Recorded before a sold out audience, the performance of the original lineup – Hendrix, drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding – has never before been released in its entirety.
Opening their show with “Tax Free” – an obscure 1967 instrumental by Swedish duo Hansson & Karlsson, with whom the Experience had previously shared bills in Stockholm – the band’s set blended more familiar tunes such as “Foxey Lady”, “Purple Haze” and “Red House” with an early reimagining of “The Star Spangled Banner” (which Jimi would canonize four months later at Woodstock) and a unique medley of “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love”.
The 1969 concert was recorded by Wally Heider and Bill Halverson contemporaneously, and recently remixed by longtime Hendrix producer/engineer Eddie Kramer for maximum audio fidelity. It was produced by Kramer, Janie Hendrix, CEO of Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. and the sister of Jimi Hendrix, and John McDermott, who manages the Hendrix music catalog on behalf of Experience Hendrix.
The package’s liner notes are by former LA Times staff writer/critic Randy Lewis with a preface by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons who attended the Hendrix Forum show, having toured with the Experience as part of the Moving Sidewalks, his pre-ZZ band.
“After the performance, Jimi came by and said, ‘Hey man, how did we do?’” Gibbons states in the liner notes. “How do you respond to that since there’s no basis for comparison as it was such a singular performance? All I could manage was, ‘I’m floored, I’m fixed’ and left it at that. Still am.”
“The Jimi Hendrix Experience Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969” is now available in multiple formats, including 2LP vinyl, CD and all digital platforms.
Get your copy of the new release here.
See also:
Jimi Hendrix streams Purple Haze from 1969 Los Angeles Forum concert
Jimi Hendrix to release 1969 Los Angeles Forum concert
Jimi Hendrix estate streams 1970 Baltimore concert
Jimi Hendrix to be honored with rare second historical UK blue plaque
Search Jimi Hendrix at hennemusic
