Voodoo Child, Profound Return—The Experience Hendrix Re-Issues

This article was originally published in 1997.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced?
MCAD-11602 (CD); MCA2-11602 (LP)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Axis: Bold As Love
MCAD-11601 (CD)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland
MCAD-11600 (CD); MCA2-11600 (LP)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: First Rays of the New Rising Sun
MCAD-11599 (CD)

Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys
Classic Records test pressing ST-472

Just the mention of Jimi Hendrix's name is enough to send an electric thrill down the spine—especially if you happen to be an electric guitarist. Without question the most influential, innovative and important rock guitarist that ever lived, Hendrix simply demolished all conceptions of how electric guitar should be played upon bursting on the scene in the mid-Sixties, expanding its sonic and stylistic vocabulary into realms not only uncharted, but undreamed of.

Whether he played outrageously distorted lead guitar, summoned swirling hypnotic cascades of phased, panned and echoed rhythm chords or manipulated the sound of his Fender Stratocaster beyond recognition, Hendrix was a brilliant musician whose guitar playing was astonishing, transcendent, a direct connection to not only his soul but to another plane of existence, a musical alternate reality no one else has ever been able to summon. And he could play the blues and beautiful ballads, write and sing stunning songs, and had bands whose musicians provided the perfect counterpoint to his multifaceted musical explorations.

Recently, the Hendrix family gained the rights to Jimi Hendrix's recorded material after years of legal battling—and more than two decades of shabby, exploitive re-issues including such abominations as posthumous albums where originally-recorded tracks were erased in favor of gratuitous overdubs from studio musicians Hendrix had never met. To administer Jimi Hendrix's legacy, the family has set up Experience Hendrix LLC—a foundation dedicated to preserving and perpetuating his legacy.

As many readers probably know, the most significant step Experience Hendrix has undertaken thus far has been overseeing the re-issue of the first three Jimi Hendrix Experience albums—Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland, as well as the release of a fourth, First Rays of the New Rising Sun, which collects material Hendrix had completed or almost completed shortly before his untimely death in 1970 and presents it, according to his notes, in the order Hendrix wished to have it arranged. (The material on New Rising Sun was previously issued as parts of three posthumous albums, The Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge and War Heroes.)

The albums have been re-issued by MCA on CD and on limited-edition vinyl (wonder if any are still left for sale), re-mastered from the original master tapes by the legendary Eddie Kramer, engineer of almost all the original Hendrix recording sessions and George Marino at Sterling Sound. And by the time you read this, the Classic Records re-issue of the landmark Band of Gypsys live album should be available. (More on this later. . . oh yes. . . .)

What is special about the new MCA re-issues is that for the first time, the original tapes have been re-mastered by the original engineer working on the project. Previous re-issues of Hendrix material have ranged from credible attempts by talented engineers to sonic slop-jobs using poorly-equalized non-master tapes many generations down. Note that although issued on both CD and LP, the re-mastering was done digitally—according to Kramer, due to the varying condition of the tapes and so on, it would have been impossible to get any kind of acceptable consistency/results had the re-mastering been done in analog.

OK, no aural teasing in this column. Let me say right out that the MCA re-issues are superb, absolutely stunning transfers that are at the least, a notch better overall than the originals and at best, an immense improvement.

Let's also get this out of the way—do not be concerned that these are digital transfers of what was originally analog material. I have to say I am astonished at the "un-digital-ness" of the sound-none of the electronic glaze, grit or coarsening or flattening of depth once endemic to digital. Granted, we're not talking about re-issuing a purist-miked symphony orchestra recording, where the digitization might have more of a negative effect. The recording and mixing techniques on these recordings are the exact opposite of purist, orthodox techniques—vocals and instruments are multi-miked all over the place in mostly panned mono. The mixes can vary dramatically from track to track, with vocals and instruments sometimes appearing hard left or right, sometimes center, and sometimes panning wildly between speakers. Hell, the artificially-created sonic swirl is a major reason we love these records so much! Nevertheless, in an amazing reversal from the usual audio norm, the digital CD re-issues are on the whole better than the original analog LPs I have on hand (I don't have every domestic and import pressing of every Hendrix LP), and in ways where the analog usually takes the cake—high-frequency extension, depth, image solidity, richness of midrange tonality and overall "presence." Hey, I gotta go on the basis of what I hear, not dogma.

Here's a quick album-by-album breakdown:

Are You Experienced?, the original Reprise LP (RS 6261, orange-and-light-brown label) is no Super Disc—dynamically flat, Noel Redding's bass is weak and hard to hear, Mitch Mitchell's drums are somewhat squashed-sounding, and there is an opacity to Hendrix's guitars and vocals. Of course, the music, perhaps the Experience's finest hour, is so mesmerizing, so entrancing in its almost alien otherworldliness, that none of the above gets in the way too much. We are, after all, talking about cuts like "Purple Haze," "Foxey Lady" and "Third Stone From the Sun." The CD re-issue adds more transient "snap" to the drums, more detail and presence to the bass and a better-defined, airier top end, but the difference is not huge. I also auditioned the re-issue LP (MCA2-11602), and although, remember, digitally re-mastered, it adds a bit more detail, especially in the highs. The CD and LP re-issues attain "must-have" status by virtue of their inclusion of not only the tracks from the original American LP but also five more from the British LP, which had a different track selection.

