"Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" or simply "Hey Baby" is a song written and recorded by American musician Jimi Hendrix, from his second posthumous album Rainbow Bridge (1971). The song is a slower and more melodic piece, which features the prominent use of chorus- and tremolo-effects on guitar. Hendrix uses an idealized feminine figure that recurs in several of his lyrics. Commentators have seen the song as representative of his post-Band of Gypsys musical direction.
"Hey Baby" was in development for over two years and Hendrix had recorded several demo and jam versions, before debuting it in concert on April 25, 1970. On July 1, he recorded a version live at the new Electric Lady Studios in New York City. It was one of the tracks Hendrix proposed for his planned, but never completed, fourth studio album.
In 1971, longtime Hendrix recording engineer Eddie Kramer, and drummer Mitch Mitchell selected the Electric Lady version as the closing track for Rainbow Bridge. The song received mainly positive comments from critics, who saw it as expressing hope, along with new guitar textures. In 1997, "Hey Baby" was included on First Rays of the New Rising Sun, the most comprehensive attempt at presenting Hendrix's unfinished album. During the 1970 The Cry of Love Tour, Hendrix performed the song regularly. Several live recordings have been officially released along with videos of Hendrix performing it in concert.
Composition and lyrics
As early as October 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California, Hendrix began recording demos for a song titled "The New Rising Sun".[1] Although it is substantially a different song, Hendrix biographer John McDermott believed that "Hey Baby" was developed from ideas found in "The New Rising Sun".[2] In the months following the TTG sessions, Hendrix attempted more recordings of the song at the Record Plant in New York City. Preliminarily titled "Hey Gypsy Boy" and "Hey Country Boy", they were closer to "Hey Baby" musically and lyrically.[3] Hendrix used a minor-key chord progression reminiscent of "All Along the Watchtower", but they lacked the distinctive guitar intro section to "Hey Baby".[4]
In February 1970, Hendrix jammed on an informal "Hey Baby" at the Record Plant, with drummer Buddy Miles and percussionist Juma Sultan.[5][6] Hendrix sang the song live and included some Spanish flamenco-style flourishes on electric guitar.[5] After parting ways with Miles, Hendrix began preparing songs with original Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell and Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox, for the upcoming The Cry of Love Tour. McDermott described Cox's and Mitchell's approaches as "delicate interplay... more subtle and intricate", which was needed for R&B-influenced songs, such as "Hey Baby".[7]
The trio debuted the song at the Forum in Los Angeles on April 25, 1970.[8] Unlike the later studio version, Hendrix begins the song with solo guitar reminiscent of "the acoustic-guitar introductions found in Spanish flamenco music as, unaccompanied, Hendrix explores arabesques and altered scales", according to music writer Keith Shadwick.[9] The solo guitar became a regular feature of Hendrix's live performances of "Hey Baby" and its length varied to suit his mood and the audience reaction.[10] Hendrix chronicler Harry Shapiro described Hendrix's guitar sound as having a "pitch and sway like waves gently rolling against a deserted sandy beach in early morning".[11] During late-1969 and 1970, Hendrix was making extensive use of a Uni-Vibe guitar effects unit, which is able to emulate the wavering chorus- and tremolo-effects of a Leslie speaker.[12] This effect had previously been used on the demos for "The New Rising Sun".[13] Writers Dave Whitehill and Dave Rubin commented: "the thick chorusing does give it a lot more cohesiveness and depth [which a dry or straight sound would lack] it's very effective in the introduction, where the guitar has to carry the full musical weight itself."[14]
"Hey Baby" is composed of an intro section and a main section with a bridge.[14] The intro is one of the longest in a Hendrix song, lasting 51 measures.[15][lower-alpha 1] In the intro, Hendrix takes a chromatic approach with guitar runs and chords at a moderately slow tempo of 66 beats per minute (bpm).[14] After several key and time signature changes, he lands on A minor, which begins the chord progression at a somewhat faster tempo of 81 bpm for the remainder of the song: A minor–G–F–D.[14][15]
