/ain’t too proud to beg

CD 2 Signature tune & intro by Alexis Korner, Can you please crawl out your window?, Intro by Alexis Korner, Hoochie coochie man, Intro by Alexis Korner, Drivin’ south, Radio one theme, Interview with Jimi by Tony Hall, Spanish castle magic, Wait until tomorrow, Day tripper, Getting my heart back together, Getting my heart back together ( alternate vocal take ), Voodoo child (slight return), Hey Joe, Sunshine of your love

This is the BBC sessions and it includes some introductions and interviews that aren’t on the official release.

THE COVER
Funky! – 8/10

FLYER ♥

Released 1969 (Track)

June 2012 (Pali Gap)
CD 1 – Baroque 1&2, Madagascar, Key to the highway, Cave man bells, Stepping stone

CD 2 – Villanova junction, Earth blues, Baby chicken strut, Message from nine to the universe, Message to love, Mannish boy take 1&2, Villanova junction (alternate mix), Izabella (earliest home recording)

The Mike Ephron, Shokan house jams again.

THE COVER
A reworking of the old “This Flyer” bootleg. – 2/10

DEVONSHIRE DOWNS ♥♥

June 2012 (Pali Gap)

CD 1 Stone free, Are you experienced?, Villanova junction, Stone free, Sunshine of your love, Fire, Hear my train a comin’ , Red house, Foxy lady, Like a rolling stone, Voodoo child (slight return), Purple haze

CD 2 Earth vs space / Gypsy eyes /Keep on grooving / Red house /Machine gun, The things that I used to do, Blues medley, We gotta live together, Feel so good

CD 3 Train kept a rollin’, Power of soul / earth blues, Hear my train a comin’, Voodoo child (slight return), Instrumental jam /Sunshine of your love / Come on (part 1)/The star spangled banner

Both shows from the Newport Festival 1969. CD 1 is The Experience’s disappointing effort and rest features Jimi’s participation in the “all star band” with Budy Miles and Eric Burdon etc.

THE COVER
One my favourite photos of Jimi with some poor typo. – 5/10

COMPLETE BERKELEY 1970 ♥♥

June 2012 (Pali Gap)

CD 1 – Bill Graham (in a bad mood) rap, X Y (in a good mood) rap, Audience and drums tune-up, Tune-up and jimi intro, Fire, Johnny B. Goode, Hear my train a comin, Foxy Lady, Machine gun, Freedom, Red house, Message to love, Ezy ryder

CD 2 – Star spangled banner, Purple haze, Voodoo child (slight return), Message to love, Blue suede shoes, Hey baby (land of the new rising sun), Earth blues, Room full of mirrors, Villanova Junction blues, Keep on groovin, Freedom, Power of soul, Machine gun, Blue suede shoes

CD3 – Pass it on (straight ahead), Hey baby (new rising sun), Lover man, Stone free, Hey joe, I don’t live today, Machine gun, Foxy lady, Star spangled banner, Purple haze, Voodoo child

Both shows from Berkeley with the soundchecks and Bill Graham’s introduction. It’s about time Experience Hendrix released a bow like this!

THE COVER
A messy illustration that I have already seen floating on the web. – 3/10

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ALCHEMY - BURNING AIRLINES

LA FORUM – 26th APRIL 1969 (+ Fehmarn Island Sept. 6, 1970) ♥♥♥

VILLANOVA JUNCTION ♥♥½

ASTRO MAN ♥♥

RADIOACTIVE RECORDS

THE LA FORUM CONCERT ♥♥♥

LIVE AT PARIS OLYMPIA ♥♥♥♥

LIVE IN COPENHAGEN ♥♥♥

STUDIO OUTTAKES Vol. 1 – 1966-1968 ♥♥½

STUDIO OUTTAKES Vol. 2 – 1968-1969 ♥♥♥

STUDIO OUTTAKES Vol. 3 – 1969-1970 ♥♥½

STUDIO OUTTAKES 1966-1970 ♥♥♥

BLUES AT MIDNIGHT ♥♥½

LIVE AT BERKELEY – 1st SHOW ♥♥♥♥

RECLAMATION RECORDS

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 1 ♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 2 ♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 3 ♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 4 ♥♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 5 – Inside the Record Plant 1 ♥♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 6 – Inside the Record Plant 2 ♥♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 7 ⊗

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 8 ♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 9 ♥

IN THE STUDIO – Volume 10 ♥

IN THE STUDIO – 10 CD limited edition box set ♥♥½

MESSAGE FROM NINE TO THE UNIVERSE ♥♥♥♥

3 NIGHTS AT WINTERLAND ♥♥♥♥

2 NIGHTS AT THE FILLMORE EAST ♥♥♥

LIVE & UNLEASHED ♥♥♥

LIVE IN SCANDINAVIA Volume 1 ♥♥

LIVE IN SCANDINAVIAVolume 2 ♥♥

COMPLETE RAINBOW BRIDGE ♥♥♥

JAMMIN WITH JIMI ♥

STUDIO SESSIONS – Volume 1 ♥♥

STUDIO SESSIONS – Volume 2 ♥♥

LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL 1969 ♥♥♥♥♥

ROCKIN’ THE USA – Volumes 1 & 2 ♥♥

MOONBEAMS & FAIRY TALES ♥♥♥

ROCKIN’ THE USA – Volumes 1, 2 & 3 ♥♥

ROCKIN’ THE USA – Volumes 4, 5 & 6♥♥♥

ENJOY JIMI HENDRIX ♥♥♥

LOOSE ENDS ♥♥

THE LATE STUDIO SESSIONS 1969 – 1970 ♥♥

JIMI IN REHEARSAL – A Collection Of Antiques And Curios ♥♥

Beginnings 66-68 ♥♥

The Baggy Rehearsals & Gypsy Sun Rainbow Sessions ♥♥

Hey Joe I’m Stone Free ♥♥

FLYER ♥

DEVONSHIRE DOWNS ♥♥

COMPLETE BERKELEY 1970 ♥♥

“That’s alright, I still got my guitar”

**IN THE STUDIO – Volume 5 – Inside the Record Plant 1** ♥♥

**IN THE STUDIO – Volume 6 – Inside the Record Plant 2** ♥♥

**IN THE STUDIO – 10 CD limited edition box set ♥**♥½

LIVE IN SCANDINAVIA
Volume 1 ♥♥

LIVE IN SCANDINAVIA
Volume 2 ♥♥

ROCKIN’ THE USA – Volumes 4, 5 & 6
♥♥♥