How did Jimi find the time? Though the man has been playing heavenly air hockey against Sir Isaac Newton for almost thirty years, new recordings of his seem to appear with suspicious regularity. More than that, lately Hendrix’s reissues have been getting better and better, contradicting the theory that eventually you’re going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The BBC Sessions were the results bizarre English legislation involving the airing of records over radio; the majority of what English radio stations aired had to be original sessions, recorded specifically for broadcast. This disc compiles several of the Experience’s sessions, spanning a few years and a wide degree of recording technology.
This two-disc set contains just about every Hendrix highlight you might possibly desire, along with a couple of nice surprises. Certified hits like “Foxy Lady,” (twice!) “Fire,” “Purple Haze,” and “Hey Joe” (also twice) stand alongside tracks like “Wait Until Tomorrow” and “Love or Confusion,” and interesting twists like “Day Tripper,” “Hear My Train A Comin’,” and “Sunshine of Your Love.”
These sessions may lack some of Hendrix’ often under-appreciated studio wizardry, but they more than make up for that with a warm, live feel which often results in completely unexpected moments. The quality of the recordings is pretty phenomenal, too. Amazing what you can do with those ones and zeros.
With very few exceptions, all of the music on here is consistently good, something which can’t be said of all posthumous Hendrix releases. This is a necessary recording in any Hendrix collection.
