On March 9, Experience Hendrix and Legacy
Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, proudly release
Both Sides of the Sky, a dynamic new Jimi Hendrix album featuring 13 studio
recordings made between 1968 and 1970—10 of which have never before been
released. The album will be released on multiple formats including CD, digital,
and as a numbered 180 gram audiophile vinyl 2LP.
Both Sides
of the Sky is the third volume in a trilogy of albums intended to present the
best and most significant unissued studio recordings remaining in the music
legend's archive. Beginning with Valleys of Neptune (2010), which earned top
ten sales rankings in fifteen countries (including a top position of #4 on
Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart), followed by People, Hell and Angels (2013)
which peaked on Billboard's Top 100 album chart at #2. Billboard's coveted
number one singles ranking went to "Somewhere," the album's lead
track and the legendary guitarist's highest ever US singles chart achievement.
This third release is anticipated to complete the spectacular recording event
in epic fashion. "Since Experience Hendrix began its restoration of the
Jimi Hendrix music catalog in 1997, our goal has been to present these
important recordings to Jimi's fans in the best possible quality. We are
excited about achieving that. We've also been intent on generating album
releases which present this amazing music in its proper context," explains
John McDermott, one of the album's co-producers, together with Janie Hendrix
and Eddie Kramer.
Recorded
between January 1968 and February 1970, Jimi's desire to push the boundaries of
blues music can be heard throughout. Both Sides of the Sky additionally
highlights Jimi's mastery of studio production and his increasing use of these
facilities as a proving ground for new sounds, material, and techniques. Many
of the album's tracks were recorded by the trio that would come to be known as
Band of Gypsys: Jimi on guitar and vocals, Billy Cox on bass, and Buddy Miles
on drums. For their first-ever recording
session on April 22, 1969, Hendrix turned to their shared musical root, delta
blues. Their previously unreleased, uptempo reworking of Muddy Waters'
"Mannish Boy" opens the album and sets the tempo for what follows.
"Lover Man" was a favored Hendrix original and the guitarist was
determined to realize a finished master.
Previous attempts by the original Experience had yet to yield this for
Hendrix but this December 1969 effort by the Band Of Gypsys — complete with its
homage to the popular Batman theme song—was his strongest effort to date.
"Hear
My Train A Comin'" features drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel
Redding from the original Jimi Hendrix Experience. This original blues
composition had become a staple of Hendrix's concerts. This previously
unreleased April 1969 recording captured the furious power and dynamic tension
that made the song so memorable. Previously unheard recordings of
"Stepping Stone," "Jungle," "Cherokee Mist"
(which features Hendrix on both electric guitar and sitar) as well as the
January 1968 recording of "Sweet Angel" provide further highlights.
Both Sides
of the Sky also features an assortment of notable guest musicians. Stephen
Stills befriended Hendrix at the June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. In September
of 1969 Stills was invited to a Hendrix session at the Record Plant in New
York. Stills burst into the session with a song Joni Mitchell had recently
composed, titled "Woodstock." Joined by Hendrix and Buddy Miles, the
trio recorded this version first--months before Crosby, Stills, Nash &
Young released their popular rendition of Mitchell's song. Stills would also
contribute $20 Fine, an original song that featured Hendrix on multiple
guitars, Mitchell on drums, Stills on organ and lead vocals and Duane Hitchings
(Buddy Miles Express) on piano.
Another of
the album's unique band creations sees Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter on
guitar, backed by Billy Cox and drummer Dallas Taylor of Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Young. An excerpt of their rendition of Guitar Slim's "Things I Used
To Do" was initially heard as part of a 1990 nationally syndicated radio
program and accompanying box set, but here it is presented in full, newly mixed
by Eddie Kramer for Both Sides of The Sky. On "Georgia Blues," Jimi
is reunited with his old bandmate Lonnie Youngblood (vocals/sax) from his
pre-fame days in Curtis Knight & The Squires. Briefly issued as part of the
2008 Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues series but out of print for nearly a
decade, this special recording is once more available to Hendrix fans
throughout the world on all audio formats.
Both Sides
of the Sky was produced by Janie Hendrix, John McDermott, and Eddie Kramer.
Kramer served as recording engineer on every Jimi Hendrix album made during the
artist's life. In order to preserve the integrity and continuity of the Hendrix
legacy, this same team has produced every Jimi Hendrix audio and visual release
since 1996.
Janie
Hendrix, President and CEO of Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. commented, "We
have a growing commitment to preserve the legacy of Jimi and also to continue
to give the worldwide family of Jimi fans quality releases. That's what
"Both Sides of The Sky reflects…our ongoing commitment. In a deeper sense,
it's the keeping of a promise. Jimi and I once made a promise to each other. He
said he would take care of me and I told him I would take care him. Through his
music and our preservation of his work, my brother and I honor one another. We
are now in our third decade of watching over Jimi's creative works and our
resolve to maintain the integrity of what he left us has only grown stronger
with time."
That is also
the purpose for Eddie Kramer's involvement and his devotion to the project. He
remarked, "Jimi's true home was the studio, that's where the music and the
magic happened. He loved everything about recording and it's been my distinct
pleasure and an honor to play a part in that process both then and now."
Both Sides
of the Sky tracklist:
1) Mannish Boy*
2) Lover Man*
3) Hear My Train A Comin'*
4) Stepping Stone*
5) $20 Fine*+
6) Power Of Soul^
7) Jungle*
8) Things I Used to Do#
9) Georgia Blues++
10) Sweet Angel*
11) Woodstock*+
12) Send My Love To Linda*
13) Cherokee Mist*
*Previously
unreleased
^ Previously
unavailable extended version
+Featuring
Stephen Stills
#Featuring
Johnny Winter
++Featuring
Lonnie Youngblood
Produced by
Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott for Experience Hendrix, L.L.C.
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