Lyrically, "Hey Baby" echoes a recurring Hendrix theme of an idealized feminine figure,[11] as heard in "May This Be Love", "Little Wing", and "Angel".[18] Journalist Charles Shaar Murray felt that the figure goes beyond "Hendrix's own personal saviour, but [as] a redeemer for all of humanity".[19] Shapiro also described the hope of "a promised land, a new beginning":[11]
Hey baby, where do ya, ch, comin' from? Oh, she looked at me and smiled and looked at this face. And said 'I'm coming from the land of the new rising sun.' Then I said, 'Hey baby, where are ya tryin' to go to?' Then she said 'I'm going to spread, spread around peace of mind, And a whole lot of love to you 'n' you.'[20]
Poet David Henderson called the R&B-style bridge section or refrain, which begins with "Girl, I'd like to come along", "the essence of the lyrics of this deceptively straightforward song".[21]
Recording and studio releases
The released studio version of "Hey Baby" was recorded at Hendrix's newly constructed Electric Lady Studios in New York City's Greenwich Village on July 1, 1970.[22] Supporting Hendrix on guitar and vocal were his regular Cry of Love touring partners; Cox on bass guitar and Mitchell on drums.[22] Sultan and an unnamed second percussionist participated in the recording.[22] The vocal was recorded live and Hendrix never completed a final finished vocal track;[22] Hendrix rejected an earlier take of the song, in which he abandoned his vocal because it was flat.[23] During the July 1 session, "Hey Baby" was preceded by "Bolero", an instrumental on which Hendrix had been working.[23] "Bolero" also incorporates some Spanish flamenco-style flourishes and McDermott believed that Hendrix intended the instrumental and "Hey Baby" to flow together as a medley.[24]
In mid-1970, Hendrix included the song with the title "The New Rising Sun [Hey Baby]" on a list of potential tracks for his planned fourth studio album.[lower-alpha 2] When Mitchell and recording engineer Eddie Kramer were reviewing songs for The Cry of Love, Hendrix's first posthumous album release of studio recordings in 1971, "Hey Baby" was considered, though ultimately was unused.[27] Instead, it became the closing track on Rainbow Bridge, the second posthumous album produced by Kramer and Mitchell in 1971.[28] McDermott noted: "Because a finished vocal was never recorded, Jimi's original live take, including his question to Kramer 'Is the microphone on?', was left forward in the mix to convey the song's status as a work in progress."[22]Reprise Records issued the album in October 1971 in the US and the following month in the UK; it performed moderately well in the album charts, reaching numbers 15 on the US Billboard 200 and 16 on the UK Official Albums Chart.[29]
For several years, the studio version of "Hey Baby" was unavailable because Rainbow Bridge had gone out-of-print and the album was never released on CD.[30] However, when Experience Hendrix, the family-run successor to Hendrix's recorded legacy gained control, "Hey Baby" was included on the 1997 compilation album, First Rays of the New Rising Sun.[22] The album was the most complete attempt at realizing Hendrix's fourth album and the first to use one of his proposed titles.[31] In 2001, the song was included on the compilation album Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection. An alternate mix, with "Bolero", was included on the posthumous box set West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology in 2010.[24] In 2014, the original Rainbow Bridge album was reissued in both CD and LP formats, with "Hey Baby" as the eighth track on the CD.[30]
Critical reception
"Hey Baby" has been viewed favorably by most music journalists. In a contemporary review of Rainbow Bridge for Rolling Stone magazine, Tony Glover described "Hey Baby" as "simple but evocative... It’s a benediction and a hoping at once".[32] He added that it is "filled with a pure lonesome yearning and introspection that often got squeezed out in favor of things with more flash".[32] Henderson called it "the song that signified his [Hendrix's] new musical head direction"[33] and Shapiro felt that it "might be called his theme song for the seventies".[11]
David Moskowitz commented on Hendrix's guitar playing: "Throughout the song, Jimi's guitar work was an exhibition of his skills at full strength. He made use of the Uni-Vibe guitar effect to enhance his sound and put some teeth into his guitar work."[34] On the other hand, Murray felt that the effect was overused and faulted the recording: "It's a shame that 'Hey Baby (The Land of the New Rising Sun)' was never recorded properly, because the song was clearly of considerable importance to Hendrix. The Rainbow Bridge version is diffident and tentative, little more than a sketch."[35] However, he described the song "as winsomely wistful as anything Hendrix ever wrote".[19]
