A new Jimi Hendrix box set is on the way, and this one features 39 tracks recorded by Hendrix at Electric Lady Studios in New York in the months before his death in September 1970.
All but one of the tracks on Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision – recorded with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox, who'd replaced Noel Redding the previous year – are unreleased (full tracklist below). A video for the first track taken from the album, Angel [Take 7] has been released.
The box set is timed to coincide with the release of the documentary of the same name. Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision will premiere on August 9 at Quad Cinema in Manhattan, New York, and is followed by a general theatrical release. The film tells the story of Hendrix's iconic studio, a state-of-the-art facility built on the site of a dilapidated Manhattan nightclub.
“The construction of Electric Lady [Studios] was a nightmare,” says Hendrx's producer Eddie Kramer in a trailer released last week. “We were always running out of money. Poor Jimi had to go back out on the road, make some money, come back, then we could pay the crew.
“Late in ’69 we just hit a wall financially and the place just shut down. “He borrows against his future royalties, and we’re off to the races. [Jimi] would say to me, ‘Hey man, I want some of that purple on the wall, and green over there!’ We would start laughing about it. It was fun. We could make an atmosphere that he felt comfortable in.”
The Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision box set will be released on September 13 on five vinyl LPs or three CDs, while a Blu-ray disc (included in both versions) features newly mixed 5.1 audio versions of 20 previously released recordings.
“My brother had a musical vision,” says Hendrix's sister Janie. “With this project, it felt appropriate to shed light not only on his own music, but also on his lasting contribution of Electric Lady Studios. He was driven internally to build a home base where he could record everything he felt. While his life was cut short, so many other talented artists continue to express themselves within those magical walls on 52 West 8th Street."
Watch the video for Angel [Take 7].
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision tracklist
Vinyl Disc 1
1) Ezy Ryder [Alternate Mix]* 6/18/70
2) Valleys Of Neptune [Alternate Version]* 6/15/70
3) Straight Ahead [Takes 1 & 2]* 6/17/70
4) Astro Man [Takes 9 & 10]* 6/24/70
5) Drifting [Takes 1 & 2]* 6/25/70
6) Night Bird Flying [Take 25]* 6/16/70
1) Earth Blues [Alternate Mix]* 6/26/70
2) Drifter’s Escape [Takes 1 & 2]* 6/17/70
3) Astro Man [Take 14]* 6/24/70
4) Further Up The Road* 6/24/70
Vinyl Disc 2
1) Dolly Dagger [Takes 17 & 18]* 7/1/70
2) Lover Man 7/20/70
3) Freedom [Take 4]* 6/25/70
4) Angel [Take 7]* 7/23/70
5) Beginnings [Take 5]*
1) The Long Medley [Astro Man / Beginnings / Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) / Midnight Lightning (Keep On Groovin’) / Freedom]* 6/24/70
Vinyl Disc 3
1) Freedom [Alternate Version]* 7/19/70
2) Valleys Of Neptune [Demo]* 6/70
3) Tune X*/Just Came In [Take 6]* 7/22/70
4) Drifting [Alternate Version]* 8/20/70
5) Messing Around [Take 17]* 6/16/70
1) Tune X* / Just Came In (Take 8)* 7/22/70
2) Dolly Dagger [Alternate Version]* 7/19/70
3) Come Down Hard On Me [take 15]* 7/15/70
4) Heaven Has No Sorrow [Demo]* 6/70
Vinyl Disc 4
1) Midnight Lightning* / Beginnings* 7/1/70
2) Dolly Dagger [Mix 2]* 8/20/70
3) Belly Button Window [Take 1]* 7/23/70
1) Night Bird Flying [Alternate Version]* 8/20/70
2) Freedom [Alternate Version]* 8/20/70
3) Straight Ahead [Alternate Mix]* 8/20/70
4) In From The Storm [Alternate Mix]* 8/24/70
Vinyl Disc 5
1) Bolero* / Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) [Alternate Mix]* 8/22/70
2) Drifter’s Escape [Alternate Mix]* 8/22/70
1) Bleeding Heart [Alternate Mix]* 8/22/70
2) Drifting [Alternate Version]* 11/20/70
3) Astro Man [Alternate Version]* 8/22/70
4) Room Full Of Mirrors [Alternate Version]* 10/20/70
5) Angel [Alternate Version]* 10/19/70
*Previously unreleased
CD Disc 1
1) Ezy Ryder [Alternate Mix]* 6/18/70
2) Valleys Of Neptune [Alternate Version]* 6/15/70
3) Straight Ahead [Takes 1 & 2]* 6/17/70
4) Drifter’s Escape [Takes 1 & 2]* 6/17/70
5) Astro Man [Takes 9 & 10]* 6/24/70
6) Astro Man [Take 14]* 6/24/70
7) Drifting [Takes 1 & 2]* 6/25/70
8) Night Bird Flying [Take 25]* 6/16/70
9) Farther Up The Road* 6/24/70
10) The Long Medley [Astro Man / Beginnings / Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) / Midnight Lightning (Keep On Groovin’) / Freedom]* 6/24/70
CD Disc 2
1) Earth Blues [Alternate Mix]* 6/26/70
2) Dolly Dagger [Takes 17 & 18]* 7/1/70
3) Angel [Take 7]* 7/23/70
4) Beginnings [Take 5]* 7/1/70
5) Lover Man 7/20/70
6) Tune X* / Just Came In [Take 6]* 7/22/70
7) Heaven Has No Sorry [Demo]* 6/26/70
8) Freedom [Take 4]* 6/25/70
9) Valleys Of Neptune [Demo]* 6/26/70
10) Come Down Hard On Me [Take 15]* 7/15/70
11) Dolly Dagger [Alternate Version]* 7/19/70
12) Messing Around [Take 17]* 6/16/70
13) Tune X* / Just Came In [Take 8]* 7/22/70
14) Drifting [Alternate Version]* 8/20/70
15) Freedom [Alternate Version]* 7/19/70
16) Belly Button Window [Take 1]* 7/23/70
CD Disc 3
1) Dolly Dagger [Mix 2]* 8/20/70
2) Night Bird Flying [Alternate Version]* 8/20/70
3) Freedom [Alternate Version]* 8/20/70
4) Midnight Lightning* / Beginnings* 7/1/70
5) Straight Ahead [Alternate Mix]* 8/20/70
6) In From The Storm [Alternate Mix]* 8/24/70
7) Bolero* / Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) [Alternate Mix]* 8/22/70
8) Drifter’s Escape [Alternate Mix]* 8/22/70
9) Astro Man [Alternate Version]* 8/22/70
10) Bleeding Heart [Alternate Mix]* 8/22/70
11) Drifting [Alternate Version]* 11/20/70
12) Room Full Of Mirrors [Alternate Version]* 10/19/70
13) Angel [Alternate Version]* 10/19/70
*Previously unreleased
First Rays of the New Rising Sun + Bonus Tracks 5.1 Mixes
(Contained on Blu-ray with both vinyl and CD versions of package)
1) Freedom
2) Izabella
3) Night Bird Flying
4) Angel
5) Room Full of Mirrors
6) Dolly Dagger
7) Ezy Ryder
8) Drifting
9) Beginnings
10) Stepping Stone
11) My Friend
12) Straight Ahead
13) Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
14) Earth Blues
15) Astro Man
16) In From the Storm
17) Belly Button Window
18) Pali Gap (from Rainbow Bridge album)
19) Lover Man (from Jimi Hendrix Experience box set)
20) Valleys of Neptune (from Valleys of Neptune album0
All 20 tracks are available in 5.1 surround sound audio for first time.
