Jimi Hendrix—Crash Landing (1970)

While working on his fourth album, Jimi Hendrix built up a hearty amount of tracks that didn't end up on some of the proposed tracklists for the album. That's really a shame, since a good bunch of these tracks are fan-fucking-tastic. "Drifting", especially, is a favourite of mine, plus there's the rare studio version of "Machine Gun", clocking in at 12 minutes or so, which finds a good home on this album.

I went with the title and album art of the maligned Alan Douglas album, since all things considered, it's a good album cover, and "Crash Landing" is on the album.

 

Sources

•  First Rays of the New Rising Sun (Beginning, Drifting, In From The Storm, Belly Button Window)
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Purple Box] (Come Down Hard On Me)
  
• South Saturn Delta (Pali Gap)
• People, Hell & Angels (Crash Landing)
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sKhT_6xr5fjaN5l5xCS9Jf8bhwE3rwFK/view?usp=sharing (Machine Gun)
  

Side One (19:34)

1. Beginning - 4:11
   
2. Drifting - 3:48
   
3. Come Down Hard On Me 3:00
   
4. Slow Part (Pali Gap) - 5:00
5. Belly Button Window - 3:35

Side Two (20:19)

1. In From The Storm - 4:15
   
2. Crash Landing - 3:44
   
3. Machine Gun - 12:20
   

Jimi Hendrix — Straight Ahead (1970)

 Jimi Hendrix's unfinished 4th album: one of the great unfinished albums of classic rock, up there with Lifehouse, Smile, Jethro Tull's Chateau album, among others. There's been so many attempts at putting together this album, from the original Cry of Love lp, the much hated Voodoo Soup, the "definitive" First Rays of the New Rising Sun, and other unofficial reconstructions, like that of Soniclovenoize's reconstruction, or The Reconstructor's take, which is similar to my idea, but turned Triple lp. What I've done is made it a double lp, using not the tape box tracklist, as Soniclovenoize and others have done, but rather the "Songs for lp Strate Ahead" memo from Hendrix himself.

So the tracklist written by Hendrix is filled out by 25 songs. The only problem is that three songs don't exist, and one is unreleased. A lot of the songs are in various stages of mixing, with some being just demos, some being basic run-throughs (one without vocals, even!), So this album is by no means "what would have come out", but rather a sketch of what it probably was gonna be. Ultimately, I tried using the versions of songs that were worked on last where available, so, as much as I love it, the Band of Gypsys version of "Lover Man" will be left off, in favour of the final take with Mitch Mitchell on drums. 

I'll be using The Reconstructor's cover, since it's fantastic and I love it a lot

Sources Used:

• The First Rays of the Rising Sun (Ezy Ryder, Room Full Of Mirrors, Earth Blues, Straight Ahead, Freedom, Stepping Stone, Izabella, Astro Man, Angel, Night Bird Flying, Dolly Dagger, Hey Baby)
• Valleys of Neptune (Valleys of Neptune)
• Jimi Hendrix Experience [Purple Box] (Cherokee Mist, Lover Man)
• South Saturn Delta (Drifter's Escape, Bleeding Heart Midnight Lightning)
• West Coast Seattle Boy (Burning Desire)
• People, Hell, & Angels (Hear My Train A-Comin')
• Both Sides of the Sky (Send My Love To Linda)
• The Reconstructor (Heaven Has No Sorrow)
  

Side One (20:23)

1. Ezy Ryder - 4:09
   
2. Room Full of Mirrors - 3:21
   
3. Earth Blues - 4:08
   
4. Valleys of Neptune - 4:03
   
5. Straight Ahead (Have You Heard?) - 4:42
   

Side Two (23:00)

1. Cherokee Mist - 6:02
   
2. Freedom - 3:26
   
3. Stepping Stone - 4:09
   
4. Izabella - 2:51
   
5. Astro Man - 3:35
   
6. Drifter's Escape - 3:02
   

Side Three (25:56)

1. Angel - 4:21
   
2. Bleeding Heart - 3:13
   
3. Burning Desire - 8:49
   
4. Night Bird Flying - 3:52
5. Hear My Train A-Comin' - 5:41
   

Side Four (26:29)

1. Lover Man - 2:57
   
2. Midnight Lighting - 3:07
   
3. Heaven Has No Sorrow - 4:41
   
4. Send My Love (to Linda) - 4:36
   
5. Dolly Dagger - 4:44
   
6. Hey Baby (Land of the New Rising Sun) - 6:04

(AFTERNOTE: I know some of these sides seem very long, and it's true. Most of these side lengths are long for the time, but they're not unprecedented. In 1966, in the UK, for instance, the Rolling Stones' Aftermath has over 26 minutes of music per side. Genesis were infamous for this, somehow managing to cram 55 minutes of music onto their album Duke, with almost all of their albums before that also having 50+ minutes of music per album, so Hendrix having 26 minutes of song per side isn't entirely unreasonable.)

