The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Product Description:

THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE [BOX] consists principally of previously unreleased alternate takes & mixes, studio demos and live tracks, and comes with an 80-page booklet.

Personnel includes: Jimi Hendrix (vocals, guitar, harpsichord, bass); Larry Lee (guitar); Paul Caruso (harmonica); Larry Young (organ); Billy Cox, Noel Redding (bass, background vocals); Buddy Miles, Mitch Mitchell (drums, percussion, background vocals); Juma Sulton, Jerry Velez (percussion); Graham Nash, Andy Fairweather Low, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood, Arthur & Albert Allen, Chas Chandler, Gary Walker, The Ronettes, Roger Chapman (background vocals).

Producers: Jimi Hendrix, Rune Hallberg, Chas Chandler, Lou Adler.

Compilation producers: Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer, John McDermott.

Engineers include: Eddie Kramer, RTE, Gary Kellgren.

Includes liner notes by Dave Marsh & John McDermott.

Digitally remastered by Eddie Kramer & George Marino (Sterling Sound, New York, New York).

The Jimi Hendrix catalogue has been diced and sliced so many ways over the years that only the most cynical record executives could possibly envision another box set of the same old material. Thankfully, this four-disc box entirely avoids the pre-existing body of work that's been presented to Hendrix fans innumerable times in the past. Instead, JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE consists exclusively of previously unreleased material, alternate takes, demos, live tracks, and the like. Every moment of it is designed to illuminate a different side of the many-faceted artist, and will undoubtedly make any hardcore Hendrixite's mouth water.

It's obviously a kick to hear the alternate takes of classic tracks such as "Foxey Lady" and "Purple Haze," which bear a slightly rawer edge than the versions we're used to. But the real joy of this box comes in the more unexpected selections, particularly the live cuts. We get a look at Hendrix's blues roots, in turbo-charged takes on Muddy Waters ("Catfish Blues") and Howlin' Wolf ("Killing Floor"), but we also learn about where the guitarist's head was at during his late-'60s heyday in covers of the Beatles ("Sgt. Pepper") and Dylan ("Like a Rolling Stone"). Ranging from Hendrix's rootsiest endeavors to his most free-form explorations, this box set offers an alternative-yet-comprehensive view of this complex performer.