Two Jimi Hendrix albums, “The Cry Of Love” and “Rainbow Bridge”, will be reissued on CD, vinyl and digital on September 16th.
The guitar icon’s first and second posthumous studio releases, respectively, will be reintroduced with original album art and track orders. Both albums have been remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog masters. “The Cry Of Love” was last issued on CD in 1992, while “Rainbow Bridge” has never before seen an official CD release.
Originally released in 1971, “The Cry Of Love” was compiled and mixed by Hendrix’s longtime engineer Eddie Kramer and Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell. The bulk of these tracks were recorded between December 1969 and the summer of 1970 at Electric Lady Studios in New York, and were intended to be part of an ambitious double LP tentatively titled “First Rays Of The New Rising Sun.”
Commercially, "The Cry Of Love" was a huge success, reaching No. 3 in the U.S. and No. 2 in the UK, and spawned favorites such as “Angel,” “Freedom,” and “Ezy Ryder.” While Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox comprised the rhythm section on the lion’s share of the tracks, Buddy Miles played drums on “Ezy Ryder” and Noel Redding played bass on “My Friend” (recorded in 1968, before his departure from the Jimi Hendrix Experience). The album also includes the participation of notable guest musicians including Steve Winwood, Chris Wood and Buzzy Linhart among others.
“Rainbow Bridge” was also compiled and mixed by Eddie Kramer and Mitchell in 1971, with the help of Electric Lady Studios engineer John Jansen. Most of the tracks were recorded in 1969 and 1970, during the same sessions that spawned “The Cry Of Love.”
“Rainbow Bridge” is often misconstrued as being an entirely live album, being that the film of the same name features excerpts of a live Jimi Hendrix performance in Maui. However, Hendrix had no role in the creation of the rambling, unfocused 1971 film which was directed by Chuck Wein. The film was not a Hendrix project in any way but instead an independent vision of his manager Michael Jeffery. After Hendrix’s death in September 1970, Jeffery scrapped Hendrix’s original vision of a double studio album titled “First Rays Of The New Rising Sun” and called for Kramer, Mitchell and Jansen to compile two posthumous albums—including one that would that would serve as a soundtrack for the “Rainbow Bridge” film.
Mitchell, Kramer and Jansen drew upon Hendrix’s rich trove of studio recordings that the guitarist had been developing at Electric Lady Studios. Songs such as “Dolly Dagger” and “Room Full Of Mirrors” were bright examples of Hendrix’s new creative direction. Other standouts on the album included a studio rendition of “Star Spangled Banner” as well as the majestic “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun).” The one live track on the album, a rendition of Hendrix’s original blues composition, “Hear My Train A Comin’”, is taken from a performance at Berkeley Community Theatre in May of 1970, and not in the film at all. Buddy Miles and Noel Redding both appear on one track each, and the Ronettes provide backing vocals on “Earth Blues.”
Jim Hendrix
"The Cry Of Love"
01) Freedom
02) Drifting
03) Ezy Ryder
04) Night Bird Flying
05) My Friend
06) Straight Ahead
07) Astro Man
08) Angel
09) In From the Storm
10) Belly Button Window
Jimi Hendrix
"Rainbow Bridge"
01) Dolly Dagger
02) Earth Blues
03) Pali Gap
04) Room Full of Mirrors
05) Star Spangled Banner (studio version)
06) Look Over Yonder
07) Hear My Train A Comin’ (live)
08) Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
See also:
Jimi Hendrix Park breaks ground in Seattle
Jimi Hendrix documentary earns two Emmy nominations
Jimi Hendrix biopic All Is By My Side trailer released
Official Jimi Hendrix sculpture to be unveiled
Search Jimi Hendrix at hennemusic
