Jimi Hendrix BBC Sessions CD

2 Cds W/ Booklet

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Jimi Hendrix (guitar, vocals); Noel Redding (bass, background vocals); Mitch Mitchell (drums, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Alexis Korner (slide guitar); Stevie Wonder (drums).
Producers include: Bill Bebb, Jeff Griffin, Bernie Andrews.
Compilation producer: Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer, John McDermott.
Recorded between February 13 and December 15, 1967 and on January 4, 1969. Includes liner notes by David Sinclair.
These are the recordings that Jimi Hendrix made for BBC radio in the late '60s. As such, they're loose, informal, and off-the-top-of-his-head improvisational fun. These versions of the hits "Foxey Lady," "Fire," two versions of "Purple Haze," and "Hey Joe" stay surprisingly close to the studio versions, but the tone of Hendrix's guitar on these is positively blistering and worth the price of admission alone. There's also a lot of blues on this two-disc collection, and Hendrix's versions of "Hoochie Coochie Man" (with Alexis Korner on slide guitar), "Catfish Blues," "Killing Floor," and "Hear My Train A-Comin'" find him in excellent form. But perhaps the best example of how loosely conceived these sessions were are the oddball covers that Hendrix tackles, including Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her" (featuring Wonder on drums), Dylan's "Can You Please Crawl out Your Window?," The Beatles' "Day Tripper," and, in recognition of his immediate competition, Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love." No lo-fi bootleg tapes here (everything's from the original masters and gone over by Eddie Kramer), the music and sound are class-A all the way, making a worthwhile addition to anyone's Hendrix collection. ~ Cub Koda
Right around the same time the Hendrix juggernaut started snowballing in England, the BBC was in the midst of setting up Radio 1, an entity dedicated to broadcasting pop music. Spearheaded by adventurous DJs such as John Peel and Alexis Korner, Radio 1 provided an outlet for the creative outpouring of the newly arrived Hendrix along with countless others. Since many BBC sessions fell halfway between being a studio recording and a live performance, BBC SESSIONS shows off some of Hendrix's most spontaneous and creative outbursts. Along with the core of his catalog being showcased ("Purple Haze," "Fire"), Hendrix's fun-loving side shines through. Some of these moments include his wreaking havoc on Lulu's show by changing gears from a drastically reworked "Hey Joe" and dedicating "Sunshine Of Your Love" to the recently split up Cream before getting the plug pulled on him. Among the other covers included in this two-disc set is a notable instrumental jam on "I Was Made To Love Her," featuring Stevie Wonder on drums. More than any other recording up to this point, BBC SESSIONS shows the Jimi Hendrix Experience at its most bright-eyed and vibrant.

Rolling Stone (7/9-23/98, p.134) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...It's damned exciting to hear Hendrix playing so passionately in 1967, before the world officially cared. All of the essential trademarks--the bold-as-life melodies, the roaring backbeats informed by the blues--are present..."