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

Just picked up a copy from Barnes & Noble. Quality Records pressing with BG initials in the runoff. Poly inners and the vinyl is nice and flat. Nice job on this.

 

Agreed with some of the newer comments about price and liner notes. But, man, there are some weak tracks. Maybe, I'm jaded because I've heard most of this stuff from bootlegs back in the early '90's.

 

I don't disagree, but I think you could say that about Valleys Of Neptune and People, Hell & Angels as well. They are what they are despite how they've been marketed/presented.

 

What's the best posthumous Hendrix album? Blues?

 

Agreed 100%. I would rather see the Hendrix estate focus on live releases at this point. There's so much that is deserving of refreshing or altogether new releases concert wise. How much more studio stuff can they release? *cue the "Hold my beer" comments*

 

Supposedly that's the plan moving forward. I guess we'll see.

 

I liked the previous two albums, but this one just comes up short. There are some good tracks but the rest really feels like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I still don’t understand why they included “Woodstock” on this album if they were trying to market it as a Hendrix album. It would make more sense on a compilation like West Coast Seattle Boy.

 

No.
Cry Of Love and Rainbow Bridge are the best.

 

Lots of songs would have fit better on a box set, like "Georgia Blues", "Woodstock", "$20 Fine", "Mojo Man", etc. Not all of those tracks were available when West Coast Seattle Boy was released and I doubt they have enough material left to create another boxed set. I also don't think an "Odds and Sods" style release would see as well as a new "album". I knew what to expect going in, so these inclusions don't really bother me. I never expected a cohesive album and given that, I think BSotS flows surprisingly well from start to finish. I should add, this is true for me given that this album was an afterthought (despite what they are spinning now as "the last of a planned trilogy"). Knowing that it was an afterthought, I'm pleasantly surprised there is enough material to hold my interest. I still there there are moments of phenomenal guitar playing here (as seen on "Hear My Train..." and "Linda" at the very least). I'd have been sad if those stayed in the vault forever.

As far as barrel scraping, that started with Valleys Of Neptune (if not sooner) as far as I'm concerned. I'm definitely enjoying this collection more than VoN or P,H&A, although again, I realize I'm in the minority.

P.S. McDermott is very upfront about "Linda" being a composite in the liner notes, even if it isn't stated on the cover itself. It's also made clear that unlike :Blues, this take of Mannish Boy is not a composite (as others have already noted).

 

You could make the argument that barrel scraping began with Loose Ends and tracks like Three Little Bears and Peter Gunn/Catastrophe from War Heroes.

 

My copy arrived flat and clean. Great sound. There's a sort of slapdash quality to the package; McDermott's liner notes jump around like crazy with no unifying theme of any sort, abruptly ending on: "Enjoy!" No details on Kramer's mixes either; dates and locations are usually provided. This is like Loose Ends Part 2!

 

That thought did occur to me . The main issue is they've simply acquired a lot more tapes that were scattered about the U.S./U.K. since War Heroes and Loose Ends were compiled. Tastes/opinions on what's "good" or "releasable" certainly change over time as well. It seems both "regimes" (or at the very least Douglas) had access to the "Hear My Trains..." that came out on VoN or BSotS, yet no one felt they were worthy of a release at the time. I personally think one of these two would've made a killer inclusion on one of the intial posthumous releases.

 

Not only that but they used the great acoustic version of Hear My Train A Comin' on the soundtrack album instead of using it on Rainbow Bridge, War Heroes or Loose Ends. They could have replaced it on the soundtrack album with another live track.

 

Yeah, fair to say it started there, but we kept finding good things along the way. Now I think we're definitely at the scraping wood and digging grooves into the barrel phase. There's really only about 2-2 1/2 hours of studio stuff I'd like to see officially released at this point, a mix of songs and jams they could do on Dagger. I'll take what I'm given, but when it's done I'll still go into Oliver Twist mode.

 

I don't enjoy listening to this "trilogy" or WCSB as they are. Out of all of it (7 CDs) I made a 2CD compilation that is a good listen.
I occasionally go back to the original sets to listen to a specific track or two when researching.

 

Care to share your personal track listing @Purple Jim?

 

CD1
Noel's Tune (Noel Redding - The Experience Sessions)
Lover Man (SSD version)
Sunshine Of Your Love (VON)
Red House (VON)
Fire (VON)
Spanish Castle Magic (purple box)
Hear My Train A Comin' (BSOTS)

CD2
Untitled Basic Track (WCSB)
12 Bar With Horns (vinyl B-side rip)
Hear My Train A Comin' (VON)
Cherokee Mist (BSOTS)
Bleeding Heart (PH&A)
All God's Children (WCSB)
Hear My Train A Comin' (PH&A)

I completed it with a couple of strays that I hadn't placed on previous comps and I was quite drastic about which tracks to leave out - the ones which annoyed me for some reason or another.
That first HMTAC only just made it because the vocals aren't too good but it is saved by some terrific soloing. The other HMTAC (purple box) I listen to on the Scorcese CD which I still spin quite a lot (which is why Blue Window wasn't used here - I also have the bootleg with the more complete version of that). As you can see, being old school, I prefer 40 - 45 minute chunks of music for stuff like this.

 

Can someone clear something up for me? On VoN, we've got the take of "Hear My Train..." from April 7th (with Engineer: Sandy ).

Is the one here simply a different take from the same day? I don't have the CD...thanks

 

It's April 9th, last Experience studio session. Same basic arrangement.

 

I like this one. The running order works and the audio is good. Nice job.

 

Cry of Love. 100%

 

I was about to say.... In fact that's what was said when War Heroes, Loose Ends were released..

 

Thanks, John. Geez, that seems silly. We're not event talking about revelatory takes anymore. They may as well start releasing entire CDs based on a single song, with each track number corresponding to the take.

BTW - I promise, I'm not trying to be a pedantic a**hole, but, I thought the last studio session for the Experience was April 14th? I sure hope they didn't try to sell the 9th as the final recording date in that booklet!

 

Was it "purple" vinyl? Did you buy it at B&N or B&N online? I ordered yesterday online, said I would receive by March 15th.

 

I would like a compilation of "Hear My Train" versions more than what they have been doing.