Smash Hits | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | April 12, 1968 | |||
Recorded | October 1966 – July 1967 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 44:31 | |||
Label | Polydor/Track (UK) Reprise (US) | |||
Producer | Chas Chandler | |||
Jimi Hendrix UK chronology | ||||
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Jimi Hendrix US chronology | ||||
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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 (both A and B sides) released up to that time, plus four additional songs from the UK edition of Are You Experienced .
Reprise Records did not issue the album in the US until July 30, 1969, with some different tracks. It included two songs from Electric Ladyland and three tracks from the UK edition of Are You Experienced, which were previously unreleased in the US (including a stereo version of "Red House" from a different take than the original mono album version).
Smash Hits has been reissued several times on CD; however, it has been largely superseded by more recent and comprehensive compilations, such as Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix (1997).
Neither the UK or US edition of Smash Hits contain any songs from Axis: Bold as Love .
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | [2] |
In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four and a half out of five stars. He notes "the main strength of Smash Hits is that it contains the best-known big-name songs in one place. Maybe not enough to make the collection essential, but still enough to make it a representative, accurate sampler". [1]
Robert Christgau included the album in his "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). [3]
The running times are taken from the 1980 Polydor (Europe) and 1979 Reprise (US) reissues; the original Track Records and Reprise Records Smash Hits LPs did not include track lengths. Other releases may show different information. All tracks written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted.
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Purple Haze" | single | 2:44 |
2. | "Fire" | Are You Experienced | 2:35 |
3. | "The Wind Cries Mary" | single | 3:21 |
4. | "Can You See Me" | Are You Experienced | 2:33 |
5. | "51st Anniversary" | single (UK B-side) | 3:18 |
6. | "Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts) | single | 3:26 |
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Stone Free" | single (UK B-side) | 3:39 |
2. | "The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice" | single (UK B-side) | 4:22 |
3. | "Manic Depression" | Are You Experienced | 3:36 |
4. | "Highway Chile" | single (UK B-side) | 3:32 |
5. | "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" | single (UK) | 3:38 |
6. | "Foxy Lady" | Are You Experienced | 3:18 |
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Purple Haze" | single | 2:46 |
2. | "Fire" | Are You Experienced | 2:34 |
3. | "The Wind Cries Mary" | single | 3:21 |
4. | "Can You See Me" | Are You Experienced (UK) | 2:31 |
5. | "Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts) | single | 3:23 |
6. | "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan) | single | 4:01 |
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Stone Free" | single (UK B-side) | 3:33 |
2. | "Crosstown Traffic" | Electric Ladyland | 2:15 |
3. | "Manic Depression" | Are You Experienced | 3:30 |
4. | "Remember" | Are You Experienced (UK) | 2:47 |
5. | "Red House" | alternate recording | 3:48 |
6. | "Foxey[ sic ] Lady" | Are You Experienced | 3:15 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
13. | "51st Anniversary" | 3:16 |
14. | "Highway Chile" | 3:32 |
Chart (1968–1969) | Peak position |
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Canada RPM LP Chart [5] | 3 |
Germany Charts [6] | 19 |
Norway Charts [7] | 11 |
UK Official Charts [8] | 4 |
US Billboard 200 [8] | 6 |
US Best Selling Soul LP's [9] | 22 |
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it as 2× Multi Platinum [10] and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) ceritifed it as Gold. [11]
Electric Ladyland is the third and final studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in October 1968. A double album, it was the only record from the Experience with production solely credited to Hendrix. The band's most commercially successful release and its only number one album, it was released by Reprise Records in the United States on October 16, 1968, and by Track Records in the UK nine days later. By mid-November, it had reached number 1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, spending two weeks there. In the UK it peaked at number 6, where it spent 12 weeks on the British charts.
"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).
Are You Experienced is the debut studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in May 1967. The album was an immediate critical and commercial success, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. It features Jimi Hendrix's innovative approach to songwriting and electric guitar playing, which soon established a new direction in psychedelic and rock music as a whole.
Axis: Bold as Love is the second studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was first released by Track Records in the United Kingdom on December 1, 1967, only seven months after the release of the group's highly successful debut album, Are You Experienced. In the United States, Reprise Records delayed the release until the following month. The album reached the top ten in the album charts in both countries.
"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.
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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.
The Ultimate Experience is a 1992 compilation album of songs by American musician Jimi Hendrix. It includes 20 tracks spanning his career. The album was among the last to be supervised by interim producer Alan Douglas, before the Hendrix family regained control of his recording legacy. It has gone out-of-print and, in 1997, was replaced by the 20 track compilation Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix.
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Hendrix in the West is a live album by Jimi Hendrix, released posthumously in January 1972 by Polydor Records (UK), and in February by Reprise Records (US). The album tracks are split between those recorded in 1969 by the Jimi Hendrix Experience with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell and in 1970 with Billy Cox and Mitchell during The Cry of Love Tour.
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.
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.
Historic Performances Recorded at the Monterey International Pop Festival is a live album recorded at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. A split artist release, it includes some of the performances by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on side one and Otis Redding on side two. It has been supplanted by later more comprehensive releases, Live at Monterey and Captured Live at the Monterey International Pop Festival .
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