The Band of Gypsys — No Experience Needed (1970)

Jimi Hendrix recorded a lot during the short time his Band of Gypsys group was together, though most of the songs are just jamming. While there are technically more than enough tracks for a hearty album of Hendrix / Cox / Miles vocal songs, a good few are either lacking in quality or are set to go on my reconstruction of Hendrix's fourth album, so they'd have to be left off here. The closest tracks to Jams are "Villanova Junction Blues", "Jungle", and "Once I Had a Woman". If I find some good tunes to replace "Once I Had A Woman" then I'll edit this post. The rest of the album are relatively polished tunes from mid to late 1969 and early 1970.  The earliest song on the album is "Hey Gypsy Boy", being recorded in March 1969, before the experience broke up officially, though it's still got Buddy Miles on drums and not Noel Redding on the no bass, so I'd reckon it fits enough. The title of the album is a pun on the fact that the Jimi Hendrix Experience broke up, so Hendrix didn't need "experience" anymore. 

Sources used

• Both Sides of the Sky (Mannish Boy, Jungle, Power of Soul)
• People, Hell, & Angles (Villanova Junction Blues, Hey Gypsy Boy)
• West Coast Seattle Boy (Lonely Avenue)
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Purple Box] (It's Too Bad, Message Of Love)
• Blues (Once I Had A Woman)
  

Side One (22:24)

1. Mannish Boy (I'm A Man) 5:01
   
2. Lonely Avenue 4:22
   
3. Message of Love 3:27
   
4. Once I Had A Woman 7:49
5. Villanova Junction Blues 1:45

Side Two (21:55)

1. Power Of Soul 5:55
   
2. Hey Gypsy Boy 3:40
   
3. Jungle 3:28
   
4. It's Too Bad 8:52
   

The Jimi Hendrix Experience — First Rays Of The New Rising Sun (1969)

Despite the title I've given this collection, this isn't my attempt at reconstructing Hendrix's unfinished fourth studio album, but instead a collection of Electric Ladyland era recordings. This album's songs date from spring 1968 to the summer of 1969, approximately when the Experience broke up. None of them were officially released during Hendrix's lifetime, and includes just 8 songs, but there's a few longer tracks making for a good 40 minutes. I included the instrumentals "South Saturn Delta", since it includes a horn section, having a polished feel to it, and "New Rising Sun", which Hendrix recorded essentially solo, doing all the instruments himself, and thus putting a lot of work into. For the cover, I've used an international (french?) cover from Electric Ladyland, since without the text, it's still pretty cool and isn't the now standard US cover for that album. 

Sources for the tracks

• Valleys of Neptune (Ships Passing in the Night)
• South Saturn Delta (South Saturn Delta, Look Over Yonder)
• West Coast Seattle Boy (Shame, Shame, Shame; New Rising Sun; Hear My Freedom; )
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Purple Box] (Gloria)
• Both Sides of the Sky (The Things I Used To Do)
  

Side One: (21:53)

1. Ships Passing in the Night 5:52
   
2. Shame, Shame, Shame 3:01
   
3. South Saturn Delta 4:07
   
4. Gloria 8:53
   

Side Two: (18:20)

1. Look Over Yonder 3:24
   
2. Hear My Freedom 3:51
   
3. Things I Used To Do 3:41
   
4. New Rising Sun 7:24
   

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Self Titled (early 1968)

 Jimi Hendrix has so many rare songs. That being said, many of them are alternate takes or Jams, which are good in small doses (We all love "Crash Landing" and "Pali Gap", yes?), but other alternate album makers tend to use them in abundance, which can make the Hendrix extended discogophy a bit of a slog to get through. My goal here is to slim it down to primarily unique songs with vocals (with a few exceptions), made up of outtakes, b-sides, and other rarities. 

Starting off, there's a collection of tracks dating from mid-to-late 1966 all the way to early 1968. A long while for an album's recording sessions, but with that length of time there's just enough bops to make up a good 40 minute album. I'm basing this off of the USA version of Are You Experienced?, so tracks like "Red House", "Can You See Me?" and "Remember" are on the table. To augment these songs, there's singles and their b-sides, as well as outtakes and studio sessions filling out the rest of the album. 

Starting the album off is the stong UK Experienced track "Can You See Me?" followed by the original "Hey Joe" b-side version of "Stone Free". I greatly prefer the 1969 remake of that song, but that remained unreleased until after Hendrix's death, while this one actually, y'know, came out. These are joined by fellow b-sides "51st Anniversary", "Highway Chile" and "The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice". From there, we gather the later-released track "My Friend" and the even later released track "Tears of Rage", foreshadowing Hendrix's love affair with Bob Dylan throughout his career, and being the latest recorded tracks, sourced from March 1968. One final addition is "Taking Care of No Buisness", an outtake from the Experenced sessions. Slap in "Remember" and "Red House" and there's an album of songs. 

I tried "trimmin' the fat" as it were, by cutting some of the tracks that were just early versions of other songs, or Jams, so sorry to all you "Title #3" fans. The tracks here are sourced from 

• Are You Experienced (Bonus Tracks: Stone Free, 51st Anniversary, Highway Chile, Can You See Me?, Remember, Red House)
• West Coast Seattle Boy (Cat Talking To Me, Tears of Rage, The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice)
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Purple Box] (Taking Care of No Buisness)
• The Cry Of Love (My Friend)
  

Side One: (18:58)

1. Can You See Me? 2:32
   
2. Stone Free 3:36
   
3. 51st Anniversary 3:16
   
4. Highway Chile 3:32
   
5. Cat Talking To Me 3:14
   
6. Remember 2:48
   

Side Two: (21:32)

1. The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice 4:17
   
2. Tears of Rage 5:22
   
3. My Friend 4:35
   
4. Taking Care of No Business 3:42
   
5. Red House 3:44