We were expecting a steady flow of releases, as the legal problems between the beneficiaries of the musician who died on September 18th, 1970 have been finally settled. But Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott would rather exhume their inheritance bit by bit under the Experience Hendrix L.L.C. banner (Legacy Recordings). The voracious fans might regret being dazzled for only thirteen tracks, but the highly anticipated Both Sides Of The Sky keeps its promises: first-class brand new tracks for all audiences, with a high-quality recording on top of that.
If Electric Ladyland, the third studio album of his Experience, was a double album, an extraordinary case in October 1968, this is most of all because Jimi Hendrix was scared that his new compositions would fall out of fashion if he put them aside. What would he say if he saw that his recordings from that time are discovered as brand new tracks forty years later? Both Sides Of The Sky is in line with People, Hell and Angels (2013), and thus with the series of posthumous compilations started as soon as March 1971 with Cry Of Love. You will thus find a dozen brand new or rare tracks gathered, drawn from sessions spanning three years (from 1968 to 1970). Let’s remind you that the gatekeepers of Hendrix’ estate possess more than 900 hours of recordings. As his manager Chas Chandler explained, in the three years during which he assisted Hendrix, the left-handed musician never stopped once. As if he was preparing an album he could never finish: “There was no beginning and no end to recording the album, it was just a matter of when the band was available to go to into a studio and record tracks…” And even when the pressing needs of his record company forced him to release albums or singles, this falsely laid back perfectionist often felt the need to come back to the tracks whose “definitive” version didn’t satisfy him.
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