Track Listing

1. Introduction (Jimi Hendrix/Live At Berkeley)
2. Pass It On (Straight Ahead)
3. Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
4. Lover Man
5. Stone Free
6. Hey Joe
7. I Don't Live Today
8. Machine Gun
9. Foxey Lady - Janie Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Eddie Kramer, John McDermott, Abe Jacob, Pete Scriba, George Marino, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox
10. Star Spangled Banner
11. Purple Haze
12. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9272 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Live, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .19 pounds
• Running time: 67 minutes

CD Description
While there's certainly no shortage of posthumous Jimi Hendrix concert recordings running the gamut in terms of quality, this one is something special. It captures Hendrix in a period of transition. He was ready to start a new chapter, having no way of knowing he'd be dead in a matter of months. After his Band of Gypsys phase, he had decided to reunite the original Experience, but bassist Noel Redding declined, perhaps convinced that his band, Fat Mattress, was bound for glory. Consequently, the visceral R&B of the Gypsys mixed with the fluid open-endedness of the Experience through the combination of Mitch Mitchell and drummer Billy Cox.
On this night in Berkeley in 1970, the trio was on fire, roaring through "old" chestnuts ("Hey Joe", "Purple Haze") invested withnew life, and pushing the boundaries with works-in-progress(embryonic versions of what would become "Straight Ahead" and "New Rising Sun"). It's interesting to note that while Hendrix's gut-wrenching solos on the evening's second set wereamong his most expressive, the song list tended toward the more blues-based numbers rather than the psychedelic masterpieces he'd been concocting in the studio. It's as fascinating to hear him make his way through the thickets where composition and improvisation meet, as it is tragic that we'll never know where he would have emerged at the other end of his journey.

Customer Reviews

A Classic Hendrix Concert
This is an indispensible show in great sound. It doesn't have the superb tracks from the earlier Berkeley concert, but it's a record of the second show, OK?

Of course, it escapes me why on earth Experience Hendrix didn't release the first show as well. Perhaps they were afraid of putting two double sets on the market one after the other (the other was last year's Isle of Wight set), but most Hendrix fans will buy everything anyway.

The most likely explanation, unless they've lost the tapes (oh no!) is that the Experience Hendrix is saving the first show up for another day.

Anyhow, I really like this show, from its loose beginnings, to the great versions of Hey Baby, Machine Gun and Voodoo Chile.
The sound, helped by the fact that this was an indoor show, is warm, full and you can hear the drums properly for a change.

The band is really tight, more so than some of the other bootlegged shows of this era, or the Atlanta show a few weeks later.

The cover and notes are a bit lacking and also confusing in that they have photos from the first and second shows. Overall, but, a good package and a good intro to the enjoyment within.

But, EH, please please please give us the first show as well!

A Fantastic Show
It's a fantastic concert.

This is the latest in a series of wonderful releases from Experience Hendrix over the past few years. It is clear that the Hendrix Estate aren't sure of the best way to market Jimi's live concerts, and they've tried a range of approaches. "Live at Fillmore East" was a 2CD compilation from four concerts - a great set for the casual fan but the serious completists complained that they would rather have had a box set of all four shows in their entirety. The Isle of Wight concert ("Blue Wild Angel") was released in two formats, a single CD of highlights for the casual fan and a 2CD set for the serious completists - so everyone was happy. Now the second of the two Berkeley concerts has been released in its entirety, and I would suggest this is good news for both the casual fan and the completist.

Personally I would have preferred a complete set of both concerts, perhaps marketed like "Blue Wild Angel", but on balance I'm pleased that Experience Hendrix have opted to issue this concert in its entirety. Perhaps the first show will follow in due course.

The second concert was the better of the two shows and altogether a much tighter show. OK, the two most famous Berkeley recordings "Hear my train a coming" and "Blue Suede Shoes" were highlights of the first show and need to be in any Jimi collection, but most fans will already have them already on the "Voodoo Child" set or the "Experience" Box Set anyway. The first show peaked early with those two fantastic tracks and rambled a bit in the second half when Jimi was suffering from tuning problems.

But let's concentrate on this new release of the second show. First of all, the sound and the mix are fantastic and knock spots off the bootleg tapes that have been circulating for years. The performance is tight, enthusiastic, energetic and a joy from beginning to end. There's a killer sequence of tracks at the opening - "Pass it on" (a fascinating work in progress), followed by "Hey Baby" (new to both the band and the audience and sounding as fresh as a daisy), "Lover Man" (the definitive version previously available on "In the West", complete with the "Flight of the Bumble Bee" solo"), and tight renditions of "Stone Free" and "Hey Joe". You are halfway through the concert before Jimi even pauses for breath! The rest of the concert is largely Jimi's standard 1970 show closers but - with the possible exception of "Foxy Lady", where Jimi has a tuning problem and changes guitar half-way through - all are close to definitive performances, with "Machine Gun" and "Voodoo Chile" particular standouts.

The proof of this CD is in the listening. It is a fantastic concert for the newcomer and the completist. It's certainly not a wasted opportunity. A compilation of both Berkeley concerts definitely would have been a wasted opportunity, and the Hendrix Estate should be congratulated for not going down that easy route. Maybe one day we'll get an official release of the first concert, but I suspect we'll still play this one more.

The misunderstood Hendrix legacy...
Let me clear up a few inaccuracies with the rather lamentable one-star review of this live disc. This is the second show Hendrix (with Mitchell and Cox) played at the Berkeley Community Centre on his final US tour in 1970. Unlike patchy shows at Atlanta and Hawaii which have crept onto the market, the Berkeley concerts represent a glorious slice of the live Hendrix experience (the pun was stubbornly not intended). Hendrix and co's first show included the aforementioned 'Johnny B Goode' and 'Hear My Train', two epochal slices of Hendrix's inimitable technique and the astonishing interplay of this tight and innovative band. These are both available for the record on other Experience Hendrix titles. Aside from an astonishing 'Machine Gun' and an inspired take on 'Red House' (2 songs which rarely let Hendrix down in concert) that first Berkeley concert is not the equal of the second show this disc presents. 'Hey Baby' features one of Hendrix's greatest live guitar tones, and a robust vocal; 'Lover Man' is presented in its definitive version (fans will recognise it as the version on the 1971 LP Hendrix In The West); 'Hey Joe' and 'Purple Haze' were frequently tossed off by Hendrix with minimal emotional involvement, but these readings are an exception to this rule. It is immensly rewarding to hear Hendrix in such fine and confident singing voice on these numbers. 'Machine Gun' is an aural hurricane, and Voodoo Child boasts some of Hendrix's most lyrical playing. One could concoct a whole songbook using the tunes and motifes Hendrix pulls out of the bag on this lengthy reading.
The accompanying film, 'Jimi Plays Berkeley' is frustrating due to the rough editing of tracks, but just because that film is a poor document does not in any way diminish the stature of this disc. Woodstock and Isle of Wight were released, I believe, out of necessity by the Hendrix family. EVERYONE knows Hendrix played Woodstock so it was bound to sell, and the Isle of Wight of course had the coup of being the last soundboard recording of a Hendrix show. Finally, with this disc, it seems that the Hendrix family are unearthing tapes and releasing them (as with 'Hendrix at the Fillmore East') on the merit of the music. On this night, the music most certainly worked.