"On Track... THE HOLLIES: Every Album, Every Song" - February 2022 Paperback Book by ANDREW DARLINGTON - A Review by Mark Barry...

 "...All I Need Is The Air That I Breathe..." 

 

On Track...THE HOLLIES: Every Album, Every Song 

February 2022 Paperback 

by 

ANDREW DARLINGTON

 

I've enjoyed the Led Zeppelin, Electric Light Orchestra and Status Quo books in this on-going "On Track..." series from Sonicbond Publishing of the UK precisely because they've been written by people who love and know their chosen poison and can relay that with good writing. These books also dig in where it matters – the actual songs, the albums, the music – even if that critique is not all milk and cookies.

 

Andrew Darlington is the same when it comes to England's best-kept harmony-laden songwriting-excellence secret – THE HOLLIES. Always seen primarily as a 45-singles hit machine, their albums have been consistent, but never up there in any must-own list. And yet this is a group that called Graham Nash, Allan Clarke and Tony Hicks founders and song-contributors par excellence – so Darlington is determined to change that point of view by going song-by-song through the LPs. And it really works.

 

Across the 160 A5-pages of this 14 February 2022 UK-issued paperback (published 25 February 2022 in the USA) - "On Track... THE HOLLIES: Every Album, Every Song" by ANDREW DARLINGTON also supplies 16-pages of colour photos. A black and white snap of the original toothsome-five opens proceedings abutted by a colour shot of the 21st Century survivors – grinning and proud of their achievements.

 

The artwork for the Parlophone LPs is given pride of place – the Stay With The Hollies debut, In The Hollies Style (second), Would You Believe, For Certain Because, Butterfly, Hollies Sing Hollies – the Seventies with Confessions Of The Mind, Distant Light, Mikael Rikfors joining for the Romany album of 1972 and 1973's Out On The Road (on Hansa), Allan Clarke returning for 1974's game-changing 'Hollies', Another Night, Write On, Russian Roulette, A Crazy Steal and so for the Polydor years. There are lovely colour shots of rare foreign artwork that differs from the UK variants, like the American "Bus Stop" album highlighting the hit single. The various line-ups too are pictured in period live shots from each of their decades (including reunions) and so on

 

A nice touch is that at the end of each album assessment, Darlington rounds up stragglers – so at the tail-end of the 1974 "Hollies" LP which produced the monster hit "The Air That I Breathe" he goes into related releases – the different US configuration of tracks, the "Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGhee" single, the excellent Terry Sylvester B-side to "The Air That I Breathe" – "No More Riders". We also get touches on Graham Nash's famous stay with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in 1969 and 1970 for the self-titled LP and 1970's "Deja vu" - the 1971 debut solo LP "Songs For Beginners" on Atlantic and more. It's all very comprehensive and will sooth detail-hungry fans.

 

Across the years I have reviewed in detail all three of the huge Hollies CD Anthologies put out by EMI in those rather (if we're honest) nondescript fat jewel cases with functional inlays - beginning with "The Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years: The Complete Hollies April 1963 to October 1968" in May 2011 - on to "Changin' Times: The Complete Hollies January 1969 - March 1973" in July 2015 and finally rounding off their career to the Eighties - "Head Out Of Dreams: The Complete Hollies August 1973 to May 1988" in March 2017 (see reviews for all three).

 

You could say with confidence that "On Track... THE HOLLIES: Every Album, Every Song" is the paperback sweetie that should always have accompanied each of them. A real fan-pleaser and a great read taboot...well done...

"Soul Superman/With A Dab Of Soul" by THE HESITATIONS and FREDDY BUTLER - June and April 1967 US Debut Albums on Kapp Records in Stereo (September 2021 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation - 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...You'd Better Get Hip..."

 

A fourth CD compilation (this one for 2021) given over to Detroit Soul of the 60ts, in particular to the Pied Piper Productions team (see full list below). I must admit that in March 2022, I'm six months late as a reviewer and Soul-fan to this fabulous 60ts Northern Soul-ish party, but I've got to review this superlative reissue from England's finest because it's such a joyous dancing winner.

 

Ace Records of the UK and their stunning Kent Soul label subsidiary give you two sought after 1967 US Debut Albums (both in Stereo) originally on Kapp Records – first by Freddy Butler in April and then the Hesitations better known band effort that took over with the hit single in June of 1967. Let’s get at the Soul Supermen...

