Album review: JIMI HENDRIX – People, Hell & Angels

Experience Hendrix/Sony [Release date 04.03.13]

Can there be any more Hendrix wine to tease from an ageing vine? It seems that with each new distribution deal (now with Sony Legacy) the opportunity is used to recycle and repackage material for a new generation. Whilst there is intrinsically nothing wrong with this it does beg the question why definitive versions of certain tracks are not uncovered sooner and released?

Why for example have we never had the longer version of ‘Easy Blues’ which appeared truncated on the long-deleted ‘Message To The Universe’. Collectors of course will have the ‘proper’ version on a bootleg. It does beg the question, though, about this constant reinvention.

Either it’s fed by capitalist zeal or just incompetence: that the definitive versions couldn’t have been sourced at the outset. Arguably it is those very versions that will appeal to the Hendrix die-hards. There is evidently some cherry-picking going on and it is clear that the ‘best’ versions are not always chosen by the Hendrix triumvirate of Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott (see my earlier review, link below).

This release is best considered a lower-key companion to the 2010 ‘Valleys Of the Neptune’ which in launching the new ‘deal’ cleverly mixed live Hendrix footage to make a new video for the track ‘Bleeding Heart’. That has now garnered over 800,000 views, evidence enough of the cross-generational marketing push.

In summation, ‘People, Hell & Angels’ is a collection of songs that in some shape or form have mostly been available previously although all these versions are previously unreleased. As Hendrix was a master of the umpteenth take, only die-hards will be able to decipher the subtle nuances.

Therefore mere mortals may be quite happy with previous versions of tracks like ‘Earth Blues’, ‘Bleeding Heart’ and ‘Isabella’ (all here in more measured form) and the well-worn ‘Hear My Train A Coming’ (a definitive version appearing on the ‘Jimi Plays Berkeley’ album, albeit live).

‘Let Me Love You’ is a rare gem in the sense that it evokes Hendrix when on the chitlin’ circuit before his late-sixties rise to fame. A straightforward soul revue blow-out with saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood recorded in 1969 whilst ‘Mojo Man’ features The Ghetto Fighters with whom Hendrix worked on later studio sessions.

‘Crash Landing’ first appeared on that fated 1975 release where producer Alan Douglas substituted a modern rhythm section, whilst not the strongest of Hendrix’s songs at least this 1969 version hasn’t been doctored. ‘Inside Out’ is really insight to a song creation process, essentially an early workout for the song ‘Ezy Ryder’ so it’s very much work in progress. Ditto ‘Hey Gypsy Baby which is one of Hendrix’s more attractive melodies. And again, ‘Villanova Junction Blues’ which he featured at Woodstock is here in early form but very much a historical fragment.

With this release, die-hards will no doubt ponder on what could still be released from the archive that might be justified as truly ‘new’. My guess is that the vine is now starting to wither and this constant reinvention and repackaging is something we’re all going to have to live with. Those intrigued newcomers are still best directed to the ‘purple’ box set (2000) which includes most of the songs on this release albeit in marginally different form. ***

Review by David Randall

David Randall presents ‘Assume The Position’ on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio every Sunday at 22:00 GMT.

Album review (Valleys Of Neptune, 2010)

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

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