Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | 1997 | |||
Recorded | October 1966 – October 1970 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 73:32 | |||
Label | MCA - Legacy (2010 reissue) | |||
Compiler |
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Jimi Hendrix chronology | ||||
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Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix is a compilation album of songs by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix, released in 1997 by MCA and reissued in 2010 by Legacy Recordings. The single compact disc collects 20 songs spanning his career, from his first recordings with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966 to his last with Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell in 1970.
Experience Hendrix is the first comprehensive collection of Hendrix's songs overseen by Experience Hendrix, a family company that took over management of his recording legacy in 1997. Fifteen songs with the Experience band are included, as well as five with Hendrix's later backing musicians. No songs from the Band of Gypsys lineup with Buddy Miles are included. [1] Experience Hendrix replaces the best-selling 1992 compilation The Ultimate Experience , which features a similar track list but contains fewer songs from posthumous releases.
In a review for AllMusic, Bruce Eder gave the compilation four out of five stars. [2] He felt that the collection "just misses being the perfect single-CD Jimi Hendrix anthology": while the compilation includes some of Hendrix's noteworthy later work, it lacks several songs from his earlier Smash Hits compilation. [2]
The album reached number 18 on the UK Albums Chart, [3] number 133 on the US Billboard 200, [4] and number 34 on the Canadian RPM chart. [5] It was ranked number 187 on Nielsen Soundscan's Canadian Top 200 Albums of 2002. [6] In 2006, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it as "2× platinum" for shipping two million copies. [7]
The titles and running times are taken from the original Experience Hendrix CD US release. [8] Other releases may show different information. Entries under "Original release" are for both the US and UK, unless otherwise indicated.
All tracks are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where otherwise noted
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Purple Haze" | Single A-side | 2:51 |
2. | "Fire" | Are You Experienced | 2:43 |
3. | "The Wind Cries Mary" | Single A-side (UK), B-side (US) | 3:20 |
4. | "Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts) | Single A-side | 3:29 |
5. | "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan) | Single A-side | 3:58 |
6. | "Stone Free" | Single B-side of "Hey Joe" (UK) | 3:35 |
7. | "Crosstown Traffic" | Electric Ladyland | 2:19 |
8. | "Manic Depression" | Are You Experienced | 3:42 |
9. | "Little Wing" | Axis: Bold as Love | 2:25 |
10. | "If 6 Was 9" | Axis: Bold as Love | 5:34 |
11. | "Foxey Lady" | Are You Experienced | 3:18 |
12. | "Bold as Love" | Axis: Bold as Love | 4:11 |
13. | "Castles Made of Sand" | Axis: Bold as Love | 2:47 |
14. | "Red House" | Are You Experienced (UK edition) | 3:50 |
15. | "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" | Electric Ladyland | 5:12 |
16. | "Freedom" | The Cry of Love | 3:25 |
17. | "Night Bird Flying" | The Cry of Love | 3:50 |
18. | "Angel" | The Cry of Love | 4:22 |
19. | "Dolly Dagger" | Rainbow Bridge | 4:45 |
20. | "Star Spangled Banner" (adapted by Hendrix [9] ) | Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More (1970) | 3:46 |
Bonus disc
The album was also released in a two-CD limited edition. The bonus disc contains eight tracks, taken from The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set (2000). [10]
All tracks are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where otherwise noted
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Highway Chile" (alternate recording) | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 3:41 |
2. | "Gloria" (Van Morrison) | bonus single with The Essential Jimi Hendrix (UK) | 8:54 |
3. | "It's Too Bad" (jam recording) | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 8:53 |
4. | "Spanish Castle Magic" (rehearsal recording) | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 5:50 |
5. | "Hear My Train A Comin'" (rehearsal recording) | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 6:58 |
6. | "Lover Man" (demo recording) | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 2:58 |
7. | "I Don't Live Today" (live) | Lifelines: The Jimi Hendrix Story bonus disc | 6:34 |
8. | "Purple Haze" (live) | Stages disc three | 4:03 |
Personnel information is taken from the original Experience Hendrix CD US release; [8] other releases may show different information.
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Argentina (CAPIF) [11] | Gold | 30,000^ |
Australia (ARIA) [12] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Italy (FIMI) [13] | Gold | 25,000* |
Norway (IFPI Norway) [14] | Gold | 25,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [15] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [16] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Band of Gypsys is a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, frequently referred to as the Band of Gypsys. The album mixes funk and rhythm and blues elements with hard rock and jamming, an approach which later became the basis of funk rock. It contains previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death six months later.
Smash Hits is a compilation album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Track Records first issued it on April 12, 1968, in the UK and included all four of the group's singles released up to that time, plus four additional songs from the UK edition of Are You Experienced.
First Rays of the New Rising Sun is a compilation album credited to American rock musician Jimi Hendrix, issued in April 1997 on MCA Records. Featuring songs mostly intended for his planned fourth studio album, it was one of the first releases overseen by Experience Hendrix, the family company that took over management of his recording legacy. It reached the album charts in the United States, United Kingdom, and four other countries.