 

UK released Friday 24 September 2021 - "Soul Superman/With A Dab Of Soul" by THE HESITATIONS and FREDDY BUTLER on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 505 (Barcode 029667103428) Remastered 2 US Stereo Debut LPs onto 1CD and plays out as follows (59:55 minutes):

 

1. She Won't Come Back [Side 1]

2. You'll Never Know

3. You Can't Bypass Love 

4. I Believe To My Soul 

5. That's What Love Is 

6. Soul Superman 

7. Soul Kind Of Love [Side 2]

8. I'm Not Built That Way 

9. I'll Be Right Here 

10. Wait A Minute 

11. Soul Superman No. 2

12. Clap Your Hands 

Tracks 1 to 12 are the debut album "Soul Superman" by THE HESITATIONS released June 1967 in the USA on Kapp Records KS 3525. A Pied-Piper-GWP Production.  

 

13. There Was A Time [Side 1]

14. That's When I Need You

15. I Like Your Style 

16. I Fell In Love (I Can't Help It) 

17. Never Let Love Go 

18. They Say I'm Afarid (Of Losing You)

19. This Thing! [Side 2]

20. Just Because You've Been Hurt 

21. You'd Better Get Hip Girl  

22. Give Me Lots Of Lovin' 

23. She's Foolin' You 

24. Deserted

Tracks 13 to 24 are the debut album "With A Dab Of Soul" by FREDDY BUTLER released April 1967 in the USA on Kapp Records KS 3519 in Stereo. 

 

The 20-page booklet with ADY CROASDELL liner notes is the usual classy affair we've come to expect from Kent - all those Kapp Records US 7"-single labels, rare Euro picture Sleeves, the UK "Rhythm N' Blues" EP , promotional photos of both Freddy and the boys larking it up in their Man of Steel outfits for the "Soul Superman" LP. Croasdell quite rightly waxes lyrical about the Curtis Mayfield-smooth Soul of Butler tracks like "That's When I Need You" - Northern Soul nirvana for those in the know. The NICK ROBBINS Stereo Remasters are beautifully full and warm and make you want to throw Talcum Powder on the lino and do damage to your aging hips. Great.

  

FREDDY BUTLER

In January 1967 (over in Blighty), singers Sue and Sunny had put out "You Can’t Bypass Love" on Columbia DB 8099 as a 45-single. On the flipside of that sought-after dancer was a tune called "I Like Your Style" penned by famed songwriters Phil Coulter and Bill Martin. Freddy chose this mid-tempo shuffle for Track 3 on Side 1 of his debut LP and it’s a corker. "I Fell In Love (I Can't Help It)" has a Clarence Carter sexiness to it as the rhythm passes it on home to you. 

 

April 1967 then saw Kapp Records USA put out the Side 1 lead off track "There Was A Time" b/w Side 2's Harmonica-driven "This Thing!" as a taster 45-single on Kapp Records K-819. It would be the LP’s only single. But that didn't stop Northern Soul types in English clubs going past the primarily ballad-oriented feel of the album and gravitating to the bopping LP cut "That's When I Need You" – itself apparently bootlegged onto a 45 sometime in the 70ts. Track after track is classy and you can so hear why sums of money are and have been parted with for this stuff.

 

THE HESITATIONS

The Hesitations LP clocked up three US 45s (Kapp 790, 822 and 848) and Euro issues too. Predating the album by nearly six months, December 1966 saw Kapp K-790 put "Soul Superman" out with "I'm Not Built That Way" on the flipside - a fantastic double-header for Northern Soul dancers guaranteeing that copies cross hands for over £150 on a regular basis.

 

Dash for chart-immortality number two came in February 1967 when Kapp K-810 hit the streets with the soft shuffle of "Soul Kind Of Love" b/w "Wait A Minute". Girly singers join the guys on the very Motown A-side as we hear about Soul Music socking it to the kids and making the news. Personally I like the 'hear what I got to say' loveliness of the flipside "Wait A Minute" better - very sweet 60ts Soul. Single number three hit in April 1967 with another two from the album - "She Won't Come Back" b/w "I'll Be Right There" - and again - both cracker-lacking-good. Top album cuts don't come much better than the '...do the Boogaloo and Philly Dog...' shuffle of the Side 2 closer "Clap Your Hands" - jump around and get in the groove to this one. 

 

There's a reason why fans of Soul Music get weepy about Ace Records - releases like this. September 2021's Kent KEND 505 exposes great Sixties Soul and does it with style and yes - even love. Gorgeous...

