Jimi Hendrix Both Sides of the Sky - new album coming March 9, 2018

Point taken, but what if Springsteen were dead and they released some old tracks or demos that Springsteen, well-known as being a perfectionist, never wanted to release....but which turned out to be fantastic? Of course I'm talking about tapes released "as-is" without tricks, but still put out against his wishes. Different than the Hendrix situation, but how do we know Springsteen hasn't given instructions that a lot of what he won't release in his lifetime can be released after he's gone. Obviously he'd want his family to be taken care of....

 

I know that - but it isn't official is it? It's sonically lacking because it's a transfer of a scratchy old acetate. There is zero legitimate reason for not releasing this tune at the same time as Dream, which came from the same recording session. The reason one can only assume is due to the dubious Redding non-credit on Ezy Rider.

 

Yeah, Bruce probably will note down what he wants done, kind of what Bowie did. Jimi died unexpectedly and often worked on intuition rather than plan things, so everything was up in the air.

 

A specious argument, as far as the earlier posthumous releases are concerned. A big difference in quality and coherence.

 

However, even the earlier releases like The Cry Of Love, Rainbow Bridge and War Heroes had tracks held back and omitted for future releases.

In addition, they there was the issue of including the Royal Albert Hall tracks on Hendrix In The West and notating that they were recorded elsewhere.

Not to mention they did not have access to all of the tapes that they have now when compiling the original posthumous releases.

 

I think a lot of it comes down to whether or not Hendrix's musical legacy is hurt or enhanced by the posthumous releases. In my view, his standing is still extremely high and anything than comes out that is great only enhances his reputation and legacy. Anything that comes out that is poor or ill-conceived will be blamed on the heirs , Kramer or whoever takes his place eventually--it won't be blamed on Hendrix and his legacy will always remain secure.

 

Old showbiz maxim--"Always leave them wanting more."

 

Both scrubbed musicians out of the picture. Kramer was generally more tasteful. Both methods helped sell records for material that was more of a curiosity in it's natural state.

EH have also taken shots at Redding over the years. The EH Noel release liner notes are a face palm.

 

People would want more anyway as proven by the continuation of posthumous releases.

 

Not really.
If Hendrix had been happy with any material it would have been releases in his life time.
In his own mind, things were not complete.

While I have my own opinion regard the merit or otherwise of any title in the posthumous camp it really is immaterial.
What concerns me is the lack of respect shown to Kramer and Co, with the claim he/they is/are simply taking the same route as that of the previous administration.
Far from it as he is simply working with what is and not what he wants it to be, something that could never have even been a possibility to Hendrix.

 

OK, but this doesn't significantly contradict my point.

 

My point was that it has never really been cohesive from the beginning.

 

Yes, but I was simply talking about the issue of whether the quality of any given official, mainstream release in recent years is anything like the quality of the earlier posthumous releases, not about his legacy, which is important, but a different matter.

 

OK, point taken. But the quality issue remains.

 

Agreed, as far as Kramer is concerned. As for the "Co.", maybe not. I don't think (as some apparently do here) that EH is to be admired for doing what amounts to little more than milking a cash cow.

 

True as there are only a limited number of nearly completed tracks unless a new stash of tapes are found and made available. It's only logical.

I look at it now like if I find a few worthwhile tracks then I am happy.

 

Understandable, but I've never felt that there were a sufficient number of worthy studio tracks since RB to justify release alongside CoL and RB. PacificOceanBlue and Purple Jim have nailed this, imo.

 

I think they’re all fine.

The word ‘disgrace’ really is getting abused here.

 

That’s outrageous!

It’s the same damn songs, and the ability to do the resequencing did not even exist in 1970!

 

This never gets mentioned but Dance is a Jimi/Noel co-write.

 

If it doesn't appear as a bonus track, it'd be good for a jam album (Dagger?) with "Nine To The Universe" and that long "Asto Man" jam for example. How about that "Midnight Lightning" with the naughty lyrics also? So many possibilities to create interesting albums.

 

What's outrageous?

 

Jimi was waiting for his management deal to end at the end of Sept 1970.

Jimi didn't seem completely happy with anything he did in the final 2 years of his life. I can't help but think of the paraphrased Chas quote "Jimi, you can't have a 4 minute guitar solo in a 3 minute song". Might explain why Jimi was arranging for Chas to come to NYC in the days before he died. Even in Jimi's world the idea of "finished" barely existed.

Everyone here is buying the new release and wants them to speed up the output. The only warranted criticism are releases should be thematically stronger and have a bit less promo hyperbole.

Some of the Douglas stuff still has merit and are worth keeping and listening to from time to time. Some AD stuff has spent more time on my player than EH stuff in the past 20 years.

 

I was expecting Maui to be the next release, so I'm disappointed with this announcement. The whole "last in the trilogy" thing makes me think this is probably the weakest of the three studio releases and a sales ploy hoping to push fans to buy and complete the so called set.

The only shining star for me from PHA was "Hey Gypsy Boy" since I never heard it before. At best, I'm hoping for a similar a gem or two on this one.

 

Part of the problem was that they were holding back tracks. War Heroes is good but short. However, if they would have deleted Three Little Bears and Peter/Gunn Catastrophe and included The Stars The Play With Laughing Sam's Dice (which was held back for Loose Ends), Drifter's Escape and Come Down Hard On Me Baby and/or something like 51st Anniversary (still a head scratcher as it wasn't released on lp in the U.S. yet.) the acoustic version of Hear My Train A Comin', or Gloria in some combination, it would have been much better and more consistent.

Stepping Stone and Izabella were originally going to be included on Rainbow Bridge but were instead held back and replaced with the live version of Hear My Train A Comin'. It could have been replaced by the acoustic studio version and live version could have been included on Hendrix In The West.

Bleeding Heart was used as soundtrack music in the movie and not included on the Rainbow Bridge album. It was released on War Heroes instead.