It was only a matter of time until I had the chance to review an entire box set of material. The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set is a nice collection of rare and alternate material. The short history of Hendrix's career deserves to have a collection like this released. The problem, usually, is who the target audience is. Box sets are mainly for the die-hard fans. The casual fan of Hendrix really doesn't need to go this far in buying this set, but for the fan that wants to continue the "discovery" of this guitar pioneer will be pretty impressed with the material... for the most part. It's pretty early for me to give a real good assessment of all four cds since I've only been listening to them for a week! Since I don't have any other new discs to review at the moment, and I'm due to post a new review and I don't have much choice right now!
My first impression of the set is how much I enjoy disc three. Covering the period of 1968 and 69, this disc contains some excellent live material. Notably "Purple Haze" and "Voodoo Child". By this time, Hendrix was probably a little bored with singing his "hit" song. He actually blurts out "scuse me while I kiss this guy" at one point during the song, which somewhat proves that Hendrix didn't take himself too seriously. "Spanish Castle Magic" starts out sounding very similar to the original version until it goes on to an extended and impressive guitar jam that makes the orginal seem tame in comparison. "Room Full of Mirrors" is a somewhat obscure song that is performed very loosly here. The nice thing about this song is Hendrix's ability to just play chords along with Mitchell's drums and Redding's bass to create a fun atmosphere without any real showing off.
Jumping to Disc one, we hear the early development of Hendrix as a songwriter and performer. Live versions of "Killing Floor" and "Hey Joe" from Paris in 1966 display what was to come from this band. The band is tight and very polished in their playing, which leads me to believe that they were very consious of their increasing popularity and were intending on hitting it big. An early cut of "Third Stone from the Sun" shows off some weird, yet somewhat amusing dialogue between Hendrix and producer Chas Chandler. The song itself is a cosmic display of guitar effects and a great bassline from Redding. The unreleased "Taking Care of No Business" is one of the true jems of this release. A simple song with just guitar and tamborine, it's kind of a loose tune similar to something that may have been released during the old vaudeville era. It's a shame that this song hasn't been uncovered until now. An alternate version of "If Six was Nine" isn't too different from the original. As one of Hendrix's strongest tracks, it's really a very necessary addition to this set.
Disc two starts out with a live rendition of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper". Sloopy but fun to hear, it's a nice tribute to the album that was released the same summer of love that this track was performed live. A live versions of "Catfish Blues" starts with a nice dedication to Muddy Waters and "Johnny" Hooker. One of the stronger tracks on this disc, Hendrix's voice is bluesy and his playing is all over the fret-board! Mitch Mitchell adds a nice drum solo along with this very intense number. A great cover of "Gloria" is surprisingly similar in sound to the original done by Van Morrison and Them. Clocking in at over eight minutes, Hendrix abandons his typical guitar sound for a more basic expression here... until the solo cuts loose! He also adds some pretty "graphic" dialogue here towards the end of the tune, which makes sense to me why this song hasn't been released until this point in time.
Disc four, which obviously covers the end of his career, is a little more varied in quality. Hendrix, at this time, was done with The Experience and was playing more with true blues and funk musicians. Backed by Billy Cox on bass, and Buddy Miles on drums, Hendrix tears through on "Astro Man". His "sound" at this time reminds the listener more of Sly Stone or James Brown than his heavy 60's sound with the Experience. "Country Blues", recorded in 1970, highlights some very solid and precise finger picking. Not just relying on distortion and effects any longer, Hendrix seemed to be more inspired by the blues at this point in his career. Disc four also highlights two songs from his last live performance at the Isle of Wright festival in England. "All Along the Watchtower" and "In From the Storm" are somewhat fair performances, but are important in interesting to listen to due to the fact that they were recorded only weeks prior to his untimely death. The set ends with "Slow Blues". A fitting slow and bluesy intrumental that shows us what kind of genious Hendrix really was.
As a historical gathering of music, this box set does a pretty nice job. I would bet that a single or double cd will eventually come out with hightlights of this set to inspire more casual fans to take a listen. There are few complaints that I would make with this set, but sound quality and research of material is excellent. For a very brief four years of recording and performing, Jimi Hendrix covered a lot of ground. The listener is also left wondering what would have become of him over the last 30 years if he was still alive.
