Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969 | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | November 18, 2022 | |||
Recorded | April 26, 1969 | |||
Venue | The Forum, Inglewood, California | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 79:10 | |||
Label | Experience Hendrix/Legacy | |||
Producer | Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer, John McDermott | |||
Jimi Hendrix chronology | ||||
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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. [1] The album is the first full live release by the trio with Hendrix, Noel Redding, and Mitch Mitchell since 2013's Miami Pop Festival .
Experience Hendrix and Sony Music's Legacy Recordings released it as a double record album and CD on November 18, 2022. It is the first time that the entire concert is available on an official album. [2] Longtime Hendrix audio engineer Eddie Kramer mixed the recordings, which were "sourced directly from the original eight-track master tapes", according to Experience Hendrix. [2]
Since forming in October 1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience released three highly successful albums and toured extensively throughout Europe and North America. [2] By 1969, the group had become one of the few rock attractions "with enough drawing power to sell out huge venues like the Forum and New York's Madison Square Garden". [3] In April 1969, they began yet another American tour. [4] Experience manager Michael Jeffery arranged for Wally Heider (who had recorded the Experience at Monterey Pop in 1967) to record some shows. [5] After promising performances at the Forum [a] on April 26 and San Diego Sports Arena on May 24, Eddie Kramer arrived at Heider's Hollywood studios to prepare mixes from the multitrack recordings. [5]
Jeffery was hoping to use a live album to satisfy a contract dispute with a former Hendrix manager. [5] Kramer and Hendrix spent three days at Heider's studio, "assembled a superb album of live performances", and delivered the tapes to Jeffery. [7] However, nothing was forthcoming and by June 15, 1969, plans for a live album were dropped. [7] In later years, the Forum concert recordings were released piecemeal: [b] "Foxey Lady" was added as a bonus track on the 1989 CD-reissue of The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (1982) and the following year, the rest of the tracks were included on disc four of Lifelines: The Jimi Hendrix Story box set. [10] Other releases include "Red House" on Variations on a Theme: Red House (1992); [11] "I Don't Live Today" on The Jimi Hendrix Experience (2000) box set [12] and the Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection (2001) compilation; [13] and The "Star Spangled Banner" and "Purple Haze" on West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (2010). [14]
In 1969, rock concerts at large indoor venues, such as the Forum, were relatively new. [2] It was also a time of social unrest and popular concert events attracted their share of difficulties. Hendrix biographer Keith Shadwick commented, "As so often there was a troubled atmosphere in the arena reflecting the turmoil that continued to dominate America's social and political life; here it was exacerbated by the security personnel's reaction to provocation from unruly elements in the crowd." [12] In an effort to prevent the capacity crowd from rushing the stage, "the cops had lined up on the stage in front of him [Hendrix], in some mysterious police method of crowd control". [15]
Tensions heightened and those in charge threatened to cut the power; [16] Hendrix announced "Look, they're going to cut the show short if this keeps up. So just sit down and be cool so these other 'people' [coughs] will get off the stage." [17] During his performance of "Purple Haze", he changed "'scuse me while I kiss the sky" to "'scuse me while I kiss that policeman". [2] Some see his attempts as sarcasm, [18] however, Shadwick feels that with humor and common sense, Hendrix "repeatedly defuses a situation where more heavy-handed methods would only make things worse". [12]
Also, by 1969, difficulties between Experience bassist Noel Redding and Hendrix were coming to a head. [19] Hendrix had played bass on several songs that appeared on Axis: Bold As Love (1967 [20] and Electric Ladyland (1968), and invited other musicians to record on the latter. [21] In his autobiography, Redding expressed his increasing frustration with Hendrix's habit of showing up late for recording sessions, sometimes accompanied by a group of hangers-on, and generally not being supportive of his role in the group. [22] Redding responded in part by forming his own band, Fat Mattress, where he returned to playing guitar, instead of bass. [23] During the Forum concert, Redding's approach to dealing with the security issue also showed the growing division, with his angry comments at odds with Hendrix's more conciliatory approach. [12] After riots during performances in San Diego (May 24) and Denver (June 29), Redding quit the Experience and returned to England. [24]
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
All About Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
American Songwriter | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Telegraph | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic reviewer Mark Deming gave the album a rating of four out of five stars. [26] He writes:
If this isn't the most tightly focused Jimi Hendrix Experience performance of all, it shows the group was still capable of delivering exciting, remarkable music even under difficult circumstances ... both [Hendrix and Mitchell] were in an inspired fashion this evening, while Redding's bass gives the music a simple but steady foundation ... the depth, detail, and sense of space in the audio serves this performance well. [26]
All tracks are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted.
No. | Title | Notes | Length |
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1. | "Introduction" | Spoken (no music) | 2:27 |
2. | "Tax Free" (Bo Hannson, Janne Karlsson) | Instrumental with drum solo | 15:34 |
3. | "Foxey Lady" | 4:56 | |
4. | "Red House" | 11:25 | |
5. | "Spanish Castle Magic" | Includes improvised solo guitar | 11:58 |
6. | "Star Spangled Banner" (Francis Scott Key arr. Hendrix) | Solo guitar instrumental | 2:31 |
7. | "Purple Haze" | 6:44 | |
8. | "I Don't Live Today" | 7:04 | |
9. | "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (first part) | Tracks 9–11 are a medley | 9:16 |
10. | "Sunshine of Your Love" (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown, Eric Clapton) | Instrumental | 4:16 |
11. | "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (second part) | 3:20 | |
Total length: | 79:10 |
Chart (2022) | Peak position |
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Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [30] | 41 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [31] | 114 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [32] | 68 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [33] | 65 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [34] | 40 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [35] | 23 |
Japanese Hot Albums ( Billboard Japan ) [36] | 40 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [37] | 27 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [38] | 70 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [39] | 19 |
UK Album Downloads (OCC) [40] | 65 |
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [41] | 3 |
US Billboard 200 [42] | 164 |
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