If there were any doubts about the lingering force of fabled rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix more than four decades after his death, his latest single should put them to rest.
The single Somewhere went to No.1 on the Billboard Hot Singles sales in February. That bodes well for the latest posthumous album plucked from the Hendrix musical vaults, which producers say has stood up well to the test of time.
Take our quiz and be in to win a copy People, Hell and Angels, a collection of twelve previously unreleased studio performances by Hendrix, although some of the songs have emerged in other versions since his death at age 27 in 1970 from an accidental drug overdose.
The tracks on People, Hell and Angels” were planned as a follow-up to the influential guitarist’s chart-topping 1968 album Electric Ladyland.
“After the huge success of the (Jimi Hendrix) Experience and those first albums, he wanted to branch out more, and the blues sound on this is just different from the others,” said Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s step-sister and president and CEO of Experience Hendrix, the company founded by the musician’s father to oversee the star’s estate.
“This new album is very important for all his fans as it really showcases his creativity and a different side to him,” she told Reuters.
Feeling constrained by the limitations of the Jimi Hendrix Experience trio (which included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding), the guitarist had already started working with an eclectic group of musicians.
They included the Buffalo Springfield’s Stephen Stills, drummer Buddy Miles, saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood and bassist Billy Cox, with whom Hendrix had served in the US military.
The resulting sessions, culled from 1968 and 1969, form the basis of People, Hell and Angels, co-produced by Janie Hendrix, original engineer and mixer Eddie Kramer and long-time Hendrix historian John McDermott.
The new album is the latest in a slew of albums, films, tribute tours and books following Hendrix’s death in 1970 in London. These materials far outnumber the three studio albums he released in his four-year career at the top.
“He’s a timeless artist and the technology’s finally caught up to what he was trying to do musically,” Janie Hendrix said.
How to win:
Take our quiz, and if you score about 75 per cent you’ll receive a keyword. Send us an email including this keyword, along with your name, address, post code and phone number, to [email protected].