 

CDs in Ace/Kent Soul’s Pied Piper Productions Series of Detroit Soul

 

1. VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Pied Piper Presents A New Concept In Detroit Soul" (28 January 2013 UK Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 389 - Barcode 029667238922)

 

2. VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Pied Piper: Follow Your Soul" (25 May 2015 UK Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 429 - Barcode 029667242929)

 

3. VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Pied Piper: Finale" (24 February 2017 UK Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 461 - Barcode 029667078924)

 

4. THE HESITATIONS / FREDDY BUTLER - "Soul Superman/With A Dab Of Soul" (24 September 2021 UK Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 505 – Barcode 029667103428 – 2 US Stereo LPs from 1967 on Kapp Records Remastered onto 1CD – The Hesitations first, then Freddy Butler – 24-Tracks)

"The Party's Over" by TALK TALK – July 1982 UK Debut Album on EMI Records featuring Mark Hollis and Simon Brenner (September 1997 UK EMI CD Reissue with Phil Brown and Denis Blackham Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...My Truth's No Longer Sane..."

 

Anyone expecting the accomplished TALK TALK of 1986's "The Colour Of Spring", 1988's "Spirit Of Eden" or even 1991's "Laughing Stock" should readjust their sets for the band's opening salvo "The Party's Over" because it's an overtly All-Synths OMD-Depeche Mode sounding debut very much rooted in the Duran Duran big-hairdo Popstral landscape of 1982. 

 

At least this lovely-looking spine-themed 1997 EMI Records CD Reissue offers a truly blinding Remaster from Top Audio Engineers PHILL BROWN and DENIS BLACKHAM (of Skye Mastering) using original EMI 1/2" master tapes. Once more unto the party people...

UK released September 1997 - "The Party's Over" by TALK TALK on EMI Records RETALK 100 (Barcode 724385679629) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of their 1982 debut album that plays out as follows (36:53 minutes):

1. Talk Talk [Side 1]

2. It's So Serious

3. Today 

4. The Party's Over 

5. Hate [Side 2]

6. Have You Heard The News?

7. Mirror Man 

8. Another Word 

9. Candy 

Tracks 1 to 9 are their debut album "The Party's Over" - released July 1982 in the UK on EMI Records EMC 3413 and in the USA on EMI America ST-17083. Produced by COLIN THURSTON - it peaked at No. 32 in the UK LP charts, No. 132 in the US Billboard Charts.

 

TALK TALK was: 

MARK HOLLIS - Lead Vocals 

SIMON BRENNER - Keyboards 

PAUL WEBB - Bass

LEE HARRIS - Drums 

 

There are four CDs in this 1997 Remaster Series - each spine spelling a T A L K letter - so T for "The Party's Over" (1982), A for "It's My Life" (1984), L for "The Colour Of Spring" (1986) and K for "Spirit Of Eden" (1988). Each issue has upgraded 12-page booklets with lyrics and those beautiful James Marsh paintings/artwork the band featured on so many of their 7" and 12" single sleeves. The debut booklet shows the "Talk Talk" and "Mirror Man" UK single sleeves - and the lyrics are here too, but naught else - no new liner notes or history. Which is more's the pity, because I believe Talk Talk to be one of the most underrated bands of the 80ts and 90ts a group that grew ever more brilliant with each new album up to a point where EMI just didn't know how to market them to a single's market when they became an album's band.

 

But all of that slight presentation letdown is mightily offset by the big news - a fantastic Remaster from original 1/2" analogue master-tapes by PHIL BROWN and Skye Mastering's DENIS BLACKHAM - a man I actively seek out as a Remaster go-to. Take the piano-playing in the left speaker of "Have You Heard The News?" or the very early-Depeche-sounding "Mirror Man" - both sounding full of power while Hollis warbles on about being miserable and betrayed (or both). 

 

I have always wished Talk Talk's debut "The Party's Over" was an LP I'd return to with more affection, but it's a start that would eventually lead to the sonic wonder of 1986's "The Colour Of Spring" - an album I'd put up there with Kate Bush's "Hounds Of Love", Prefab Sprout's "Steve McQueen" or even The Blue Nile's debut "A Walk Across The Rooftops". And the loss of the ethereal lead singer and principal songwriter Mark Hollis in 2019 was/is a shattering blow to longtime fans and damn it - music itself.

Still - gotta love that great audio - and those T A L K CD-spines on my shelves make me a very happy bunny just gawking at them. A great band and not just a good one...

