If only the company Experience Hendrix LLC had been around while the lefty guitarist was still alive…
From digging up unearthed material to repackaging old issues, Experience Hendrix is doing what should have been done decades ago-putting together a solid catalogue that can be respected for art’s sake and for production sake. This time around, they’ve reissued the first two posthumous albums that bore the Hendrix name.
The Cry of Love from 1971was put together by Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell and Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer, with the songs being recorded in ’69 and ’70. Mitchell was teamed with bassist Billy Cox, with Buddy Miles hitting the sticks on “Ezy Rider” and Noel Redding picking the bass on “My Friend.” Songs such as “Angel,” “Ezy Ryder” were big hits at the time, but nothing came close to the power of jimi when he wailed on “Freedom.” That alone will put shivers down your timber.
Rainbow Bridge, also put together by Mitchell and Kramer was from a terrible movie, but the music is highly worthwhile. Yes, there are only eight songs, and that’s been criticized since the album first came out during the Nixon years. Get over it! Look, you get a classic take of “The Star Spangled Banner”, and material such as “Dolly Dagger” and “Room Full Of Mirrors” was showing sparks of creativity and new horizons to conquer. The Rhonettes back up Hendrix with vocals on “Earth Blues,” Miles and Redding make cameo appearances, and Hendrix reinvents the blues with “Hear My Train A Coming” from a Berkeley gig from 1970. What are ya sniffling at?!?
Sony Legacy