Jimi Hendrix - 1993 "The Ultimate Experience"

Great box set released in 1993, includes nicely packaged re-issues of The Experience's first 3 albums, plus the "best of", single CD collection shown on the listing photo. The "best of" CD is a little redundant, since all of those songs are already ON the first 3 albums, except for the last two tracks; the unforgettable "Star Spangled Banner" from the Woodstock concert, and "Wild Thing" from Jimi's American (re-) debut at the Monterey Pop Festival. I don't know that you could ever really make a perfect, single CD collection of Jimi's greatest songs, but this fourth CD comes close. Had I had a say in this box set's original release, I think including something like the "Concerts" CD, produced by Alan Douglas, containing a sort of "best of" concert would have been a better idea, but hey, any Hendrix is good by me!

I purchased this set when it first came out and it is the one box set that I can listen to over and over. Hendrix IS the best rock guitarist, in my humble opinion. This set contains all three of his studio albums that were released prior to his untimely death. But, the big bonus is the fact that they are the British releases of his albums. That means :Are You Experienced" has such gems as "Redhouse" "Stone Free" and others that were left off the American releases of the album. Each disc also contains a nice booklet and the fourth dis, which is a best of, does a better summation of what Jimi was all about than does the album "Smash Hits". I know that it says the set is not available, but if you ever see it, grab it. It will truely show you why Jimi is still considered a big influence among true guitarist.

CD 1 "Are You Experienced":

Are You Experienced is the debut studio album by English-American rock band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released in 1967, the LP was an immediate critical and commercial success, and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest debuts in the history of rock music. The album features Jimi Hendrix's innovative approach to songwriting and electric guitar playing which soon established a new direction in psychedelic and hard rock music.

By mid-1966, Hendrix was struggling to earn a living playing the R&B circuit as a backing guitarist. After being referred to Chas Chandler, who was leaving the Animals and interested in managing and producing artists, Hendrix was signed to a management and production contract with Chandler and ex-Animals manager Michael Jeffery. Chandler brought Hendrix to London and began recruiting members for a band designed to showcase the guitarist's talents, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In late October, after having been rejected by Decca Records, the Experience signed with Track, a new label formed by the Who's managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.

Are You Experienced and its preceding singles were recorded over a five-month period from late October 1966 through early April 1967. The album was completed in sixteen recording sessions at three London locations, including De Lane Lea Studios, CBS, and Olympic. Released in the UK on May 12, 1967, Are You Experienced spent 33 weeks on the charts, peaking at number two. The album was issued in the US on August 23 by Reprise Records, where it reached number five on the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for 106 weeks, 27 of those in the Top 40. The album also spent 70 weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart, where it peaked at #10. The US version contained some of Hendrix's best known songs, including the Experience's first three singles, which, though omitted from the British edition of the LP, were top ten hits in the UK: "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe", and "The Wind Cries Mary".

In 2005, Rolling Stone ranked Are You Experienced fifteenth on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. They placed four songs from the album on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: "Purple Haze" (17), "Foxy Lady" (153), "Hey Joe" (201), and "The Wind Cries Mary" (379). That same year, the record was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress in recognition of its cultural significance to be added to the National Recording Registry. Writer and archivist Reuben Jackson of the Smithsonian Institution wrote: "it's still a landmark recording because it is of the rock, R&B, blues ... musical tradition. It altered the syntax of the music ... in a way I compare to James Joyce's Ulysses."

Track listing:

01 Foxy Lady
02 Manic Depression
03 Red House
04 Can You See Me
05 Love Or Confusion
06 I Don't Live Today
07 May This Be Love
08 Fire
09 3rd Stone From The Sun
10 Remember
11 Are You Experienced

Personnel:

Jimi Hendrix – guitars, lead vocals
Noel Redding – bass; backing vocals on "Foxy Lady," "Fire," and "Purple Haze"
Mitch Mitchell – drums; backing vocals on "I Don't Live Today" and "Stone Free"

CD 2 "Axis: Bold as Love":

Axis: Bold as Love is the second studio album by English-American rock band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded to fulfill the Experience's contract, which stated that they had to produce two records in 1967.

Axis: Bold as Love was first released in the United Kingdom by Track Records in December 1967, as the follow-up to the band's successful debut Are You Experienced, which had been released in May. Reprise Records chose not to release it in the United States until 1968, because of fears that it might interfere with the sales of the first album. Axis: Bold as Love charted at number five in the UK and number three in the US. The album also peaked at number six on the Billboard R&B chart.

Track listing:

01 EXP
02 Up From The Skies
03 Spanish Castle Magic
04 Wait Until Tomorrow
05 Ain't No Telling
06 Little Wing
07 If Six Was Nine
08 You've Got Me Floating
09 Castles Made Of Sand
10 She's So Fine
11 One Rainy Wish
12 Little Miss Lover
13 Bold As Love

Personnel:

Jimi Hendrix – vocals, electric guitar, piano, recorder, glockenspiel on "Little Wing", voice of "Mr. Paul Caruso" on "EXP"
Mitch Mitchell – drums, backing vocals, "interviewer" on "EXP"
Noel Redding – backing vocals, bass guitars (four and eight-string), foot stomping on "If 6 Was 9", lead vocals on "She's So Fine"
Additional

Gary Leeds – foot stomping on "If 6 Was 9"
Graham Nash – foot stomping on "If 6 Was 9", backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"
Trevor Burton – backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"
Roy Wood – backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"

CD 3 "Electric Ladyland":

Electric Ladyland is the third and final studio album by English-American rock band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released by Reprise Records in North America and Track Records in the UK in October 1968, the double album was the only record from the band produced by Jimi Hendrix. By mid-November, it had charted at number one in the United States, where it spent two weeks at the top spot. Electric Ladyland was the Experience's most commercially successful release and their only number one album. It peaked at number six in the UK, where it spent 12 weeks on the chart.