The TALK TALK EMI CD Remasters (September 1997)

RETALK 100 to 104 are UK Catalogue Numbers - The Next Are International

1. The Party's Over (July 1982 Debut Album)

UK CD Remaster on EMI RETALK 100 - EMI 7243 8 56796 2 9 (Barcode 724385679629) 

2. It's My Life (February 1984 Second Studio Album)

UK CD Remaster on EMI RETALK 101 - EMI 7243 8 56797 2 8 (Barcode 724385679728)

3. The Colour Of Spring (March 1986 Third Studio Album)

UK CD Remaster on EMI RETALK 102 - EMI 7243 8 57131 2 5 (Barcode 724385713125) 

4. Spirit Of Eden (September 1988 Fourth Studio Album)

UK CD Remaster on EMI RETALK 103 - EMI 7243 8 57129 2 0 (Barcode 724385712920)

"Boy" by U2 - October 1980 UK - March 1981 USA Debut Album - Both On Island Records (July 2008 UK Universal-Island Interscope Mercury Records 1CD Reissue and Re-Master) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Blood At The Garden Gate..."

Here's my U2 debut-album story. I was living in Dublin in 1979 and every Saturday afternoon, a mate of mine and I used to wander uptown to a side road off Grafton Street and visit a place called the “Dandelion Market”. It was a kind of indoor bizarre with stalls selling ex-chart 7" singles in their new and snazzy label bags or picture sleeves for 10p, cheese-cloth shirts, clogs and joss sticks (yum yum on all counts). And they had a stage there too where you could see new and unsigned bands for 50p (extortion, I know).

 

So we're there browsing through the CBS, Warner Brothers and Island label bags and of course - U2 came on. After 3 truly awful pastiche punk tunes (sort of a bad Dr. Feelgood) and with that mouthy git out front, I turned to my Irish friend and uttered the following words of unparalleled wisdom and insight - "That's the worst band I've ever seen. They're never going to get anywhere…"

 

Cut (as they say in the movies) to a year later and I'd begun working for Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport and was able to got cheap flights on standby. So when I arrived in New York in late spring of 1981 off the EI105 to JFK, I was amazed to see that their newly issued "Boy" LP (with different artwork to the UK version) was absolutely huge (in a sort of underground kind of way). 

 

Not only had U2 made it, but like The Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who - America and Americans took to Ireland's upbeat and chiming U2 music instantly. I couldn't believe it when I saw young cool types in record stores wearing American-sleeve "Boy" buttons on their jackets like it was a badge of honour. I also vividly remember hearing "I Will Follow" pinging out of a New York radio on a drive out to Connecticut with a girl I was hanging out with. This Irish Band had developed past those pastiches into something audibly special. 

 

I say all of this now, because the wonder I felt back in 1980 and 1981 has been beautifully recaptured on this 2008 reissue – the sheer blast of U2's explosive arrival. And like so many after it, my wide-eyed mates and I bought "War" in 1983, "The Unforgettable Fire" in 1984 and then the stunning "Joshua Tree" in 1987 (and so on). But there has always been a little bit of wonder in our Celtic hearts for this bombastic beginning.

 

Listening now in March 2022, I don't know if U2's "Boy" is the debut masterpiece so many claim it is (or the best album they ever did) - it isn't. But man - what a starter for ten and this 2008 CD Remaster does that account-opener justice. Details...

 

UK released 21 July 2008 - "Boy" by U2 on Universal-Island, Interscope Records, Mercury Records 1764646 (Barcode 602517646469) is a Re-Mastered Audio 1CD Reissue (album only) that plays out as follows (42:55 minutes): 

 

1. I Will Follow [Side 1]

2. Twilight 

3. An Cat Dubh 

4. Into The Heart 

5. Out Of Control 

6. Stories For Boys 

7. The Ocean 

8. A Day Without Me 

9. Another Time, Another Place 

10. The Electric Co. 

11. Shadows And Tall Trees

12. Saturday Night *

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Boy" - released 20 October 1980 in the UK, 3 March 1981 in the USA both on Island Records ILPS 9646. The American issue had the same tracks but different artwork front and rear. Produced by STEVE LILLYWHITE – their debut peaked at No. 52 in the UK LP charts and No. 63 on the US Billboard Album charts. * Track 12 is an uncredited 30-second instrumental called "Saturday Night" that only appeared after "Shadows And Tall Trees" ends on original vinyl pressings. It has been re-instated for the 2008 Remaster, but left uncredited.

