The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Winterland 1968 (2011)

CD1:
01 – Tax Free
02 – Lover Man			play
03 – Sunshine Of Your Love
04 – Hear My Train A Comin’
05 – Killing Floor
06 – Foxey Lady
07 – Hey Joe
08 – Star Spangled Banner
09 – Purple Haze

CD2:
01 – Tax Free
02 – Like A Rolling Stone
03 – Lover Man
04 – Hey Joe
05 – Fire				play
06 – Foxey Lady
07 – Are You Experienced
08 – Red House
09 – Purple Haze

CD3:
01 – Fire
02 – Lover Man
03 – Like A Rolling Stone
04 – Manic Depression
05 – Sunshine Of Your Love
06 – Little Wing
07 – Spanish Castle Magic
08 – Red House
09 – Hey Joe
10 – Purple Haze
11 – Wild Thing			play

CD4:
01 – Foxey Lady (10-12-68)
02 – Are You Experienced (10-10-68)
03 – Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (10-10-68)
04 – Red House (10-10-68)
05 – Star Spangled Banner (10-11-68)
06 – Purple Haze (10-11-68)
07 – Boston Garden Backstage Interview (11-16-68)

Bonus CD:
01 – Killing Floor			play
02 – Red House
03 – Catfish Blues
04 – Dear Mr Fantasy (Part One)
05 – Dear Mr Fantasy (Part Two)

Musicians: 
Bass, Backing Vocals – Noel Redding
Drums – Mitch Mitchell
Electric Guitar, Lead Vocals – Jimi Hendrix 

Over four decades since the six shows – recorded over three nights in October 1968 and documented in this four-CD set – that helped define the legend of Jimi Hendrix, it’s easy to forget just how groundbreaking he truly was. Other electric guitar heroes have come and gone, feedback is now an accepted part of the instrument’s arsenal, and the extended solo is largely the domain of the muso. But, despite his death less than two years later, Hendrix endures, and even the most hardened of cynics cannot deny the power of performances that robbed Eric Clapton of his reputation as the world’s best guitarist.

Obviously there’s none of the studio trickery here that he pioneered on his albums and which seduced fans back in the late 60s, but the dextrous fluidity of his playing, the enviable discipline of his band, The Experience – Noel Redding on bass, Mitch Mitchell on drums – and the effortlessly exuberant chemistry they shared are still extraordinary. The rawness of these performances is also impressive, the band magically keeping pace with Hendrix’s seemingly capricious fretwork despite the sense that no one, least of all Hendrix, knows where his fingers will lead him. Whether riffing around the simple blues of Red House, or, some might say, birthing the sound of heavy metal on Spanish Castle Magic, he succeeds in the unlikely task of making vocal melodies secondary to his instrument. The mind rolls with guitar lines that cannon around his songs, exploding sometimes with an extraordinary fury, at other times with unexpected tenderness. There is, of course, an inevitable masculinity to the whole sound, a flexing of musical muscles despite his between-song exhortations to free the mind. But this is offset by his sometimes-vulnerable vocal style, one that remains underappreciated and yet strangely charming.

Naturally, four discs is a whole lotta Hendrix, and as an entry point into his oeuvre it’s a little excessive. But such was the nature of his shows that no two performances sound the same, and that in itself further underlines why these shows have been so widely bootlegged in the 43 years since. Listening to the trio barrelling from Hey Joe to Purple Haze and finally Wild Thing on disc three alone should be proof enough that the legend is more than deserved, and the beauty of Hendrix’s talent is that, however often one hears his recordings, he still retains the ability to surprise. It’s no wonder that the man is still synonymous with guitar virtuosity: no one has ever eclipsed him. ---Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk

A week away from the release of Electric Ladyland and clearly at their peak, the Jimi Hendrix Experience settled into San Francisco’s Winterland for three nights of music. Culled from performances on Oct. 10, 11 and 12 of 1968, these four discs (which also boasts a Hendrix interview from Boston) find Jimi Hendrix, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, running through 18 songs, including a number of covers. Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor,” featuring the Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady on bass, is a searing romp, while “Sunshine of Your Love” pushes well beyond Cream’s original vision. “Wild Thing” never sounded heavier, “Hey Joe” is sinisterly stunning in execution and Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” adopts a punchy, soulful persona.

But Hendrix’s original compositions pack the most punch. Pushed to the limits, songs are forceful, intense and driving, the one exception being the slow, beautiful magic of “Little Wing”—a complete wobbly octave-straining solo. Both versions of “Are You Experienced” feature lengthy, exasperated solos that carry the song to new heights while “Manic Depression,” “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return),” “Purple Haze” and “Spanish Castle Magic” shred the heavens. Despite some song overlap, no two sound the same.

At one point, Hendrix tells the crowd that he kept the volume down to protect listener’s ears. Through all the glorious feedback, overdrive, sonic explorations and unexpected thunderous forays—including juicy intros and two riveting examples of the “Star-Spangled Banner”—that’s hard to believe. ---Glenn BurnSilver, relix.com

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