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
's versions of
"Hoochie Coochie Man"
(with
Alexis Korner
on slide guitar),
"Catfish Blues,"
"Killing Floor,"
"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
tackles, including
Stevie Wonder
's
"I Was Made to Love Her"
(featuring
Wonder
on drums),
Dylan
"Can You Please Crawl out Your Window?,"
The Beatles
'
"Day Tripper,"
and, in recognition of his immediate competition,
Cream
"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
collection. ~ Cub Koda