 

Real fans bought the 2CD Deluxe Edition of "Boy" (also released 21 July 2008) with the 45-single A-side mixes, Non-LP B-sides, unreleased outtakes and live material on the 14-Track CD2. But Mercury/Island 1761670 (Barcode 602517616707) is now long deleted and a pricey collectable. So for us schlepping it in the cheap-to-broke seats, this single CD variant will do nicely. 

 

"Boy" CD1 carries over the Remasters done by U2's Guitarist THE EDGE, CHERYL ENGELS and ARNIE ACOSTA (at Bernie Grundman Mastering) for all the 2008 reissues and jumps chiming out of your speakers with huge balls and presence. To hear Bono’s voice this clear, Larry Mullins, Jr. hammering those drums, Adam Clayton on thumping Bass and the sheer harmonic-guitar-pings power of The Edge – is thrilling and something fans have waited decades for. Steve Lilywhite captured them on "Out Of Control" – but now you can actually hear the energy.

 

The chunky 24-page booklet is also a shockingly tasty affair with outtake photos of the cover child, the lyrics from the inner sleeves, single release dates and more. The typeface and backing even mimics the silver and white sleeve of the 1980 UK original. They include the ultra rare postcard that came with original copies of Ireland's "Another Day" and the picture sleeve for March 1981's WIP 6656 "I Will Follow". It also gives you the PAUL MORLEY liner notes on the history of the debut and those heady years. 

 

Audiowise, lesser-heard cuts like "The Ocean" and the starting-a-landslide to my ego "A Day Without Me" sound fantastic, but my heart goes straight way to Edge's fab guitar-work opening to "Another Time, Another Place" and the sheer guitar mania in the stunning exploration that is "The Electric Co." is enough to make me cry. 

 

For sure the single-CD version of U2's "Boy" lacks those B-sides and the better bits of CD2 on the 'Deluxe Edition' - but as a stand-alone (complete with lovely looks and huge audio) - it rocks like the proverbial horse's knackers. Now if I could only re-write that 1979 opinion...

"Are You Experienced" by THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - May 1967 UK Debut Album on Track, August 1967 US Debut Album on Reprise with Different Artwork and Tracks (February 2012 EU/UK Experience Hendrix/Legacy/Sony Music 1CD Reissue with The '2010 Deluxe Edition' Remaster Plus Seven Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

  

The UK LP versus the US Version of Jimi Hendrix's Debut Album

The above 2012 Single-CD Reissue and Remaster Offers Both 

And At A Reasonable Price Too - Available Either New or Used...

 

 

"Are You Experienced?" - The US Stereo Album Cover Art from 1967

Featured "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze" and "The Wind Cries Mary" 

All on the US LP, but not on the UK one - only singles in the UK

 

"...Control Of My Soul..." 

 

"Manic depression is a frustrating mess..." the original wild-child guitar God sang on his debut 1967 album only to launch into an equally wild-thing solo moments later - a grungy feeding-back bendy-string beast ripping across your Hi-Fi man with mal-intent.

 

I used to think Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott was the coolest dude to ever walk the face of God's earth, but even our beloved Philip Paris would give that nod to James Marshall Hendrix from Seattle, in the U.S. of A. 

 

"Wait a minute...something's wrong baby..." Jimi wails in the stunning "Red House" - "...there ain't no life nowhere man!" he moans in "I Don't Live Today" and "...waterfall don't ever change your ways..." in the impossibly-pretty "May This Be Love". Going back to "Red House", Jimi then urges us to stop worrying because, look out baby, Jimi's still got his guitar and we can stand in his fire! But I digress, because we need to talk about versions of Hendrix's debut album...

 

Even now I have to admit that I half adore and half hate "Are You Experienced" in its original English run. I know the LP is impossibly cool (like "2001: A Space Odyssey" hip) - but I have to say that the US different track version on Reprise Records and in Stereo appeals to me so much more as a listen than the Blighty cut that came months early (also Track Records' debut LP release). Hendrix got it right be re-arranging "Are You Experienced?" for the American market.

 

But what puts this single-CD reissue into the must-have realms of time and space is the best-ever audio and the six so-damn-cool bonuses tagged on after the UK song track run from 1 to 10. Let's get to the digital doughnuts of his explosive beginnings...

