Crawlspace Collectables Dept. - Jimi's Lost Albums

Album art copyright IoF© Art Department O' Art Dept.

In 1975, five years after Jimi Hendrix's death, producer Alan Douglas painstakingly overdubs A-list session musicians live onto tapes from his vault, using production and editing techniques that Teo Macero used with Miles Davis, and would later win Lennie Niehaus awards and critical praise for his "pioneering" treatment of Charlie Parker's recordings. And in a move he'd regret, Douglas claims composing credits in behind-the-scenes skullduggery, and comes across as arrogant blowhard in interviews.

The two albums sell well. Frothing fanbois cry foul, preferring *cough* "ragged glory" of original recordings.

Albums quickly go out of print as the *cough* "Hendrix Estate" gets her claws into his catalog, becoming sporadically available on import. Douglas haters and Eddie Kramer groupies continue to clutch their pearls, everyone else who gets to hear the music thinks it's swell and can't see what the fuss is about.

 

Five years later, Douglas edits studio jams he'd set up for Hendrix with Miles Davis alumni Larry Young and Dave Holland (among others). Predictably, Nine To The Universe gets sneered at by weirdos who think production techniques are a crime, but again, it's a valuable and enjoyable recording. It's Hendrix, ffs.

 

 

 

 

Suddenly, it's 1995, and Hendrix again enters the charts with Douglas' Voodoo Soup, an impeccably compiled and produced album that had the fanbois frothing at the mouth, especially for replacing Mitch Mitchell on a couple of songs. That's just one of the many things critics still don't understand because they want the anti-Douglas narrative to continue: Douglas brought in Mitchell to replace his own tracks, but he arrived at the studio too drunk to perform, asking to be let off the gig. Another is the oft-repeated claim that this is Douglas' "attempt" to create First Rays Of The New Rising Sun. Well, it just ain't. As Douglas told me, he chose a new title for a new album, as only Jimi could create First Rays - something that didn't occur to the *cough* "Hendrix Estate". Considered by many to be the finest post-mortem Hendrix studio album, and many are right. All these albums are long out of print. They shouldn't be,

12" version of story here.

Box set version of story here.

Link to albums in comments.

 

In spite of my vow to recycle old pieces, I did an Alan Douglas with this one and overdubbed new screed. I love these albums, have a lot of respect for Alan Douglas, and know things about Janey Hendrix (the *cough* "Hendrix Estate") that would make you toss your ribs.