albums I bought when they came out, a continuing series . . . . . . . 

JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE

"ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?"

On this day in music history: May 12, 1967 - “Are You Experienced?”, the debut album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience is released (US release is on August 23, 1967). Produced by Chas Chandler, it is recorded at De Lane Lea, CBS and Olympic Studios in London from December 13, 1966 - April 3, 1967. Fusing the blues and R&B with psychedelic imagery and distorted, feedback laden guitar, the first album from the American guitar virtuoso makes an immediate impact in the UK where it is recorded. Hendrix goes largely unnoticed in the US until his showstopping performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June. The US release of “Experienced” differs noticeably from its UK counterpart. Most notably it US version features completely different cover artwork, designed by Warner Bros art director Ed Thrasher, and a now iconic cover photo taken by photographer Karl Ferris with a fish eye lens. The domestic release, though featuring eleven songs like the British release, US version shifts the track sequence dramatically. It removes the original UK tracks “Red House” and “Can You See Me”, replacing them with the UK singles “Hey Joe” and “The Wind Cries Mary”. The album features some of his best known material including “Purple Haze”, “Fire”, “Foxy Lady”, “Manic Depression” and the title track. In time it is regarded as one of the greatest rock albums of all time, being selected for preservation by the National Recording Registry at the Library Of Congress in 2005, and is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999. “Are You Experienced?” peaks at number five on the Billboard Top 200, number ten on the R&B album chart, number two on the UK album chart, and is certified 4x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

I bought this when it came out and took it up the youth club that evening to play it in the barn to share my 'shock' and enjoyment at such 'new' sounding music. I promptly suffered the worst beating up by a bully boy it has ever been my experience to encounter and the guy had to be picked off me by his neck and shirt and trouser bottoms literally by friends of my brothers. Whether it was the shock of the new or just me (some folks do seem to take an instant dislike to my face!) I guess I will never know but it was an event that never put me off the album and I still enjoy it now. It took me to other worlds (3rd Stone From The Sun?) and all by itself with no need of ingesting strange substances . . . . that came later . . . . probably by side two!
'Foxy Lady' & 'Love or Confusion' all summed it up and spoke to my adolescent burgeoning mind but 'Red House' and 'Remember' opened up the blues roots and lead to the otherworldly side to Jimi and by the time we were bathing in '3rd Stone' and 'May This Be Love' we were floating off into other worlds and knew were were indeed 'Experienced'!
I miss him! 

Mitch too . . . . I found this pic the other day and sums up his personality, his attitude and joy at living to me . . . . one of the world's very finest drummers

another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog