Jimi Hendrix Experience’s ‘Electric Ladyland’ Gets 50th Anniversary Box Set Treatment
By Variety Staff
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s iconic “Electric Ladyland,” Experience Hendrix and Sony’s Legacy Recordings are releasing a deluxe edition boxed set of the album on Nov. 9. Available as either a 3CD/1 Blu-ray set or a 6LP/1 Blu-ray set, both packages include the newly remastered original double album, along with “Electric Ladyland: The Early Takes,” which presents demos and studio outtakes from the era, plus a new 5.1 surround sound mix of the entire original album by Hendrix’s original engineer Eddie Kramer, which brings listeners the original stereo mixes in uncompressed 24 bit/96 kz high resolution audio.
Also included is “ Experience: Live At the Hollywood Bowl 9/14/68,” a previously unreleased concert recorded shortly before the release of “Electric Ladyland.” The Blu-ray also includes the acclaimed, feature length documentary “At Last… The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland.” A 48-page book containing lyrics, notes and rare photos is included as well.
“I had always dreamed of mixing Electric Ladyland in 5.1 surround sound,” says Kramer, who engineered every Hendrix album made during his life. “It always felt to me as the perfect vehicle for the kind of adventuresome stuff that Jimi and I were trying to do in 1968. The visceral thrill when we completed the first surround mix of ‘Voodoo Child (Slight Return)’ was palpable. It was an overwhelming experience—pun intended. We viewed this song as the surround test and the moment I heard it I flashed back on those moments when Jimi and I were mixing the stereo album, laughing at our attempts to find that ‘elusive’ sound.”
For the first time, the album will feature the cover Hendrix wanted: A shot of the band posing with children at the statue of Alice In Wonderland in New York’s Central Park, taken by the late Linda Eastman (who later married Paul McCartney). The photo was used on the album’s inside gatefold.
Electric Ladyland Deluxe Edition includes:
Side A
1) … And the Gods Made Love
2) Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
3) Crosstown Traffic
4) Voodoo Chile
Side B
1) Little Miss Strange
2) Long Hot Summer Night
3) Come On (Part I)
4) Gypsy Eyes
5) Burning of the Midnight Lamp
Side C
1) Rainy Day, Dream Away
2) 1983….(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
3) Moon, Turn the Tides….Gently Gently Away
Side D
1) Still Raining, Still Dreaming
2) House Burning Down
3) All Along the Watchtower
4) Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
At Last…The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland: The Early Takes
Side A
1) 1983…(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
2) Voodoo Chile
3) Cherokee Mist
4) Hear My Train A Comin’
Side B
1) Angel
2) Gypsy Eyes
3) Somewhere
4) Long Hot Summer Night [Demo 1]
5) Long Hot Summer Night [Demo 3]
6) Long Hot Summer Night [Demo 4]
7) Snowballs At My Window
8) My Friend
Side C
1) At Last…The Beginning
2) Angel Caterina (1983)
3) Little Miss Strange
4) Long Hot Summer Night [Take 1]
5) Long Hot Summer Night [Take 14]
Side D
1) Rainy Day, Dream Away
2) Rainy Day Shuffle
3) 1983…(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At The Hollywood Bowl Sept. 14, 1968 (Dagger Records)
Side A
1) Introduction
2) Are You Experienced
3) Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Side B
1) Red House
2) Foxey Lady
3) Fire
Side C
1) Hey Joe
2) Sunshine of Your Love
3) I Won’t Live Today
Side D
1) Little Wing
2) Star Spangled Banner
3) Purple Haze
At Last… The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland documentary (Blu-ray)
- Uncompressed LPCM Stereo 24b/96k
- Uncompressed LPCM 5.1 Surround 24b/96k
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround 24b/96k
