When Jimi Hendrix was at the top of his game between 1967 and 1970, the mark he left upon rock n' roll was indelible and arguably changed the face and form of the genre forever. In just three years, he made three lauded albums (four if one includes the live document Band Of Gypsys) that completely augmented the values inherent to rock and proved to totally obscure generic boundaries; to date, a who's who of guitarists including Dave Navarro, Dean Ween, Slash, Lenny Kravitz, Jonny Lang, Joe Perry, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Kurt Cobain (to name only a few) have sited Hendrix as an influence to their music as well as their approach to making it. In addition, the guitarist has proven to be responsible for a series the images and sounds that defined a generation as well as a tumultuous period in history; watching a movie wherein footage depicting the war in Vietnam implies the likelihood of hearing Hendrix' cover of “All Along The Watchtower,” in whole or in part, even non-fans are familiar with the story and images of Hendrix setting fire to his guitar during a performance at the Astoria in 1967, to say nothing of his performance at Woodstock on August 18, 1969.
There are archives of imagery and history dedicated to and associated with Jimi Hendrix' name and that is deserved; the sound of his Strat shaped rock n' roll and continues to exert influence even now – forty years later.
The absolutely astounding thing is that, even forty years later, new music continues to be released. How is that possible? Hendrix was only performing and recording his own work for a short time right? While Jimi Hendrix only released three studio albums in his lifetime, he had the luxury of working whenever he wanted because he did have a studio at his disposal whenever he chose to make use of it; that's how albums like First Rays Of The New Rising Sun and now Valleys Of Neptune were able to be recorded. “What you have to understand is that there was a difference in Jimi – as compared to The Beatles or Bob Dylan for example – is that he was a bit removed from the system in a lot of ways,” explains producer John McDermott on where the ongoing stream of new material springs from. “The Beatles had to record at a facility owned by their record company with engineers employed by their record company, and Bob Dylan had to record in a union recording studio for Columbia. Jimi was in a rare position for his time in that he owned his own songs, he owned his own masters and, when he finally made money, he bought his own recording studio. He had been denied the opportunity to really record when he was a sideman for Little Richard and the Isley Brothers [around the early and mid-Sixties –ed] so when he finally got success, it was important for him to have a place to create and to be creative. He wanted that place where, if he wanted to record tomorrow, he could – and that's exactly what he did.
“I also think what was interesting about Jimi too is that he really enjoyed the process of recording,” continues McDermott, expanding on the ways and means by which Jimi Hendrix worked, “He didn't read or write music so, for him, the acts of measuring his progress and refining songs all took place in the recording studio. Because of that, I think it was largely a matter of his unique skills and desires versus anything else.
“I think that was the motivation for the creation of all of this material as well as the fact that, back in the day, it was common for acts like The Beatles and Jimi to put out a record every nine months so they were recording a lot and developing a lot of songs. I think that he passed before his next record – the record he was working on at the time of his death – was completed so there was a backlog of material that is available now. That's the material we're trying to evaluate and make available for fans.”
