Jimi Hendrix/NY,USA 1968 1st Generation Master

The release of Jimi Hendrix’s precious recordings, which began with his Hawaii live performances in his later years, has recently been followed by releases capturing the dynamic stage of 1967 with audience recordings of astonishing sound quality. This time, we have a live recording from 1968, which can be said to be the peak of Jimi and the Experience. Jimi had won popularity in his native America with his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival the previous year, but his live activities in the country in 1967 were only during the summer, and he continued to focus on live activities in the UK as before. It may seem surprising considering his popularity at Monterey, but in 1968, he returned to the United States and resumed live activities in earnest in February. This resulted in a wealth of live recordings being left throughout the year. Moreover, a branch of the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, where he had appeared the previous year (no recordings from that time have been excavated), opened on the East Coast, and Jimi performed a gig at the theater named Fillmore East on May 10th. Fillmore East is a venue with which he has a deep connection, but this was his first time performing there. Two stages were performed on this day, but the second show is the one that has the audience recording. It doesn’t have the same soundboard-like closeness as the 1967 Stockholm performance that has been released so far, but the balance between Jimi’s vocals and performance is very good, and considering that this was also recorded in 1968, the quality is surprisingly easy to listen to. Since it was such an audience recording, there was a track record of releases in the past, and there were items such as “ONE NIGHT STAND” and its copy “CITY TO THE STICKS ’68”. However, they were basically out of pitch and were cassettes that had fallen out of sync, and to top it off, fake cheers were used to cover up the cuts that had occurred between songs. After all, the performance and sound quality were excellent, so the antiquated processing was just too disappointing. Among traders, ATM, Jimi’s enormous sound source network, naturally has a version without such gimmicks in circulation, and it has been considered the best among enthusiasts in recent years. Last year, a version based on this, in which the hiss noise, which is the dilemma of the original sound source, was thoroughly removed, was shared on a fan site. However, the hiss was suppressed, and the finish was undeniable with a sense of equalization. However, for this release, a first-generation master that was distributed only among core traders, which is completely different from those, was provided by a world authority on Hendrix research. Therefore, it is natural that the sound quality is better than any previous version. What is even more noteworthy is that the finale “Wild Thing”, which was cut off in less than a minute in the previous sound source, is recorded for more than three minutes here. Even so, it is still an incomplete recording, but the difference in recording time is too large. And to make it suitable for release, the hiss noise was reduced as a final touch without changing the sound quality. Furthermore, the pitch was adjusted. The sound quality is so good that the incandescent performance has long been a reputation among enthusiasts, but Jimi here is really in top form. At that time, the production of the masterpiece double album “ELECTRIC LADYLAND” was in full swing, and Jimi was on a roll. It was as if that momentum was transferred to the stage as it was, and he played it so hard that it felt good. This is particularly evident in “Red House”. There are many photos from that day, but in this song, Jimi switched to a black Les Paul and started playing with a careful look on his face in the first half, but halfway through, he played like a raging wave. It was a 15-minute performance, but it didn’t feel long at all, which was impressive. Unlike the previous year, when he only played solos within the scope of studio recordings, he gained popularity and was able to include a lot of improvisation, and the playing time of each song started to be extended, but even “Hey Joe”, a symbol of Jimi’s early singles, has a live arrangement introduced in the intro. In addition, Jimi’s solo in this song is also a masterpiece with devilish playing. By the way, the amp complained of malfunction soon after the show started that day, and the noise that came from the amp was actually heard vividly. Even so, Jimi continued to play hard until “Foxy Lady” without getting tired, but the amp was probably replaced during the guitar change time at “Red House”. Even so, Jimi had plenty of room on this day, and even in between such troubles, he played the intro to Chuck Berry’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”, and then lightly played Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love”, which later became a regular stage repertoire, and he was very light-footed. Furthermore, he also played a cover song with Bob Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window” (the playful ending is also a masterpiece). It is a wonderful live performance that really packs the momentum unique to the first half of 1968 into one album. Although it is a famous sound source known for past items, the long-awaited definitive version of the 1968 Fillmore that will sweep them away is finally here! Fillmore East, New York City, NY, USA 10th May 1968 (2nd Show) (62:30) 1. Lover Man 2. Fire 3. Foxy Lady 4. Red House 5. Hey Joe 6. Sunshine Of Your Love 7. Hear My Train A Comin’ 8. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? 9. Purple Haze 10. Wild Thing Jimi Hendrix – Guitar, Vocals Noel Redding – Bass Mitch Mitchell – Drums