Axis: Bold As Love: Here, the LP and CD are surprisingly close. My original Reprise LP (RS 6281, all-light-brown "Warner Corporate Logo" pressing) has more extended highs, but the CD has a little more body and presence, with a better-defined bottom end and a better stereo panning effect when Jimi uses it on his guitar. Also, on this LP, Jimi started to make use of the "out-of-phase," "quack" tone a Stratocaster gets when the pickups are set in the "in-between" settings (i.e., bridge and middle or middle and bridge pickups both on), making for some extremely soulful, throaty rhythm guitar sounds. Lovely! On both formats, you can hear the tom-toms on "Wait Until Tomorrow" pushing the meters into the red zone! (Throughout these recordings, you'll often hear the drums pushing the tape past its limits.) Overall, a much better recording than Are You Experienced?. But oh, lord, why did they have to fade out "Little Wing" so quickly?

Electric Ladyland: Here there's a tremendous, vast difference between the various formats I auditioned, and with good reason. The story's been told: when the finished Electric Ladyland tapes were originally sent for LP mastering, Hendrix specifically instructed the American and British mastering engineers not to remove the out-of-phase information on the tapes—a crucial element of the swirling, three-dimensional spatial effects present throughout the mix—knowing the engineers would probably think it was "wrong." The American engineers ignored Hendrix's wishes; the British didn't.

The difference is astonishing. My original American LP (Reprise 2 RS 6307, orange-and-light-brown label) sounds closed-in and opaque. My British "mid-price" Polydor, by comparison, (SPDLP 3) leaps off the turntable, with stunning high-frequency extension and spatiality, midrange detail, and articulate, solid bass. The two live-in-the-studio cuts, "Voodoo Chile" and "Rainy Day, Dream Away," are utterly incredible, with spectacular instrumental sound, excellent dynamics and a remarkably convincing "live" sonic ambience. It gets better. The MCA re-issue CD slightly improves upon the British pressing in detail resolution and a warmer tonal balance. And the MCA re-issue LP pressing (MCA2-11600) is even better still, with wider dynamic contrasts, greater detail, and better spatial effects. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" is a hyperspeed rocket into one parallel universe after another, utterly flabbergasting. If you can find this LP, get it!

First Rays of the New Rising Sun: At first, I thought the material not up to par compared to the previous three. However, this grows on you after repeated listens, and some of the songs—"Freedom," "Dolly Dagger," "Room Full of Mirrors" and the sublime "Angel" are among Hendrix's best work. Some of the cuts are also among some of Hendrix's best recorded sound—more refined, with better stereo imaging and separation—you can really hear the improvement in the sound resulting from better studio technology and move to Electric Lady Studios. My Japanese pressing of The Cry of Love (Polydor MPA 7007), all of whose cuts are on the CD, is comparable sonically—wonderfully clean and present, except the highs are a little "tinkly." The War Heroes LP cuts (Reprise MS 2103, light-brown label) are amazingly close, sonically—the CD has slightly warmer bass—and the songs originally heard on the Rainbow Bridge LP are way better on the CD—much more cleaner and detailed, with more depth and more articulate bass.

Recently, I had yet another musical revelation. My days of going over to Harry Pearson's house and having my mind blown by what I heard over there are not over. The last visit, as is often the case, Harry put a Classic Records test pressing on the turntable. Only this time, it wasn't an RCA or Mercury re-issue, but Hendrix's Band of Gypsys LP. I was surprised that Harry was, all of a sudden, into Hendrix. Then I listened. Oh-my-god. Now, I never thought that this album was one of Hendrix's best, musically—I thought he was caught on a so-so night—and certainly not sonically. But the Classic pressing is extraordinary! The vocals and instruments are recorded with superb fidelity, with deep, articulate bass, incredible midrange clarity and presence, highs out to Mars and fantastic image solidity and dimensionality. It truly does sound as if you're in the audience, listening to the band in front of you. Suddenly, nuances I never knew were there were plain to hear, from Buddy Miles' threshold-of-audibility scat singing to the wisps of tremolo bar noises from Hendrix's Strat during some quiet parts. It's been said before, and I'll say it again—"Machine Gun" is Hendrix at his best, overwhelming, hair-raising musical and sonic brilliance. And yes, it held up on my home system too. I don't know how much of the test pressing's sonics will translate to the commercial release—but if they get even 85 percent of it, it'll still be the best-sounding live rock LP ever recorded. Simply staggering.

So what else can I say? (Actually, a lot, but I don't know if you want to read more than 100 pages of this kind of thing, and I'm running way over already.) Just this—while I'd consider the new Hendrix re-issues unquestionable "must-haves" for the illumination into the recordings they provide, the fact is, they don't sound like the originals. And for many of us, the sound of the original recordings is the sound that's been indelibly imprinted on our minds, and it's what we consider the sound—the actual thing—the way the recordings should sound. Even though the new re-issues are, technically, improved, you might find them wrong, disconcerting, because they don't sound the way you're used to. I was worried about that, at first. I got over it ten seconds into "Purple Haze." If you're a Hendrix fan, you really must hear these re-issues.