And some of that all-new material is what comprises Valleys Of Neptune. Culled from sessions that took place between February and September, 1969 (for the most part – “Mr. Bad Luck” was recorded on May 5, 1967 at Olympic Studios in London), Valleys Of Neptune seems to express an intent made by Jimi Hendrix to get back to some R&B roots which is illustrated by a greater focus placed on rhythm guitar rather than lead. That isn't to say that Hendrix' signature Stratocaster has been silenced on Valleys Of Neptune, only that the wild leads which characterized such staples as “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” or “Purple Haze” take a back seat to rhythmic passages that almost foreshadow funk in their slippery but solid execution. The focus on rhythm is typified in songs like “Hear My Train A Comin',” “Mr. Bad Luck,” an instrumental rendition of Cream's “Sunshine Of Your Love” and a notably less rock approach to “Stone Free” – these still sound like Hendrix in each case, but are more grounded in their delivery. This new compositional focus is bolstered by 'new Experience' bassist Billy Cox and the very animated drumming of Mitch Mitchell; both shoot for the best, most powerful groove instead of the best, most towering epic. That shift in convention proves to be a very exciting turn and listeners both new and old alike get treated to an all-new exposition that shows Hendrix was certainly not standing still stylistically toward the end of his career, rather he was still growing and still re-evaluating his own work. In this case, the songs sound a little more raw and stripped down stacked against releases like Voodoo Soup [released in April, 1995 on MCA Records –ed] and First Rays Of The New Rising Sun [first released April 22, 1997, now reissued as a deluxe set courtesy of Experience Hendrix/Sony Music/Legacy –ed] but that's not really a bad thing; for those longer-time fans and listeners newly introduced to Jimi Hendrix alike, Valleys Of Neptune offers a pure look at the truth and nature of Jimi Hendrix and where it's very possible that he may have been headed in the future. For McDermott, both as producer of Valleys Of Neptune and an admitted fan of Jimi Hendrix, the album represents an honest look at the guitarist's late period as well, and it's definitely one that he feels fans will find most relevant and gratifying because it is a true work – no outside assistance was used or added to beef up the songs after the fact as has happened before under the watch of other companies. “The weird thing about Voodoo Soup was that it was the album after which the Hendrix family sued and got the rights back to Jimi's work,” begins McDermott as he attempts to explain his impressions of the record's place and stature among all of the other posthumous Hendrix albums that have been released. “That album took a lot of material that had been out on Cry Of Love and other records and then overdubbed the drummer from The Knack on some of those songs so it was really a hodgepodge of stuff – I don't think anyone would say that it's a representative work.
“What we tried to do beginning in 1997 was go back and fix his original records the way he made them; from the artwork to using the original tapes when you master the records,” continues McDermott. “Since in '97, that's what we started to do, and then start to add records which I hope add to people's appreciation and understanding of Jimi. They're important stuff – whether it's Woodstock or BBC sessions or now Valleys Of Neptune – where they don't take away your appreciation for Electric Ladyland, but maybe they give you a deeper understanding of where the guy was headed.”
In that statement though, McDermott feels he should clarify his meaning and, even in that clarification, he betrays the utmost respect for his subject. “It couldn't be said that it is as he wanted, it's really as we felt he might have wanted,” says the producer in tones of solemn respect. “Nothing articulates Jimi better than Jimi. I think what we did was just look at the best examples of where he was during that important time. We wanted to provide a window to that period of time after Electric Ladyland and before he really started on The First Rays Of The New Rising Sun so you're looking at the end of the original Experience in '69 and then the first new recordings with Billy Cox. Those were the parameters and that was the concept for this album.
“I think the final studio recordings made by the original Jimi Hendrix Experience were obviously important because the band was still growing,” continues McDermott, delving deeper into the nature of the album and the circumstances that originally surrounded it. “They had been growing right through the first three records and these recordings that they made after that were really powerful stuff. Then the first recordings that he made with Billy Cox certainly show a shift in Jimi's approach which is exciting too; he's accelerating that development because he doesn't have the tension and stress of the original band coming apart, he was able to say, 'Okay, I've got my old friend in here, my focus is entirely music, I don't have to worry about any of this other stuff' and that growth is apparent.
“The great thing about it from my perspective is that, this material on Valleys Of Neptune is really important music created by Jimi that can and will stand side-by-side with the records that, if you have heard them, you love. If you've heard First Rays or Electric Ladyland and you're a fan of those, this music sits right there and I think that's exciting. Hearing him cover Elmore James and do “Bleeding Heart” is wonderful, to hear an electric version of “Hear My Train A Comin'” which is an important Hendrix song is wonderful, to hear an entirely different approach to “Stone Free” is great; it's exciting stuff if you're a fan and even if you're someone that's new to the game, you could listen to this record and it'll take you further into the legacy. You're going to hear it and say, 'Wow! This is great, I want to hear more of this guy.'
“At the end of the day, that's our goal; Jimi left us with a finite body of work – we wish it was twice as large – but what he did was really special and no matter how you dip your toe in the water, that quality level is really consistent throughout.”
Artist:
www.jimihendrix.com/
Further Reading:
Review of Valleys Of Neptune on Ground Control.
Album:
Valleys Of Neptune is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
