Jimi Hendrix Axis

Jimi Hendrix’s immortal 1970 live album, Band of Gypsys, is one of his most influential releases, with the charismatic guitar icon testing the bounds of his creative approach to produce some of the most ambitious music of his career. Capitol/UMe will honor this landmark record on March 27, almost exactly 50 years from its original release, with special 50th anniversary vinyl editions of Band of Gypsys that recapture the album’s boundary-breaking spirit.

In the '70s, there was no shortage of posthumous Jimi Hendrix releases. Reprise and other labels knew that Hendrix's fans were an incredibly loyal and devoted bunch, and they knew that serious collectors would snag any Hendrix LP they could get their hands on. One of those posthumous releases was Crash Landing, which Reprise assembled in 1975. The LP's best-known tracks include "Message to Love" and "With the Power," both of which find Hendrix leading his Band of Gypsies power trio. Also enjoyable is a remake of the famous "Stone Free." But despite the presence of some gems, Crash Landing isn't essential - this record is strictly for collectors, and they are the ones who will want to hear such rarities as "Captain Coconut" (a psychedelic instrumental) and "Peace in Mississippi" (which is also instrumental and is the heaviest thing on the album)…

Jimi Hendrix's second album followed up his groundbreaking debut effort with a solid collection of great tunes and great interactive playing between himself, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, and the recording studio itself. Wisely retaining manager Chas Chandler to produce the album and Eddie Kramer as engineer, Hendrix stretched further musically than the first album, but even more so as a songwriter…

Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland, and The Cry of Love Reprise versions without noise reduction and from low generation master tapes. Great sounding versions, a must have for any Hendrix fan.

Axis: Bold As Love on Hybrid SACD from Analogue Productions!
Newly remastered by Bernie Grundman, from the original analog master tapes!
Includes both mono and stereo mixes — Pure DSD sound!
"If you want to truly experience this album, Analogue Productions' new SACD, mastered to DSD by Bernie Grundman and including both the stereo and mono mixes (mono for the first time in the digital domain), is the only way to do it. … Grundman's mastering has less bass than Marino's, as well as somewhat attenuated highs. There's much more air on songs like 'Spanish Castle Magic,' and the soundstage is also extremely wide. … this release is a home run for Analogue Productions.

Thus Radio One is a godsend. It is a compilation of seventeen "live" studio workouts by the original Experience (with Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums). These previously unissued blasts of prime Hendrixiana were originally taped between February and December of 1967 for broadcast by BBC Radio in England. You can ride shotgun with Hendrix as he rockets into inner space with "Stone Free," roughs up the Beatles' "Day Tripper" with acid-gangster guitar and wades into the primordial blues ooze of "Hoochie Koochie Man." Experienced and Axis were definitive statements of intention and accomplishment, Monterey the formal announcement of his arrival. But Radio One is essential Hendrix because it reveals the development of his art at its earliest and, in some ways, most crucial junctures.