Jimi Hendrix - Both Sides Of The Sky (2018)

Line-up:

Jimi Hendrix (RIP 1942-1970) - guitar, vocals
Billy Cox - bass guitar, vocals
Buddy Miles - drums, vocals, vocals
Mitch Mitchell (RIP 1946-2008) - drums
Noel Redding (RIP 1945-2003) - bass guitar
Stephen Stills - tracks 5, 11
Johnny Winter - track 8
Lonnie Youngblood - saxophone

It is certain that Jimi Hendrix's life and records - Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland and Band of Gypsys - and his death are still current topics today... It is not by chance that we wrote so much about him, commemorating him in a special article about his ability, about the book about him, or what his contemporary, Miles Davis, thought about him...

The myth built around him is still largely being built by his relatives, including with the help of the legendary producer-sound engineer, Eddie Kramer, who has now put together a mostly unreleased album under the title Both Sides Of The Sky. There are 13 studio recordings on the album, ten of which we haven't heard yet. They were recorded between 1968-1970, including Stephen Stills and Johnny Winter. This album is the third part of the trilogy started with 2010's Valleys of Neptune, which contains the best unreleased songs of the guitarist - until now dusty in the depths of the drawers! And Kramer was almost able to perform a miracle!

You can't criticize Both Sides Of The Sky, because it makes no sense: it's a posthumous album that you can only be happy about, because the songs gathering dust at the bottom of the drawer have now been professionally mixed and released, to the delight of all fans! Those who don't have a shirt don't wear it, but those who value Hendrix's oeuvre can now patch up a few holes with these songs! I'm such a spotter, so I'm just skimming through the show to see if anyone else besides me is interested...

Mannish Boy is an authentic cover of a Muddy Waters classic, real joyous music! Hendrix recorded it with members of the Band Of Gypsys at their first rehearsal together. At that time, Cox and Miles played in the Gypsy Band, and with this song they shared their love for the blues genre and Muddy Waters. Everything is clean and clear in this revision, the joy and improvisational skills of Hendrix and his colleagues pervade the whole thing, which is still a pleasure to listen to today!

Lover Man was recorded two weeks after their New Year's concert at the Fillmore East - which gave birth to the '70 Band Of Gypsys concert recording and its 2016 remake titled Machine Gun. Hendrix was happy to improvise together with Cox and Miles, from which now - thanks to the modern studio - a dynamic song was born!

Recorded with the original Experience, Hear My Train A Comin' and Stepping Stone are also previously unreleased recordings, also a unique contemporary edition. Jimi's two improvisations, a kind of special presentation, in which he plays with the relentlessly captivating themes of the blues, accompanied by a professional... Perhaps more interesting than these is $20 Fine, in which Stephen Stills joined Jimi, Mitch Mitchell, Buddy Miles and the Express with keyboardist Duane Hitchings in . The recording was in September 1969. Stephen sings and plays the organ, and Jimi adds ideas to the explosive singer's ideas. Anyway, Stephen met Jimi at the Monterey Pop Festival in June '67, after which they tried to put something together at the Record Plant in New York in September...

Power Of Soul was recorded in 1970, three weeks before the Band Of Gypsys Fillmore concert, during a rehearsal. The live version remains one of Band of Gypsys highlights, but Jimi never released the studio version during his lifetime. This studio jammed version has now been remixed for this album... Anyway, Hendrix and Kramer covered the whole song on Electric Lady on August 22, 1970.

The influence of Curtis Mayfield can be heard in Jungle. Jimi expanded this version with the Villanova Junction Blues theme made famous by the '70 Woodstock festival documentary. The eighth song on the album is Things I Used to Do, which is a Guitar Slim cover. The joint playing of Jimi and Johnny Winter creates quite an exciting mix on the recording! The two are joined by bassist Billy Cox and drummer Dallas Taylor of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

In the almost eight-minute improvisation titled Georgia Blues, Jimi worked again with his old pre-Experience colleague, saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood, with whom he also worked in Curtis Knight and the Squires. This is an excellent pub-blues improvisation, which is mostly about Hendrix's famously deep voice and his amazing rhythm - of course, in addition to the presence of the saxophone, which is considered a specialty.

The recording of Sweet Angel was originally made for the Axis: Bold As Love album, but it has not been used until now! This Angel is a stunning instrumental reading of Jimi's guitar accompanied by Mitch Mitchell on bass and vibraphone. Joni Mitchell's Woodstock was recorded in a joint session with Stephen Stills. It's all so fresh and crisp that it's a joy to listen to! Stills is excited and Jimi is a pro, as is Buddy Miles, that's what makes this recording - and of course the release itself - amazing.

Send My Love To Linda is a great new Hendrix composition, originally recorded after the Fillmore concert with Cox and Miles. It all ends with Cherokee Mist featuring Mitch Mitchell. It is also a sitar-tuned elegy with a whimsical atmosphere, which is complemented by Jimi's characteristic playing of his traditional electric guitar.

I am sure that if Hendrix had lived longer, this record would not have come out in this form, but the guitarist's personality is also a guarantee that the end result is an enjoyable adventure to discover! Eddie Kramer did a fantastic job with the songs that were only - possibly - in bootleg form in the hands of fans! The material didn't turn out to be bombastic, but it sounds as it should, and the guitarist's unique talent is unquestionable even today, his performance is apparently brilliant, even in connection with such random material! And a one-time Hendrix fan doesn't need more than that to finally fall in love with this special material!