Jimi Hendrix - 1975 [1989] "Midnight Lightning"

Midnight Lightning is a posthumous ninth studio album by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix, released in November 1975. There was the furious media debate that accompanied its release over whether it was appropriate to 'soup up' posthumous Hendrix albums. Producer Alan Douglas brought in many session musicians to overdub parts of songs; the only original recording (apart from those by Hendrix) was Mitch Mitchell's drumming on "Hear My Train A Comin'". Despite this conroversies, this album features one of his best Jimi's ballads ("Gypsy Boy"), instrumentals ("Trashman"), and the stellar studio version of "Midnight Lightning", which otherwise we could only hear live.

Midnight Lightning is a posthumous compilation album by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It was released in November 1975 by Reprise Records in the United States and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom. It was the sixth studio album released after his death and the second to be produced by Alan Douglas and Tony Bongiovi. The songs used on the album consist of post-Jimi Hendrix Experience recordings that originally featured Billy Cox on bass and either Mitch Mitchell or Buddy Miles on drums.

Douglas continued the controversial methods he had adopted on Crash Landing and brought in many of the same session musicians to overdub parts of songs. The only original recording (apart from those by Hendrix) was Mitchell's drumming on "Hear My Train". In response to the previous outcry from fans and critics, Douglas did not claim co-writer credit for any songs on Midnight Lightning. Despite the fact that the album included reworkings of the popular live songs "Hear My Train" and "Machine Gun", the album was not as well received as its predecessor, peaking at number 43 in the US. and number 46 in the UK.

In a 1981 review, music critic Robert Christgau gave Midnight Lightning a "B+" and said that it was an improvement by Douglas over Crash Landing because of highlight instrumentals such as "Trash Man", overdubbed guitar from Jeff Mironov and Lance Quinn, and "the blues playing — as opposed to singing or writing".

The opening riff to "Foxey Lady" provides the foundation for the instrumental "Trash Man," and no amount of bastardization can take away from the genius guitarist his legacy. If you take this work at face value, without the baggage of what "producer" Alan Douglas did to the tapes, this time with Tony Bongiovi along for the ride, it's still Hendrix. Maybe God allowed the series of albums to happen so the world could see Hendrix's work could survive doctoring and musicians jamming with his art after the fact. That this disc goes for big bucks on Internet auction sites says something about the timelessness of the music. The title track, as with seven of the eight performances here, has session player Alan Schwartzberg on drums, a far cry from his work with Carole Bayer Sager.

Mitch Mitchell only appears on Hendrix's blues classic "Hear My Train," Schwartzberg adding shakers. Bob Babbit is the "designated bassist" on the entire project (no doubt what Billy Cox and Noel Redding thought about this), and Jeff Mironov shares guitar duties with Lance Quinn. That's not a misprint. Thankfully, the extra guitarists are somewhat invisible -- you know, what's the point of having co-vocalists add their talents to a Janis Joplin disc? What these recordings effectively do is offer the world a comparison between what the official Hendrix estate is doing, and what Douglas did. The Hendrix estate wins that battle, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott carefully restoring all the master tapes of Jimi Hendrix, and restoring them properly.

Discs like Midnight Lightning are also a statement on how a great artist's legacy can go through various hands and the artistic consequences of tapes traveling as if under their own steam. History is an excellent vantage point from which to view. The title track is great -- and it goes along with the cover painting very nicely. Is it blasphemy to say that this is a highly enjoyable disc? All the post-Cry of Love releases -- War Heroes, Crash Landing, Voodoo Soup, Blues, Hendrix in the West, Rainbow Bridge, the soundtrack to the Jimi Hendrix film, and this -- provide another crucial look at Hendrix. The more the merrier. It is great to have the official Hendrix estate with Janie Hendrix, John McDermott, and Eddie Kramer doing this properly, but this version of "Gypsy Boy (New Rising Sun)," the inclusion of Mitch Mitchell's "Beginnings," another "Machine Gun," and "Blue Suede Shoes" exist, thus they are important additions to the Hendrix archives. It will be interesting to see if the official Hendrix estate eventually re-releases the Alan Douglas masters just to keep these once-legit works from cluttering the market with counterfeits.

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Tracks Listing:

1. Trashman (3:15)
2. Midnight Lightning (3:49)
3. Hear My Train A Comin' (5:43)
4. Gypsy Boy (3:45)
5. Blue Suede Shoes (3:29)
6. Izabella/Machine Gun (7:36)
7. Once I Had a Woman (5:20)
8. Beginnings (3:02)

Total Time 35:58

Personnel:

- Jimi Hendrix / guitars, lead vocals

With:
- Mitch Mitchell - drums (3)

(All other original backing musicians were wiped in 1975 re-recordings)

Added in 1975:
- Jeff Mironov / guitar (1-3,5,8)
- Lance Quinn / guitar (2,4,6,7)
- Buddy Lucas / harmonica (7)
- Bob Babbitt / bass
- Allan Schwartzberg / drums (1,2,4-8), percussion (3,4)
- Jimmy Maelen / percussion (2,8)
- Maeretha Stewart / backing vocals (2,4,7)
- Hilda Harris / backing vocals (2,4,7)
- Vivian Cherry / backing vocals (2,4,7)