Rainbow Bridge is a compilation album[1] 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.
Continuing in the vein of The Cry of Love,the first official posthumous Hendrix album,Rainbow Bridge explores new guitar styles and textures. All the songs,except for a solo studio version of "The Star-Spangled Banner",are written by Hendrix and mostly performed with Mitch Mitchell on drums and Billy Cox on bass.
Rainbow Bridge contains five songs that Hendrix included on proposed track listings for his fourth studio album:"Dolly Dagger","Earth Blues","Room Full of Mirrors","Hear My Train A Comin'" (also known as "Getting My Heart Back Together Again"),and "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)".[2] "Room Full of Mirrors" was added to Voodoo Soup in 1995 and all except the live "Hear My Train A Comin'" were included on First Rays of the New Rising Sun in 1997,which were attempts at presenting the double album Hendrix was working on at the time of his death.
Background
Despite the title,Rainbow Bridge was not a soundtrack to the film of the same name but rather a compilation of one live song and studio recordings from a number of sources between 1968 and 1970,including some for his planned but unfinished double album First Rays of the New Rising Sun.[3] "Look Over Yonder" began as "Mr. Bad Luck" while Hendrix was performing in Greenwich Village,New York City,with his group Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in the summer of 1966.[4] The version included on Rainbow Bridge was recorded by the Experience in 1968.[4] "Room Full of Mirrors" had been performed live by the Experience,with one recording appearing on Experience (1971). "Hear My Train A Comin'" is another song that dates back to the Experience. They had attempted several studio recordings,but these were passed over (along with a version with Cox and Buddy Miles) and a live recording from the first show on May 30,1970,at the Berkeley Community Theatre was used instead.[4] An edited version appears in the 1971 concert film Jimi Plays Berkeley.
A new studio recording of "Room Full of Mirrors" and "Earth Blues" are two of the few largely completed studio recordings with Cox and Miles,although Mitchell later overdubbed the drum parts on the latter.[4] Two additional songs,"Izabella" and "Stepping Stone" had been released as a single (listed as "Hendrix Band of Gypsys"),[5] but Hendrix wished to rework them for his proposed fourth album. However,just as "Dolly Dagger" and "Room Full of Mirrors" were withheld from The Cry of Love,these were pulled from the Rainbow Bridge track listing in the final stages. Instead they were used to improve the next posthumous release War Heroes. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is a 1969 solo studio recording by Hendrix.[6] The remainder of the songs were recorded with Mitchell and Cox between June and August 1970:"Dolly Dagger","Pali Gap",and "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)".
The album was the second to be produced by Eddie Kramer and Mitch Mitchell,with John Jansen assisting. It was released in October 1971 in the US,and the following month in the UK where it reached numbers 15 and 16 respectively in the album charts.[7] The album also peaked at No. 9 on the U.S. Best Selling Soul LP's chart.[8] "Dolly Dagger" with "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the B-side was released as a single in the US in October 1971.[9] It appeared at number 74 in the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.[9] In 2014,the original Rainbow Bridge album was reissued in both CD and LP formats.[10]
According to AllMusic's Sean Westergaard,"when Rainbow Bridge was originally released,it was actually among the best of the posthumous Hendrix releases... a mix of excellent,finished studio tracks and a couple of live tracks."[11] In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine,Tony Glover wrote favorably of the songs on side one,particularly the "really majestic version" of "The Star-Spangled Banner".[18] In Christgau's Record Guide:Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981),Robert Christgau said while The Cry of Love (1971) highlighted Hendrix's abilities as a songwriter,Rainbow Bridge showcased his guitar playing:
Rich stuff, exploring territory that as always with Hendrix consists not merely of notes but of undifferentiated sound, a sound he shapes with a virtuosity no one else has ever achieved on an electric instrument.[12]
Track listing
All songs written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted.
Eddie Kramer–posthumous production, engineering on all tracks (except "Earth Blues", "Look Over Yonder", "Hear My Train A Comin'"), mixing on all tracks
John Jansen–posthumous production, mixing on "Earth Blues", "Pali Gap", "Look Over Yonder", "Hey Baby (The New Rising Sun)"
↑ Unterberger, Richie (2009). "The Legacy: 1970–Present". The Rough Guide to Jimi Hendrix. Penguin Books. ISBN978-1405381093. ...the Rainbow Bridge album, which despite its title was not a soundtrack to the film of the same name. Instead, it was a rather hodgepodge compilation of 1968–1970 studio material (and one live track) from various sources, including but hardly limited to tracks in the running for First Rays of the New Rising Sun, among them the aforementioned "Dolly Dagger" and "Room Full of Mirrors".
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.
William "Billy" Cox is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodstock, followed by the trio with drummer Buddy Miles that recorded the live Band of Gypsys album, and, lastly, The Cry of Love Tour trio with Mitch Mitchell back on drums. Cox continues to perform dates with the Band of Gypsys Experience and the Experience Hendrix Tour.
The Cry of Love is a posthumous album 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.
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.
"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.
The Essential Jimi Hendrix is a compilation album of songs by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix, released in 1978 by Reprise Records. Some editions in the UK, Japan and Italy also contained a 7-inch 331⁄3 rpm one-sided EP single of the Jimi Hendrix Experience performing the song "Gloria".
"Stepping Stone" is a song by American musician Jimi Hendrix. Written and produced by Hendrix, he recorded it early in 1970 with the short-lived Band of Gypsys lineup of Hendrix, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. The song, with "Izabella", was released as a single by Reprise Records on April 8, 1970. It was the last single released by Hendrix before his death. Other versions are included on posthumous albums.
"Dolly Dagger" is a song written and recorded by Jimi Hendrix. On October 9, 1971, it was released on the posthumous album Rainbow Bridge, followed by a single on October 23. Backed with a multi-tracked studio solo rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner", the single peaked at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the last Hendrix single to appear on the main Billboard chart.
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.
American guitarist Jimi Hendrix intended to release his fourth studio album as a double or triple LP before Christmas 1970. From June to August 1970, he made good progress on the realization of the planned album in his new Electric Lady Studios. Many songs were mixed on 20, 22 and 24 August. Four of these mixes were regarded as definitive versions and were presented at the opening party of Electric Lady on 26 August. Hendrix died on 18 September that year, leaving behind an enormous number of unreleased recordings in various stages of completion. It is impossible to know what Hendrix would have changed and what he actually would have released, but there is some documentation of the album configurations he had in mind. While a good amount of the designated tracks only needed some finishing touches, others only existed as rough recordings, and for some titles no recordings are known to exist. The Cry of Love (1971), Voodoo Soup (1995) and First Rays of the New Rising Sun (1997) are officially released attempts to reconstruct the planned album. First Rays of the New Rising Sun is usually regarded as closest to Hendrix's vision, but features a track that was probably never part of Hendrix's plans and omits some tracks that were definitely considered. All but one of the tracks that are known to have been recorded for the album have eventually been released in some form on official albums.
"Night Bird Flying" is a rock song written by Jimi Hendrix. It is a complex piece with multiple guitar parts and reflects a variety of styles. Lyrically, Hendrix continues to explore an idealized feminine figure, as in his 1967 song "Little Wing".
"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.
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.
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