So, just in time for Christmas, Jimi Hendrix fans are getting rewarded for their patience (a good half-dozen or so CD/DVD reissues and only one compilation of unreleased material since Legacy Recordings took distributorship of the Experience Hendrix catalogue) with the full specs for West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology. This five-disc set includes a disc of rare tracks from Hendrix's days as an R&B sideman, three discs of what looks like almost entirely unreleased material (more on that in a minute) and a new documentary DVD. Daaaaaaamn.
Of course, it remains to be seen exactly how much is "unreleased" - some of these tracks look like they were released on some of the many, many posthumous compilations that sprung up in the years following Hendrix's death in 1970 (many of which had controversial overdubs by producer Alan Douglas, leading to the lawsuit that created Experience Hendrix, LLC in the first place). That said, this set looks to be stuffed to the gills with relatively unfamiliar material; if you consider the official press release on what's previously unreleased, you'd come up with 43 tracks. There were 56 tracks in total on MCA's 2000 box The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and none of them considered the period that this set's first disc looks at.
It looks like there will even be options for less-diehard collectors, too - the press release mentions a single-disc "best-of" from the box,either with or without the DVD. (Of course, there's an eight-LP vinyl box, too, so hardcore fans are getting their due, too. Now if only we could get the mono mixes of Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love released...)
Amazon pre-order pages are here for the box set, the best-of set, the best-of set with DVD and the vinyl box. All sets are due November 16, per the press release (Amazon listings are still saying November 2). Also, if you like what you read, you can head over to the official press release and download 10 of the tracks for free. Hit the jump to see the track list for the full box and the compilation.
(Note: * denotes officially previously released material - i.e.: that which is not recognized as an official Hendrix release. If a notable "unofficial" release has been released on one of the earlier, Alan Douglas-produced compilations and nowhere else since, we have included that discographical information.)
Jimi Hendrix, West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (Experience Hendrix/Legacy 88697 76927-2, 2010)
Disc 1
- Testify - The Isley Brothers
- Mercy, Mercy - Don Covay
- Can't Stay Away - Don Covay
- My Diary - Rosa Lee Brooks
- Utee - Rosa Lee Brooks
- I Don't Know What You Got But It's Got Me - Little Richard
- Dancing All Around the World - Little Richard
- I'm So Glad - Frank Howard & The Commanders
- Move Over and Let Me Dance - The Isley Brothers
- Have You Ever Been Disappointed - The Isley Brothers
- Help Me (Get the Feeling), Part 1 - Ray Sharpe
- (My Girl) She's a Fox - The Icemen
- That Little Old Groove Maker - Jimmy Norman
- Sweet Thang - Billy Lamont
- Instant Groove - King Curtis
Disc 1, Tracks 1 (Part I and Part II) released as T-Neck single 501, 1964
Disc 1, Tracks 2-3 released as Rosemart single 801, 1964
Disc 1, Tracks 4-5 released as Revis single 1013, 1965
Disc 1, Tracks 6-7 released as Vee Jay single VJ-698, 1965
Disc 1, Track 8 released as Barry single 1008, 1966
Disc 1, Tracks 9-10 released as Atlantic single 2303, 1965
Disc 1, Track 11 released on Atco single 6402, 1966
Disc 1, Track 12 released on Samar single S-111, 1966
Disc 1, Track 13 released on Samar single S-112, 1966
Disc 1, Track 14 released on 20 Century-Fox single 6707, 1968
Disc 1, Track 15 released on Atco single 6680, 1969
Disc 2 *
- Fire (Alternate)
- Are You Experienced? (Alternate)
- May This Be Love (Alternate)
- Can You See Me (Alternate)
- Love or Confusion (Alternate)
- Little One
- Mr. Bad Luck (Alternate)
- Cat Talking to Me (Alternate)
- Castles Made of Sand (Alternate)
- Tears of Rage
- Hear My Train A-Comin' (Alternate)
- 1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) (Alternate)
- Long Hot Summer Night
- My Friend
- Angel
- Calling All the Devil's Children (Alternate)
- New Rising Sun (Alternate)
Original versions of Disc 2, Tracks 1-5 from Are You Experienced (Track (U.K.)/Reprise (U.S.), 1967)
Original version of Disc 2, Track 7 from Valleys of Neptune (Experience Hendrix/Legacy, 2010)
Original version of Disc 2, Track 8 was the B-side to "Valleys of Neptune" - Experience Hendrix/Legacy, 2010
Original version of Disc 2, Track 9 from Axis: Bold as Love (Track (U.K.), 1967/Reprise (U.S.), 1968)
Original version of Disc 2, Track 11 from Blues (MCA, 1994)
Original version of Disc 2, Track 12 from Electric Ladyland (Track (U.K.)/Reprise (U.S.), 1968)
Original versions of Disc 2, Tracks 14-15 and 17 from First Rays of the New Rising Sun (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1997)
Disc 3 *
- Hear My Freedom
- Room Full of Mirrors
- Shame, Shame, Shame
- Messenger
- Hound Dog Blues
- Untitled Basic Track
- Star Spangled Banner (Live) (Original Mix)
- Purple Haze (Live) (Original Mix)
- Young/Hendrix (Alternate)
- Mastermind
- Message to Love (Alternate)
- Fire (Live)
- Foxey Lady (Live)
Original version of Disc 3, Track 2 from First Rays of the New Rising Sun (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1997)
