Yes, I heard it when it was first released! My cousin lent me his copy! Certainly Hendrix's masterwork! "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", " Moon Turn The Tides Gently Away", "1983", "Hot Summer Night" ... I have a British Track pressing of the first LP (missing no. 2)! Still, half of a masterpiece is better than having none!
36 responses Add your response
I too heard it when it came out, as I did when Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold As Love were released. Along with Cheap Thrills, Sgt Pepper/MMT/White Album, Bookends, Surrealistic Pillow/Crown Of Creation and Disraeli Gears/Wheels Of Fire, these all changed my life for the better. The ’67-’68 era was a major catalyst for muscial creativity. Finally, music could be dark once again and have depth. |
I not only listened every day to Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love, Fresh Cream and Disraeli Gears, and Surrealistic Pillow and After Bathing At Baxter’s (the latter playing as the ascent of my last "flight" was occurring ;-) at the time of their releases, but saw and heard Hendrix, Cream, and The Airplane each a couple of times in 1967 and ’68. I also saw Big Brother once, but didn’t own any of their albums (didn’t care for they or them). Those bands and albums got all the attention (and sales), but there was a much richer vein of music being mined deep underground at the time, as I was to discover shortly thereafter (beginning in mid-1969). |
omhwy61, The Velvet Underground are very interesting in terms of their West Coast vs. East Coast impact and influence. All the New York, Detroit, and other Midwest and East Coast bands that followed cite them as a major influence and inspiration. On the West Coast, however, they were considered a bad joke. The Midwest/New York bands, whose Rock music was of a more "hard" strain than that of the West Coast bands, viewed the San Francisco and Los Angeles bands as hippies, and that wasn't a compliment. I can't picture The VU playing at Woodstock ;-) . |
Yeah slaw, in interviews, the guys in The New York Dolls, MC5, Stooges, etc., said they didn’t share the Peace, Love, & Understanding sentiments of the West Coast bands. After living in New York for a year, I came to understand why. Life in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland is very different from New York, Chicago, and Detroit. Not so brutal. They also said they didn’t understand the whole "back to nature" ambitions of hippies. I can’t picture the above bands camping ;-) . Notice also that none of them had beards, or wore bell bottom jeans. The West Coast bands also viewed "traditional" talents---singing, musicianship---as more important than did The Dolls, MC5, Stooges, Ramones, etc. A person may like Lou Reed, but it won’t be for his abilities at carrying a tune or playing guitar. Style and attitude are more of a concern to the aforementioned bands, and the bands they influenced. Of course, that statement is an over-simplified explanation of a more complex matter. |
Blame it on the weather. Even when it's not, compared to winters in Detroit, Cleveland, NYC, Minneapolis, Boston and Philly, California was also sunny. The cold, gritty steeliness of the Northeast and Midwest is reflected in the music. It's also the drugs, heroin vs. LSD. Neither of these explanations are absolutely valid, but they hint at the differences. Regarding Lou Reed's musicianship. If Neil Young is considered a great guitarist, then so is Lou Reed. |
Yes, onhwy61! The choice of drug is a really, really good one (as is the weather), one I hadn’t considered. Seems obvious now that I’ve heard it! Even on the West Coast, there were pockets of anti-hippie music and culture sentiments, a counter/counter-culture, if you will. I never owned a pair of bell bottoms or a tie-dyed T-shirt (thought they were corny), and switched to booze in ’69, partly ’cause I started playing in bars regularly that year (my first time was at age 15, with a bunch of hot rod greasers in a band playing lots of Chuck Berry), where the beer was free for the band. That about doubled your pay ;-) . One of the few San Francisco bands eschewing hippieness were The Flamin’ Groovies, whom The Dolls, MC5, etc., considered peers. Another was Moby Grape (the best SF band, imo), though you wouldn’t know it from their goofy name. Speaking of The Dolls, when I got to NY I went looking in pawn shops for vintage instruments (I play/collect/and deal only vintage drums---1920’s through early 70’s). In one I found Jerry Nolan’s set of pink Ludwigs, for sale. Sad. Is Neil Young considered a great guitarist? A unique one, that’s for sure. Hearing him trade licks with Stephen Stills in Buffalo Springfield songs has always amused me. |