Electric Ladyland included a cover of the Bob Dylan song, "All Along the Watchtower", which became the Experience's highest-selling single and their only top 40 hit in the US, peaking at number 20; the single reached number five in the UK. Although the album confounded critics in 1968, it has since been viewed as Hendrix's best work and one of the greatest rock records of all time. Electric Ladyland has been featured on many greatest-album lists, including Q magazine's 2003 list of the 100 greatest albums and Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, on which it was ranked 55th.

Track listing:

01 And The Gods Made Love
02 Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
03 Cross Town Traffic
04 Voodoo Chile
05 Little Miss Strange
06 Long Hot Summer Night
07 Come On
08 Gypsy Eyes
09 The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
10 Rainy Day, Dream Away
11 1983... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
12 Moon, Turn The Tides... Gently, Gently Away
13 Still Raining, Still Dreaming
14 House Burning Down
15 All Along The Watchtower
16 Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

Personnel:

Credits taken from the 1993 MCA compact disc booklet.

Jimi Hendrix – lead vocals, guitar, piano, percussion, comb and tissue paper kazoo, electric harpsichord, bass on "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)", "Long Hot Summer Night", "Gypsy Eyes", "1983", "House Burning Down", and "All Along the Watchtower"
Noel Redding – backing vocals, bass on "Crosstown Traffic", "Little Miss Strange", "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)", "Burning of the Midnight Lamp", and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", acoustic guitar and lead vocals on "Little Miss Strange"
Mitch Mitchell – backing vocals, drums (except on "Rainy Day Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming"), percussion, lead vocals on "Little Miss Strange"
Jack Casady – bass on "Voodoo Chile"
Brian Jones – percussion on "All Along the Watchtower"
Al Kooper – piano on "Long Hot Summer Night"
Dave Mason – twelve-string guitar on "All Along the Watchtower", backing vocals on "Crosstown Traffic"
The Sweet Inspirations – backing vocals on "Burning of the Midnight Lamp"
Steve Winwood – Hammond organ on "Voodoo Chile"
Chris Wood – flute on "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)"
on "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming":
Larry Faucette – congas
Mike Finnigan – organ
Buddy Miles – drums
Freddie Smith – tenor saxophone

CD 4 "The Ultimate Experience":

The Ultimate Experience is a 1992 compilation album of songs by songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It features 20 of his greatest hits, most of them recorded with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and live renditions of "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Wild Thing". It was released in the U.K. in November 1992, and later on April 27, 1993 in the U.S. The album reached No. 25 in the UK Albums Chart and No. 72 in the Billboard 200. An HDCD remastered special edition UK picture disc version limited to 2500 copies was released in 1995. The track listing was compiled from a poll citing his most popular recordings for the European market. All songs were recorded between October 23, 1966 and July 23, 1970.

As a single-disc compilation, The Ultimate Experience is hard to beat. Drawing from all of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience albums, the 20-track collection hits all of the major highpoints -- "Purple Haze," "All Along the Watchtower," "Little Wing," "Red House," "The Wind Cries Mary," "Highway Chile," "Angel" -- and gives an accurate impression of why Hendrix was so revolutionary and influential. All three of Hendrix's completed studio albums are mandatory listening, but The Ultimate Experience is a terrific introduction to the guitarist.

Track listing
All songs were written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted.

01 "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan) – 4:07 (Electric Ladyland, 1968)
02 "Purple Haze" – 2:44 (Are You Experienced, 1967)
03 "Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts) – 3:26 (Are You Experienced)
04 "The Wind Cries Mary" – 3:18 (Are You Experienced)
05 "Angel" – 4:17 (The Cry of Love, 1971)
06 "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" – 5:13 (Electric Ladyland)
07 "Foxy Lady" – 3:15 (Are You Experienced)
08 "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" – 3:35 (Electric Ladyland)
09 "Highway Chile" – 3:30 (Smash Hits [UK])
10 "Crosstown Traffic" – 2:14 (Electric Ladyland)
11 "Castles Made of Sand" – 2:45 (Axis: Bold as Love, 1967)
12 "Long Hot Summer Night" – 3:27 (Electric Ladyland)
13 "Red House" – 3:54 (Kiss the Sky)
14 "Manic Depression" – 3:37 (Are You Experienced)
15 "Gypsy Eyes" – 3:42 (Electric Ladyland)
16 "Little Wing" – 2:24 (Axis: Bold as Love)
17 "Fire" – 2:38 (Are You Experienced)
18 "Wait Until Tomorrow" – 3:00 (Axis: Bold as Love)
19 "Star Spangled Banner (live)" (John Stafford Smith, arr. Hendrix) – 4:05 (Woodstock, 1970)
20 "Wild Thing (live)" (Chip Taylor) – 6:54 (Monterey Pop, 1970)

Track 19: Recorded live at the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, 8.18.69
Track 20: Recorded live at the Monterey Pop Festival, 6.18.67

Noel Redding is credited in the liner notes with bass on track 1, but the notes about the song specifically state Jimi played bass - "All Along The Watchtower is a classic example of Hendrix's bass-playing, on Noel Redding's righthanded bass. "I think Noel got pissed off and was in the pub - but the track didn't suffer," remembers Mitch Mitchell."

Personnel:

Listed above.