Original mixes of Disc 3, Tracks 7-8 from Live at Woodstock (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1999)
Original version of Disc 3, Track 9 from Nine to the Universe (Reprise, 1980)
Original version of Disc 3, Track 11 from South Saturn Delta (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1997)
Disc 4 *
- Stone Free (Live @ the Fillmore East, New York City - 12/31/1969)
- Burning Desire
- Lonely Avenue
- Everlasting First (Alternate)
- Freedom
- Peter Gunn/Catastrophe (Alternate)
- In from the Storm (Alternate)
- All God's Children
- Red House (Live)
- Play That Riff
- Bolero
- Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) (Alternate)
- Suddenly November Morning
Original version of Disc 4, Track 2 from Loose Ends (Polydor, 1974)
Original version of Disc 4, Track 3 from Nine to the Universe (Reprise, 1980)
Original version of Disc 4, Track 4 from the Love album False Start (Blue Thumb, 1970)
Original versions of Disc 4, Tracks 5, 7 and 12 from First Rays of the New Rising Sun (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1997)
Original version of Disc 4, Track 6 from War Heroes (Polydor, 1972)
Disc 5: DVD - Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child documentary
Jimi Hendrix, West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (Experience Hendrix/Legacy 88697 77722-2, 2010)
- Fire (Alternate)
- Love or Confusion (Alternate)
- Room Full of Mirrors
- Shame, Shame, Shame
- Mr. Bad Luck (Alternate)
- May This Be Love (Alternate)
- Are You Experienced? (Alternate)
- Tears of Rage
- Hear My Freedom
- Hound Dog Blues
- Lonely Avenue
- Burning Desire
- In from the Storm (Alternate)
- Bolero
- Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) (Alternate)
This morning(Sept.13th), Experience Hendrix(possibly as a good will gesture after two release postponements) put up 10 free 192Kbps Mp3 download tracks on the official Jimi Hendrix website, as a preview of the "West Coast Seattle Boy" box set, so I downloaded them and burned them to CD-R, which I'm playing now.
My impression so far is that, while good, this box set is for hardcore fans, with backing tracks, home recordings and more live recordings of Hendrix concert staples, but this box is not the place for younger fans to start their Hendrix collection. But I am a hardcore fan, having seen the man perform back in 1967(when I was 11 years old)
Unfortunately, since my previous post, there must have been record company pressure to remove the 10 complete Mp3 tracks from the Hendrix website. They've now been replaced by "Real Audio" 30 second excerpts.
Hey Phil, is there any chance you could e-mail me those songs? (westernriver@aol.com)
Unfortunately, my low budget $19.95 per month internet service so severely limits my e-mail in box and out box(to 10 MEGS), that if I even tried to e-mail one song of medium quality MP3, I'd soon get warnings from my ISP that I was about to exceed capacity.
Ah no worries. Well then one question: does Burning Desire have vocals at all? The snippet I heard doesn't have any, and it would be kind of a bummer if it didn't.
"Burning Desire" is a basic backing track attempt, fairly similar(but different) to the version released on Dagger's mail-order "Burning Desire" CD. "Castles Made of Sand" & "Are you Experienced" are also basic backing tracks.
Kinda surprised Voodoo Child isn't included here, oh well, I already have 20 versions of that one.
To call this an Anthology is a joke.
Most of the tracks won't have any vocals and are demo's or jams. It's not a true example of Jimi's body of work.
Experience Hendrix should have called this box 'The Alternative Hendrix' or something like that.
There are a few exciting new finds however and I will buy it for those.
But If these tracks are going to be heard, they may as well be heard from the original master tapes and with good packaging & proper anotation, rather than from bootlegs.
Most of the backing tracks with no vocals or solos don't do much for me, but there are people who will enjoy them.
I've given all discs a listen and viewed the DVD. One gets the impression that Hendrix viewed himself as something of a messenger, a man with a mission, a purpose for being on this earth....and that was to change people's heads, give them a spiritual experience through music. It was always about the music. This guy wanted to push the envelope, lay down the power of soul on his listeners. So, I'd say this anthology succeeds in conveying what Hendrix was about. He wasn't afraid to experiment, he dug jamming with anybody and everybody and other musicians deliberately sought him out to play with, to collaborate. The instrumental jams..I see them as sounding out ideas. I recognize a lick here, a riff there that would eventually live on in the finished studio versions we all recognize and love. This anthology succeeds in giving us a cross section of Hendrix the artist, musician, soulful and spiritual human being, Voodoo Chile, messenger from the Universe. I'd recommend it to any serious fan but newbies to his musical legacy should, as previously mentioned by others, start with the canonic first three albums he released in his lifetime, plus the Band of Gypsies.
Jimi is gone - be gratefull for whatever you can get. Although I thought the DVD was a poor cousin to the 1973 doco the rest of the package was great.