Jimi like you've never heard him before

Hendrix family puts out box set of rare recordings

A new CD box set of Jimi Hendrix music chronicles the artist's career from his earliest Experience recordings in 1966 through his final concert

In this story: Three years, 66 tapes 'Fluid motion' music RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Chris Hines
CNN WorldBeat Producer

(CNN) -- Thirty years after the death of Jimi Hendrix, his family is giving fans new insight into life and career of the influential guitarist with a box set of rare and previously unavailable recordings.

It kicks off with an out-take of "Purple Haze," his 1967 signature tune, and ends with an incomplete studio jam called "Slow Blues," which Hendrix recorded a month before his death. He choked to death after overdosing on sleeping pills in London.

VIDEO Jimi Hendrix performs Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" at the Isle of Wight, England, August 10, 1970 Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    VIDEO Jimmy Hendrix performs Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" in Berkeley, California, May 30, 1970 Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     GALLERY The Rock Hall of Fame has a new exhibit on Hendrix that peers into his career and his closet   QUIZ Test your knowledge of Jimi Hendrix trivia

AUDIO "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" 384KWAV sound "Like a Rolling Stone" 400KWAV sound "Blue Suede Shoes" 320KWAV sound

He had a penchant for covers, as other rare tracks illustrate. The set includes a cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watch Tower," which was recorded live at the Isle of Wight, England, in 1970, as well as Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," recorded live in Berkeley, California, that same year.

"I think the box set represents the four top creative years of his life," said Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's sound engineer. "It shows that growth pattern and shows behind-the-scenes little things that he was doing in creating those records and (is a) sort of wonderful window into the mind of the man who to me was the greatest guitar player of all time."

The box set has been at least three years in the making. Three producers recovered tapes from a variety of sources, including a recording studio that had used 66 multitrack tapes as collateral for a $7,000 phone bill unpaid for more than 25 years, said producer John McDermott.

Despite getting rough handling over the years, all the tapes were in good condition. Live versions of "Hey Joe" and "Killing Floor," originally recorded for French radio in 1966, required "some trickery that I managed to get up to," Kramer said. "But the basic stuff was there."

"The take (of 'Hey Joe') that we're listening to on the box set has an earlier version of the backup singers singing a little out of key and not quite what they wanted," Kramer said. "Eventually that was scrapped and the Breakaways, which was an all-girl English group, were put on later.

"You can hear Jimi experimenting with his vocal. He's rustling the paper and going 'Oh...oh...oh I don't know where I am.' ... The first time he ever sang it, and he's laughing and carrying on."

Hendrix as a baby

The box set would not be complete without Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner," the soaring solo that gained so much notoriety at Woodstock. McDermott said he included a special 16-track recording of the anthem.

"What he did with this particular recording was almost, in a sense, to pre-date the guitar synthesizer by recording the guitar at different speeds with different-tone pedals ... any way he could to create the sound that he heard in his head" McDermott said.

"It's an amazing testament to somebody who is so willing at all times to push the barriers push the envelope do whatever he could to try to realize that creative vision."

Eddie Kramer was the sound engineer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience

"This is the Beethoven of that time," said Hendrix bass player Billy Cox.

Mitch Mitchell, who played drums, said he admired Hendrix's pioneering spirit.

"It's very rarely in your life that you can work with other musicians that encourage you to be as free as possible."

Hendrix was a complete master of his instrument, Kramer said.

"It was such a fluid motion, from the brain to the heart to the hands to the feet with the pedals, that the nanosecond that he thought it, it came out with no interruption and his and he played from the heart." Kramer said.

Billy Cox (left) was a bass player and Mitch Mitchel a drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience

"He was such an emotional-charged singer.... He wasn't a great singer -- he hated his voice. He thought he had the worse voice in the world. But he was a great song stylist and what comes out is truth and honesty in his performance."

Hendrix's father Al, now in his 80s, said his son's choice in music took him aback. His success, though, did not.

"He'd been listening to black music all his life," the elder Hendrix said, "and when he came out as the Experience ... it was a surprise to me because it was somewhat altogether different than what I'd always been listening to.

"But I always told him, 'When you start playing music you do something original.' He sure did, and I was really proud of him for doing that."

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The Official Jimi Hendrix Web site
The Axis - A Jimi Hendrix EXPERIENCE

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