Blues is a compilation album of blues songs recorded by American singer/songwriter/musician Jimi Hendrix. Compiled by interim Hendrix producer Alan Douglas, it was released April 26, 1994, by MCA Records. The album contains eleven songs recorded by Hendrix between 1966 and 1970, six of which were previously unreleased. Hendrix wrote seven of the pieces; other writers include Muddy Waters, Booker T. Jones, and Elmore James. Most are demos, jams, and live recordings, which Hendrix may or may not have completed for release.
BBC Sessions is an album of recordings by the rock group the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on MCA Records on June 2, 1998. It contains all the surviving tracks from their various appearances on BBC radio programmes, such as Saturday Club and Top Gear, recorded in 1967.
Live at Woodstock is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix released on July 6, 1999. It documents most of his performance at the Woodstock Festival on August 18, 1969, and contains Hendrix's iconic interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and other songs from the original festival film and soundtrack album.
Live at the Fillmore East is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix released on February 23, 1999. The album documents Hendrix's performances with the Band of Gypsys at the Fillmore East on December 31, 1969, and January 1, 1970. It is drawn from the same performances as, and can be seen as an extended complement to, the album Band of Gypsys (1970), consisting mostly of songs not on the original album. The album peaked at No. 77 on the Canadian RPM Album charts.
South Saturn Delta is a posthumous compilation album by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix. Released in 1997 by Experience Hendrix, it consists of material such as demo tapes, unfinished takes and alternate mixes, and previously released material, most of which Hendrix had been working on prior to his death in 1970.
The Cry of Love is the first posthumous album of music by American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Recorded primarily in 1970, it features new material that Hendrix was working on for his planned fourth studio album before his death later that year. While most of the songs were included on proposed track listings by Hendrix, the final selection was made by recording engineer Eddie Kramer and drummer Mitch Mitchell, with input from manager Michael Jeffery. Hendrix, Kramer, and Mitchell are credited as the album's producers, with Jeffery as the executive producer.
Kiss the Sky is a compilation album by American rock guitarist, singer–songwriter Jimi Hendrix. In the US, it was released by Reprise Records in October 1984 and by Polydor Records in the UK in November 1984. The album's title is taken from the lyrics of "Purple Haze."
Crash Landing is a posthumous compilation album by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It was released in March and August 1975 in the US and the UK respectively. It was the first Hendrix album to be produced by Alan Douglas.
"Freedom" is a rock song by Jimi Hendrix that is often regarded as one of the most fully realized pieces he wrote and recorded in the months before his death. It incorporates several musical styles and the lyrics reflect various situations facing Hendrix at the time.
Voodoo Soup is a posthumous compilation album by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix, released in the United States on April 11, 1995, by MCA Records. It was one of the last Hendrix albums produced by Alan Douglas, who was also responsible for the posthumous Hendrix releases Midnight Lightning and Crash Landing in 1975.
Rainbow Bridge is a compilation album by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix. It was the second posthumous album release by his official record company and is mostly composed of recordings Hendrix made in 1969 and 1970 after the breakup of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Despite the cover photo and subtitle Original Motion Picture Sound Track, it does not contain any songs recorded during his concert appearance for the 1971 film Rainbow Bridge.
Cornerstones 1967–1970 is a 1990 compilation album by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It features 18 of his greatest hits, including live renditions of "Fire" and "Stone Free" from the Atlanta International Pop Festival, Byron, Georgia, July 4, 1970. It was released on the Polydor label in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. The album entered the UK Albums Chart in November 1990 at No. 5, its highest position during a sixteen-week stay in the chart. All songs were recorded between October 23, 1966, and August 1970. This was the only compact disc release at the time to have the studio version of "The Star Spangled Banner".
The Essential Jimi Hendrix Volume Two is a compilation album of songs by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix, released in 1979 by Reprise Records. It is the follow-up album to The Essential Jimi Hendrix, released by Reprise the previous year.
The Baggy's Rehearsal Sessions is a posthumous compilation album by Jimi Hendrix, released on June 25, 2002 by Dagger Records. The album contains recordings from two rehearsal sessions for the Band of Gypsys' performances at the Fillmore East on December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970.
The Singles Collection is a posthumous compilation album by Jimi Hendrix, released in 2003 by MCA Records. The album is made up of ten discs, each of which contains one single released by Hendrix, including some after his death.
Songs For Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts is a chronologically sequenced collection of American musician Jimi Hendrix's 1969–1970 New Years recorded performances at the Fillmore East in New York City. It was released as a box set of five-CDs on November 22, 2019 and an eight-LP set on December 13.
Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969 is a live album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded during the group's last North American tour and includes a mix of popular Experience album songs along with some instrumentals. The album is the first full live release by the trio with Hendrix, Noel Redding, and Mitch Mitchell since 2013's Miami Pop Festival.
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