 

EU/UK re-released 6 February 2012 - "Are You Experienced" by THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE on Experience Hendrix/Legacy/Sony Music 88691938902 (Barcode 886919389029) is a 2012 Single CD Reissue in STEREO of the CD+DVD Remaster issued two years earlier in 2010. It comes in a Clear Jewel Case (Rear Inlay Visible) with a 24-Page Colour Booklet, has Seven Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (60:22 minutes):

 

1. Foxy Lady [Side 1]

2. Manic Depression 

3. Red House 

4. Can You See Me

5. Love Or Confusion 

6. I Don't Live Today [Side 2]

7. May This Be Love 

8. Fire 

9. 3rd Stone From The Sun

10. Remember

Tracks 1 to 10 are his debut album "Are You Experienced" - released 12 May 1967 in the UK on Track Records 612 001 in Mono and 23 August 1967 in the USA as "Are You Experienced?" on Reprise Records R 6261 in Mono and RS 6261 in Stereo with different tracks and artwork. All songs by JH except "Hey Joe" which was a Billy Roberts song and cover version.

 

BONUS TRACKS: 

11. Are You Experienced? 

12. Hey Joe

13. Stone Free 

14. Purple Haze 

15. 51st Anniversary 

16. The Wind Cries Mary

17. Highway Chile 

 

ALBUM:

This CD (booklet and rear inlay) uses the UK Track Records artwork in the booklet even though Hendrix commissioned new more Psych artwork for the US issue (the US artwork isn't here at all). Also because of the Bonuses, it will allow fans to sequence the 11-Track American LP as follows - [14] = Track 14 etc...

 

Side 1 "Are You Experienced?" US Album:

1. Purple Haze [14]

2. Manic Depression [2]

3. Hey Joe [12]

4. Love Or Confusion [5]

5. May This Be Love [7]

6. I Don't Live Today [6]

Side 2 "Are You Experienced?" US Album:

1. The Wind Cries Mary [16]

2. Fire [8]

3. Third Stone From The Sun [9]

4. Foxey Lady [1]

5. Are You Experienced? [11]

 

SINGLES:

1. Hey Joe [15] b/w 51st Anniversary [15]

April 1967 US Debut 45-single on Reprise 0572 (no UK issue)

 

2. Purple Haze [14] b/w The Wind Cries Mary [16]

June 1967 US Second 45-single on Reprise 0597

 

3. May 1967 UK Debut 45-single on Track 604004 as

The Wind Cries Mary [16] b/w Highway Chile [17] 

 

4. Stone Free [14] b/w If 6 Were 9

September 1969 US 45-single on Reprise 0853

The A-side was lifted from the "Smash Hits" LP - while the B-side "If 6 Were 9" (not on this CD) can be found on reissues of his second studio album from 1968 "Axis: Bold As Love"

 

The 24-page booklet is both impressive and infuriating – gorgeous layout but no US artwork – no picture sleeves for the singles from the USA, the UK and around the world – album credits aren't here or single dates. But the pictures are cool, the lyrics are here too, the see-through tray is nice and the superb six bonuses plus that EDDIE KRAMER and GEORGE MARINO Remaster from the 2010 CD+DVD Deluxe Edition (reissued here as a single CD) is so damn good. Check out those fading moments in the "Tomorrow Never Knows"-tinged Revolver moment that ends the American LP - "Are You Experienced?" with the piano, drums and guitar - fantastically clear and with real muscle - you finally feel the power of the band.

 

There are two things that punch-home on this reissue - the better audio, though still muddy in places (as was the nature of the recordings) it packs a huge wallop when given some welly on the Volume dial - and the fact that the US artwork is missing. But even now, as I sequence the US playlist - what a powerhouse the album is - and I feel warrants the legendary status it carries in this configuration – even if the mighty "Red House" was not on it. I had also forgotten about the waterfall beauty of his playing and those panned drums in the fabulous "May This Be Love".

 

Dig those drums again and that pumping guitar as he launches into the US LP Side 1 closer "I Don’t Live Today" – and that feedback as he goes on his miserable way. And probably my fave-rave of all his slow songs "The Wind Cries Mary" – footprints dressed in red – a broom drearily sweeping up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life. But genius moment supremo and tripping Pysch gong of the year goes to "Third Rock From The Sun" – how damn good is this swish-swashing amble across your frazzled mind with its treated guitars and so-smooth voice interludess. Huge is the only way to describe "Foxey Lady" too (hate that misspelling), but for me the backwards-sounding "Are You Experienced?" that ends the platter is still utterly mesmerizing. A great album and a genuinely groundbreaking moment in Rock and not just the Sixties.

 

"...If you can only just get your mind together...", he sang all those decades ago. 

But first – are you experienced? he further probed. Well I am Jimi – I am! 

 

God Bless you Jimi Hendrix - you axe-wielding foxy star traveler from another universe...because he sure as shit wasn't from this one!