Date: October 7, 1997
Release: MCA #11684
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Following the release of First Rays Of The New Rising Sun, the Hendrix estate knew that they had to do something different on the follow up. First Rays was the completion of Jimi’s music up until the time of his death, the final songs that would have been on his next album. Janie, Eddie, John McDermott knew that now was the time to bring forward a new offering for long time Hendrix fans–unreleased music. Thus was born South Saturn Delta. Made up of tracks originally found on the long deleted War Heroes, Loose Ends, Rainbow Bridge, as well as some that had appeared on Crash Landing and Midnight Lightning (original tracks were used though, not the Alan Douglas tampered ones). Plus some unreleased songs, studio ideas, etc. Some really good music, “Pali Gap” from Rainbow Bridge is a great late night tune; “Drifter’s Escape,” the Bob Dylan song is a great rocker.

South Saturn Delta hints at a jazz direction for Jimi. “Little Wing,” is actually an early version of “Angel.” As far as “Look Over Yonder” goes, I still prefer the version on the Live & Unreleased CD. “Midnight Lightning,” the closing track, is just Jimi and his guitar, playing the blues, just the way you know it should be. A fitting conclusion to this CD.

Folks, the Hendrix family is listening to us, the fans. It’s been a long time since anybody has. God bless them.

Date: December 1967
Release: MCA #10894
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An early peak in the painfully short career of the greatest guitarist ever. Axis: Bold as Love was a mind blowing journey through the uncharted sounds and emotions of an artist sharing his pure soul. Love was to be the axis of the new galactic order Jimi envisioned, with his music serving as the otherworldly vehicle designed to take us there at 33 1/3 rpm. Innovative beyond compare, Jimi made extraordinary use of the limited 4-track technology at his finger tips, crafting a complex and pivotal album of enduring brilliance. With “Little Wing,” “Castles Made of Sand,” and “One Rainy Wish,” Jimi showed himself capable of creating gently textured songs of poetry that were no less powerful and compelling than the more jamming tunes like “Spanish Castle Magic.” On the electrifying “If 6 Was 9,” Jimi righteously sets forth the philosophy he lived by: “I’m the one who’s gonna die when it’s time for me to die/So let me live my life, the way I want to…” In the jazzed “Up From the Skies,” Jimi sings of the world from the point of view of an extraterrestrial brother hovering high above the clouds. He brings his inventiveness to bear on the solid rhythm and blues of “Ain’t No Telling,” “You Got Me Floatin’, and “Little Miss Lover,” songs which were shamefully ignored by most R&B radio stations across the United States.

Although largely appreciated by a white audience, Jimi really expanded the possibilities of black music, paving the way for the heavy funk explorations of Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield, Funkadelic, and others. Although Jimi was raised to the status of a rock god, he did a hell of a lot more than simply rock. Axis: Bold as Love covers a nearly cosmic spectrum of sounds, violating musical conventions, and defying what was once thought possible in the realm of the electric guitar and recorded music. It still has one of the all-time best endings of any album, with the title track “Bold As Love” closing out the record in a sweeping climax. An essential recording for all collections.

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Date: 1982
Release: Warner Bros.
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The album that demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt why Jimi Hendrix still reigns supreme as the God of Guitar. Jimi takes no vocals on any of the six tracks, preferring instead to let his guitar cry and sing. This is a brilliant example of Jimi’s fluid improvisational genius.

His playing is ratcheted up another notch in the fertile jam-session setting of these astounding recordings, which showcase his creative energy and virtuosity. We are able to hear Hendrix thinking aloud, and he consistently astounds the listener with the force of his ideas.

He pairs up on one track with legendary jazz organist Larry Young (who played with Miles Davis on Bitches Brew), creating a jazz-rock masterpiece that outshines in intensity anything recorded by latter day guitar heroes. The electrifying interplay that he and Young achieve leaves one wondering what kind of music Jimi could have made with Miles Davis, had he not died just one week before they were scheduled to record together in a London studio.

This session hints strongly at one of the many possible directions Jimi’s music was headed prior to his tragic death in September 1970. This long out-of-print masterpiece deserves to be immediately re-released. Write to your local congressman.