It’ll depend on which takes they use. A good thing about them not being overly comprehensive it we’ll likely avoid the 12 second false starts and quick breakdowns. It’s certainly more a historical document than a curated album but it still may end up being a good listen all the way thru.
Exactly. I imagine most of whats here are alternate, early takes. As well as alternate guitar and vocal overdubs. Disc 3 could possibly be almost all early unused mixes. Then you'd have the best of the sessions on disc 4, everything that was finished or near finished, newly mixed. It we get something like this it's clearly a win for the fans. And even casual fans could enjoy this. I should add that Ultimate Hendrix says that a number of times Hendrix completed a take and it was called master. Only for him to turn around and do more takes. I suspect we get some of these rejected masters.
I would guess this new box set has the same commercial appeal as the The Jimi Hendrix Experience (purple box) and West Coast Seattle Boy box sets.
Not sure about that, this set has less hits/well know songs. Although I assume that most people here know: Tune X/Just Came In is in fact the early title of In From The Storm.
It's inconceivable to me that anyone with a little more than a passing interest in Hendrix would pass on the WCSB box set! While it does fair second to the Purple box WCSB is a first rate release. My only moan about the set was that disc one was not fully utilised. Maybe we should ban those who don't own both previous box sets (purple and WCSB) from posting about the upcoming set, lol.
I think it should be illegal for people living more than 90 minutes from a record store. I live about 15 minutes from several so stay away and leave us alone
I preferred WCSB over the Purple box both are great releases and the part of the Black Gold tapes used on WCSB suggest a fine release should they ever decide to release it
WCSB is essential and depending on the mood I'm in I prefer it at times to the Purple Box. One thing I'll say for EH now is so many great boxes. Winterland, SFOGC, WCSB, the Purple Box, ELL 50th and now this. While I may complain about this or that at times (such as the incompleteness of Winterland and SFOGC etc? . Up to Six Large boxsets now plus everything else they have released since 97 is pretty nice.
I've never cared for this type of collection. Purple Box was more interesting, but the only thing on it I've played more than a couple of times is Bold As Love. This new box is more appealing, as it covers a specific period - which also happens to be my favourite, at the moment.
What do you care? Don't buy it. It's not that hard. Also, what do you care if someone is a "completist"?
On paper it was an intriguing idea, but the compilers of the set botched that disc. IIRC, it was determined that around four of the songs don't actually contain any guitar work from Jimi Hendrix.
West Coast Seattle boy seems to be passed off in indifference by some, but I really enjoy the set. My appreciation for it might stem more from my arriving relatively late to my Hendrix fandom. When Purple Box was released it 2000 it must have been monumental. It is an absolute deluge of amazing new material both studio and live and covering Hendrix's career from his early days with the Experience through till the last weeks of his life. It also gave most of In The West which had been out of print for decades. But in the 22 years since, a good deal of the material feautured on Purple Box has seen release elsewhere. It is still an essential release and a great overview that I recommend to people very highly once theyve picked up the basics and are wanting more, but by the time I picked it up about five years ago its impact was probably a bit diminished on me compared to what it might have been if I picked it up decades ago. West Coast Seattle Boy is a similar style product but it takes a bit of a different approach. For one the entire first disc begins in the timeline before anything from the Purple Box. It collects a selection of very early Hendrix recordings which are always going to divide the fanbase. Either you have an interest in this early stuff or you don't. Hendrix of course had little control over these songs, their recording and probably even his role in them so they are a totally different thing than he would be creating shirtly thereafter. If you don't have an interest right off the bat a quarter of this comp is a waste for you. I was excited by this approach to be honest. I wanted to expand into having a better awareness of Hendrix's early stuff. But with so many grey area posthumous releases and misinformation it was hard to determine where to start. West Coast Seattle Boy I knew would provide an introduction, would likely feature good sound quality and even if I didnt enjoy that material it had so much else I knew I wanted that it wouldnt feel like a waste of money. I feel like with WCSB EH took a different approach to Purple Box. Although the format is similar I dont think they were neccessarily trying to compete. WCSB seems intentionally to contain more niche material, more material that certainly couldn't be used on a stand alone set and more material that was in very early developmental stages. Much of whats there can feel more like sketches than complete material. But Im very thankful for that approach because it opens the door to material we'd be unlikely to see in any other format. Things like the acoustic 1983 and Tears of Rage, im unlikely to play those on a daily basis, but every so often when I run through this set when they come on I realize Im very grateful to have them. Years on WCSB still seems a very unique release with a lot I still need to discover. Its different than Purple Box, some would say lesser but I've always enjoyed it as that next step once you've gotten familiar with Purple Box, it never felt like an alternative too it more like a different floor on the elevator to a deeper understanding of Hendrix and his creative process. While those boxes are excellent overviews, I do appreciate the shift to a deeper dive into specific eras as this Electric Lady set seems destined to do. Its the best way to approach periods of prolific recording from Hendrix and ensure a lot of the best material can be present and in context without the jumping around approach provided on Purple Box and WCSB.
Both box sets are indispensable. The Purple box had its share of rarities, but on some level it was also a way for EH to reintroduce a number of out-of-print or hard to find archival recordings. It contained a nice balance of accessible recordings and pieces of interest for collector's, presented in a retrospective, chronological sequence. Discs 2-4 of WCSB followed the same kind of sequencing, but the material generally represented deeper archival recordings, arguably more appealing to the deep fan base.
Obviously a reference to Valleys/PHA/Both Sides. Note that EH did wide releases of WCSB box, ELL50 studio outtakes and the PPX stuff between Valleys and now. My general point here is it seems EH have annoyed fans with studio stuff in the past decade and there's some "lapsed" fans who now have a great excuse to revisit the past decade. This box set has some great potential to be EH's, even Jimi's, first cohesive studio box. I count myself as a bit if a lapsed studio fan, but over the past 5 years I only seem to binge on his live stuff especially video. I need to revisit the frankenstein trilogy and note the "keepers". The full band ELL50 outtakes are very cool.
The pre-UK stuff is 3 of 16 sides on the WCSB vinyl box. 1 shortened CD of 5 discs if you count the full length DVD for CD version. It's the only disc on that box with a chart hit. Mercy Mercy. Which Jimi played at early JHE gigs with Mitch and Noel.
I'd say the odds are still out on the Don Covay tracks - yes everyone says Jimi plays on Mercy Mercy, but he’s not playing the main guitar riff, so what he possibly plays is really not audible. Some scratchy rhythm part far back in the mix possibly. Same with the b-side Can't Stay Away, there's not one single Hendrix lick on it. And absolutely no proof Jimi plays on it at all, only anecdotal evidence that Jimi might have been in New York at the time. Instant Groove uses only the backing track from Ray Sharpe's Help Me on which Jimi once again only plays some nondescript rhythm guitar, not lead. They could have replaced those with early recordings on which Jimi can clearly be heard, some Lonnie Youngblood stuff for example. Feels like Kramer didn't really care. Otherwise I've played WCSB a lot and think it's wonderful.
