Jimi Hendrix: Valleys of Neptune

According to a recent article in Rolling Stone, the just-released Valleys of Neptune album is the first in what will likely be years and years of releases of studio recordings, concert recordings, films, and DVD's because there are apparently closets stacked full of tapes that the Experience Hendrix caretakers (headed by Hendrix's stepsister) have only begun to investigate.

That's because Hendrix recorded just about everything he ever did in a studio or on a stage and because he controlled all the rights to all his music -- rare for a musician in the 1960s.

If Valleys is a hint of what's to come, bring it on. Experience Hendrix says the 12 cuts on the record are "fully realized studio recordings," and while that's probably not the case -- they sound great but most Hendrix experts think he was just working out in the studio, trying to refine his next direction after the huge success of Electric Ladyland -- they are a great listen anyway. Most of the cuts are with the original Experience, Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums, but by the time of these sessions the Experience was, for all practical purposes, over and Hendrix was looking elsewhere for ideas and inspiration.

He tapped ex-Army buddy bassist Billy Cox to lend a new and open feel to the familiar "Stone Free," drive "Bleeding Heart," and lay a deep bottom on "Valleys," and he brought in a variety of percussionists to affect the spirit of a handful of cuts.

Three of the songs ("Ships Passing Through the Night," "Crying Blue Rain," and "Valleys of Neptune") are unreleased Hendrix originals, and the others are reworkings of songs Hendrix had recorded or played live for years, including Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and Elmore James' "Bleeding Heart." At least one, "Lullaby for the Summer," eventually morphed into "Ezy Ryder" but is here in a very satisfying complete take.

And though the Experience was on its last legs from a personnel standpoint, this music is right up there with some of their best stuff. A languid "Red House" almost stops dead it's taken so slow before grinding guitar cranks it back up. "Hear My Train A Comin," originally stripped and rebuilt with session players on the posthumous terrible, Crash Landing, is given a great new life with all original elements intact. "Fire" is taken at an almost breakneck speed for this tune, and the newly released "Ships Passing Through the Night" finds Hendrix playing a watery-sounding guitar that sloshes more than slices over Redding's bass and Chandler's steady if sometimes frilly drumming. "Sunshine," which Hendrix respected, is given a vocal-less treatment (one indication he's playing and searching for something) and a chunky, chugging guitar interlude in the middle leads the song into a direction altogether different from where Cream would have take it.

For those familiar with the Hendrix catalog Valleys of Neptune is a great addition, offering insights into what the Jimi Hendrix Experience was still capable of and where Hendrix was heading shortly before he died in 1970, and the addition of Cox hints at the soon-to-come Band of Gypsys sound.

But for those new to Hendrix start with the more accessible Smash Hits (avoid Midnight Lightning and Crash Landing which are now available only used because they've been discontinued) and then move to any of the studio albums before tackling Valleys of Neptune. Not that there's anything wrong with this, but Hendrix put his stamp of approval on only four records before he died so those are the places to start.