Album review: JIMI HENDRIX – Both Sides Of The Sky

Sony Legacy [Release date 09.03.18]

Here we go again. And maybe for the final time as veteran engineer Eddie Kramer has indicated that the studio well is now dry and only live gigs are being readied for future release.

This album – along with the previous studio compilations Valleys Of Neptune (2010) and People, Hell and Angels (2013) and the attendant promotion – has the effect of once again re-stating Hendrix supremacy nearly 50 years after his death. We really can’t get enough of him.

Much of this final salvo has been available before albeit in different guises. It will be left for the anally-retentive to pore over the whys and the where-fores. Although the obsessive will already have endless bootlegs and variations.

For mere mortals, these recordings, from 1968/1970, (of which 10 are “unreleased”) sound in places like work in progress although they have been beautifully remastered, a credit also to the sonic quality of the original tape. ‘Jungle’ is a particularly good example whilst ‘Sweet Angel’ is an instrumental take on ‘Angel’.

The cynical will of course exclaim “How many versions of ‘Lover Man’ do we need?”, or for that matter ‘Hear My Train A Comin” which was definitive on the Berkeley live album and has been available previously (including on the most recent posthumous releases).

This album will, though, be of interest for those collaborations with Stephen Stills (providing vocals and keys on ‘Woodstock’ and ‘$20 Fine’) and dating from 1969 and the fairly perfunctory workout with Johnny Winter (‘Things I Used To Do’) which has appeared before but in shorter form.

Fans will say that the Experience Hendrix take on the legacy is highly subjective and very much in the hands of Kramer and co-producers John McDermott and Janie Hendrix. They are the arbiters of whether a recording should see the light of day and you can’t help thinking – because it’s Hendrix – there will be as much interesting stuff for collectors left on their cutting room floor.

Whilst bootlegs have filled this void to a large extent, this latest official document is the acceptable face for a potentially wider audience. If that means sustained interest in the Hendrix franchise, job done. ***1/2

Review by David Randall

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

Archive review (2013, People, Hell & Angels)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)