Other recordings
A demo titled "The New Rising Sun", recorded at the TTG Studios in Hollywood on October 28, 1968, was released on West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (2010).[lower-alpha 3] It is a solo instrumental, with multiple guitar overdubs and Hendrix on the drums.[24] In an album review for AllMusic, Sean Westergaard commented: "'New Rising Sun' might be the jewel of the set. Briefly released in heavily edited form on the ill-conceived and atrocious Voodoo Soup compilation, it's a really cool studio collaboration between Jimi and Eddie Kramer that's like a cross between 'And the Gods Made Love' from Electric Ladyland and 'Little Wing' [from Axis: Bold as Love]."[37]
Another demo with the title "Hey Gypsy Boy", recorded at the Record Plant in New York City on March 18, 1969, was issued on People, Hell and Angels (2013).[lower-alpha 3] Hendrix provides a vocal and was backed by drummer Buddy Miles and an unnamed bassist.[38] In a separate album review, Westergaard noted "'Hey Gypsy Boy' is very closely related to 'Hey Baby', and may have been an early version. On this cut, Jimi's whammy bar work is quite interesting and not his standard dive-bomb approach."[39]
During The Cry of Love Tour in 1970, "Hey Baby" was added to Hendrix's repertoire. It was one of only two post-Band of Gypsys songs alongside "Freedom" that the trio performed regularly.[40] Hendrix sometimes introduced the song as "The New Rising Sun", including at Berkeley.[41]
April 25, 1970 – The Forum, Los Angeles:[42] Not officially released, but an amateur recording of the entire concert is available at the official Hendrix website.[43] Hendrix adds an octave doubling technique popularized by jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery during his second solo, which segues into "Villanova Junction".[9][lower-alpha 4]
July 30, 1970 – Filming for Rainbow Bridge (first set), Maui, Hawaii:[47]The Jimi Hendrix Experience (box set, 2000); in the film Rainbow Bridge, Hendrix performs a medley of "Hey Baby" and "In from the Storm" from the first set and the intro only from the second set before a fade;[48] neither appears on the Rainbow Bridge album.[29]
↑ At a length of 6:04, "Hey Baby" is the longest of Hendrix's proposed tracks for his fourth studio album, which is included on First Rays of the New Rising Sun;[16] the main section starts about one minute into the song with the vocal beginning at about two and a half minutes.[17]
↑ McDermott placed Hendrix's proposed track list entry under "August 14, 1970",[25] while Shadwick was less certain, putting it in mid-June 1970.[26]
Johnson, Chad (2006). Jimi Hendrix: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of His Guitar Styles and Techniques. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard. ISBN978-0634077722.
"Purple Haze" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967, in the United Kingdom. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Eastern modalities, shaped by novel sound processing techniques. Because of ambiguities in the lyrics, listeners often interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience, although Hendrix described it as a love song. It was included as the opening track in the North American edition of the Experience's debut album, Are You Experienced (1967).
"Little Wing" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1967. It is a slower tempo, rhythm and blues-inspired ballad featuring Hendrix's vocal and guitar with recording studio effects accompanied by bass, drums, and glockenspiel. Lyrically, it is one of several of his songs that reference an idealized feminine or guardian angel-like figure. At about two and a half minutes in length, it is one of his most concise and melodically focused pieces.
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.
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.
"Red House" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and one of the first songs recorded in 1966 by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It has the musical form of a conventional twelve-bar blues and features Hendrix's guitar playing. He developed the song prior to forming the Experience and was inspired by earlier blues songs.