Here are a couple of posts from the Steve Hoffman forums. I can’t vouch for their accuracy: 1. it appears the CD is a DR average of [8] and the Blu-ray is DR average of [13]. The 5.1 is a surround mix, and that in of itself is reason enough for inclusion. Why oh why could they not at least make a new CD matching the DR average of [12] as was the 1987 CD release ? 2. Just to be clear, the blu-ray stereo mix is squashed like the CD. Just the 5.1 is DR13. And an alternate opinion: 3. Just got done listening to the 24/96 Stereo version. Very impressed. From the start much more information. You can plainly hear all the little bits going on in the background. Tremendous clarity, yes it’s a bit loud but IMO nothing is sacrificed. I think Kramer did a great job transferring the original tapes. |
From Axis Bold As Love: "I've got my own life to live through - and I ain't gonna copy you!" - If Six Was Nine. Lest we forget, Jimi had to go to London first to be "discovered" - before his return to America. Electric Ladyland was first issued by Track Records UK with the risque cover - then replaced with the "safer" cover for the Warner's US release! |
Jimi was discovered in the US by Chas Chandler who was looking for an act to kick off his new career as a record producer. Chas had Jimi sign a management contract with Michael Jeffery, the guy Chas always complained had screwed The Animals out of their money. Jeffery did the same to Jimi and Jimi died amonst his "friends" in London less than 4 years later, disgusted with the music business and the people he was involved with. |
I saw Hendrix on his first tour of the U.S. (at either The Fillmore or Carousel Ballroom, I don’t remember), in support of the debut album. He and his band were firing on all 8 cylinders, absolutely blazing. I then saw them at Winterland on their next tour, for the second album. He seemed bored, just going through the motions. Or was it my impending drastic change in musical taste? Whichever, he soon changed course, dumping Mitch and Noel, hiring the rhythm section of Buddy Miles and Billy Cox. I never saw them, and completely lost interest in the type of music Jimi made. Most people didn’t ;-) . His music has held up quite well, still sounding contemporary. Definitely the most influential guitarist of his generation. Stylish dresser, too. His and his band's duds look like "costumes" to me, but that's what England seems to like; another difference between English and American bands, most especially, of course, those of the hippie persuasion. |
Ihasaguy is incorrect. Reprise never “recalled” the album because the nude cover was never released in the US. None exist. However, the nude cover was available in Europe on the Track and Barclay labels. Hendrix wanted a cover unlike the 2 that were actually issued and found the nude cover distasteful. |
I own a virgin (pun intended) copy of the "Electric Ladyland" nude cover album (both the vinyl and the cover). I friend brought it back for me from the UK when it was first released and I've carefully curated it. An interesting cover and a good album. RE: the present topic, I'm not inclined to purchase it: I'll stream it instead. |
You are correct about the cover. I forgot that I was overseas at the time, it Was 50 years ago, lol. I taped it and put it away, just saw it again as I am moving (downsizing). I listen to it digitally now as I have been without a turntable for many years. Still hang onto my vinyl collection for sentimental reasons. |
More about the cover. According to the liner notes in this new 50th anniversary release, Hendrix wanted the cover to be a photo taken in Central Park with him and children around a sculpture, taken by Linda Eastman (soon McCartney). Reprise ignored his request and went with the red and yellow photo of Jimi. And as mentioned already, in Britain, they came up with the naked women cover photo that was very controversial with retailers and Jimi disliked. The cover on this anniversary release uses the photo Jimi wanted 50 years ago! BTW, I've only listened to the Stereo DVD-Audio version so far, but it sure sounds better then I remember ever hearing it before. |
I saw this on eBay. I wonder if the Japanese pressing sounds different. http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=372501687887&category=176... |
I couldn't get to the ebay ad from your link so I can't say for sure, but probably not. Since it is part of the 50th Anniversary reissue it was probably made at the same plant as those available from Amazon or other sources. If it was a separate Japanese remastering it might sound different and cost a lot more. |