Jimi Hendrix: At Last... The Beginning - The Making of Electric Ladyland [DVD]

Product description

Synopsis The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland DVD comes forty years after the initial release of Electric Ladyland , the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was the last Hendrix studio album to have been produced during the guitar icon’s lifetime and reflects his meticulous involvement in every facet of its creation. The DVD documents the creation of the album that was released in the fall of 1968 as a two LP set. Some of Jimi’s closest associates are seen on screen discussing their recollections of Hendrix and the project including JHE bassist Noel Redding, drummer Mitch Mitchell, manager Chas Chandler who discovered Hendrix after he left the Animals; drummer Buddy Miles who appeared on the album and later went on to work with Hendrix in The Band of Gypsys, Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady, Steve Winwood and Dave Mason from Traffic and others who participated in the Electric Ladyland sessions that took place at Olympic studios in London and The Record Plant in New York. Originally produced in 1997 as the premiere episode the acclaimed Classic Albums television series, The Making of Electric Ladyland is newly edited with expanded features and almost 40 minutes of additional content not seen in the original feature. Tracklisting Prologue / Burning of the Midnight Lamp / …And The Gods Made Love / All Along The Watchtower / Rainy Day, Dream Away / Still Raining, Still Dreaming / Voodoo Chile / Crosstown Traffic / Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) / Little Miss Strange / Gypsy Eyes / South Saturn Delta / House Burning Down / 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be) / Long Hot Summer Night / Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) / Epilogue

Amazon.com

Originally produced in 1997 as part of the Classic Albums series, The Making of Electric Ladyland is reissued here newly edited and with some 40 minutes of additional material, making it a genuine treasure trove for Jimi Hendrix fans. Recorded in fits and starts during an arduous, poorly planned tour of America and released in 1968, Electric Ladyland was the third and final studio album the rock-guitar legend completed during his lifetime, and while it was arguably not his greatest--many would argue in favor of its more focused predecessors, Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love--it’s his most ambitious and most experimental; it originally occupied two full vinyl discs and featured several additional musicians, songs by other writers, an extended blues jam, and one piece, "1983… A Merman I Should Turn to Be," that took up almost all of one side. A lot of the folks who took part in the recording are on hand to discuss it, including several who are no longer with us (like producer Chas Chandler, bass player Noel Redding, and drummers Buddy Miles and Mitch Mitchell, both of whom died in 2008). The musicians’ insights and recollections are cool; organist Mike Finnigan sits at his Hammond B-3 and demonstrates the deep groove the band created for "Rainy Day, Dream Away" (a session Finnigan was never paid for!), while bass player Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane plugs in and replicates the part he played on "Voodoo Chile." But the best moments come when engineer Eddie Kramer sits at the mixing console and isolates different tracks from various tunes, revealing touches like Hendrix’s harpsichord part on "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," his comb-kazoo playing(!) on "Crosstown Traffic," and the electric sitar he jacked through a wah-wah pedal on "1983." There are also vintage interview clips with Hendrix himself, as well as talk about his work habits, his lifestyle, and the controversial photo of nude women that originally adorned the cover. But it’s the music that matters, and The Making of Electric Ladyland is a fascinating look at the work of one of music’s true immortals. --Sam Graham