Rainbow Bridge is a 1971 film directed by Chuck Wein centering on the late 1960s counterculture on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Filmed in summer 1970 with non-professional actors and without a script, it features largely improvised scenes with a variety of characters. To bolster the film, executive producer Michael Jeffery brought in his client Jimi Hendrix to film an outdoor concert. Hendrix's heavily edited performance appears near the end of the film.
Live at Berkeley is a live album by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix. It documents his second performance at the Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970, and was released by MCA Records on September 16, 2003.
War Heroes is a compilation album by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Released in the UK in October 1972, and in December 1972 in the US, it was the third album of mostly unreleased studio recordings to be issued after Hendrix's death. The album was engineered, mixed and compiled by Eddie Kramer and John Jansen, although biographer and later Hendrix producer John McDermott also identifies Hendrix as a producer.
Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970) was an American guitarist whose career spanned from 1962 to 1970. His discography includes the recordings released during his lifetime. Prior to his rise to fame, he recorded 24 singles as a backing guitarist with American R&B artists, such as the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. Beginning in late 1966, he recorded three best-selling studio albums and 13 singles with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. An Experience compilation album and half of a live album recorded at the Monterey Pop Festival were also issued prior to his death. After the breakup of the Experience in mid-1969, songs from his live performances were included on the Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More and Band of Gypsys albums. A studio single with the Band of Gypsys was also released.
"Stone Free" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and the second song recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It has been described as a "counterculture anthem, with its lyrics praising the footloose and fancy-free life", which reflected Hendrix's restless lifestyle. Instrumentally, the song has a strong rhythmic drive provided by drummer Mitch Mitchell with harmonic support by bassist Noel Redding. "Stone Free" was issued on December 16, 1966, as the B-side of the Experience's first UK single "Hey Joe" and later included on the Smash Hits compilation album.
"Third Stone from the Sun" is a mostly instrumental composition by American musician Jimi Hendrix. It incorporates several musical approaches, including jazz and psychedelic rock, with brief spoken passages. The title reflects Hendrix's interest in science fiction and is a reference to Earth in its position as the third planet away from the sun in the solar system.
"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.
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.
The Cry of Love Tour was a 1970 concert tour by American rock guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix. It began on April 25, 1970, at the Forum in Inglewood, California, and ended on September 6, 1970, at the Love & Peace Festival in Fehmarn, West Germany. The majority of the 37 shows were in the United States, with two each in Sweden, Denmark, and West Germany, and one in England, where Hendrix was the final act at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970.
Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970) was an American guitarist whose career spanned the years between 1962 and 1970. His posthumous discography includes recordings released after September 18, 1970. Hendrix left behind many recordings in varying stages of completion. This material, along with reissues of his career catalogue, has been released over the years in several formats by various producers and record companies. Since Experience Hendrix, a company owned and operated by members of the Hendrix family, took control of his recording legacy in 1995, over 15 Hendrix albums have appeared on the main US albums chart. Several of these have also placed on charts in more than 18 countries around the world.
"Ezy Ryder" is a song written and recorded by American musician Jimi Hendrix. It is one of the few studio recordings to include both Buddy Miles on drums and Billy Cox on bass, with whom Hendrix recorded the live Band of Gypsys album (1970).
"Hear My Train A Comin'" is a blues-based song written by Jimi Hendrix. Lyrically, it was inspired by earlier American spirituals and blues songs which use a train metaphor to represent salvation. Hendrix recorded the song in live, studio, and impromptu settings several times between 1967 and 1970, but never completed it to his satisfaction.
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.
Live in Maui is an album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience documenting their performance outdoors on Maui, Hawaii, on July 30, 1970. It marks the first official release of Hendrix's two full sets recorded during the filming of Rainbow Bridge (1971). The two-CD and three-LP set was released on November 20, 2020, along with a video documentary titled Music, Money, Madness... Jimi Hendrix in Maui.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
