Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Foxey Lady
2. Alexis Korner Introduction
3. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
4. Rhythm and Blues World Service
5. Hoochie Coochie Man, (I'm Your) - (Alexis Koerner)
6. Traveling With the Experience
7. Driving South
8. Fire
9. Little Miss Lover
10. Introducing the Experience
11. Burning of the Midnight Lamp
12. Catfish Blues
13. Stone Free
14. Love or Confusion
15. Hey Joe
16. Hound Dog
17. Driving South
18. Hear My Train a Comin'

Disc 2:

1. Purple Haze
2. Killing Floor
3. Radio One
4. Wait Until Tomorrow
5. Day Tripper
6. Spanish Castle Magic
7. I Was Made to Love Her
8. Jammin'
9. Foxey Lady
10. Brand New Sound
11. Hey Joe [Alternate Take]
12. Manic Depression
13. Driving South [Alternate Take]
14. Hear My Train a Comin' [Alternate Take]
15. Happening for Lulu
16. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
17. Lulu Introduction
18. Hey Joe
19. Sunshine of Your Love

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38428 in Music
• Released on: 1998-06-02
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .27 pounds

Amazon.com
Some of Jimi Hendrix's live radio broadcasts for the BBC were released by Rykodisc in 1988 on Radio One, but The BBC Sessions, remastered and fleshed out into a two-disc completist's dream, is perhaps the best document of how the Experience sounded live in 1967. From blues stomps such as Muddy Waters's "Catfish Blues" to surly R&B vamps such as the three takes of Curtis Knight's "Driving South," Hendrix explores his roots with hardscrabble passion. Meanwhile, he pushes the psychedelic-pop spectrum with surprisingly rich versions of studio-tweaked numbers like "The Burning of the Midnight Lamp." There's plenty of slop--a stumbling jam with Stevie Wonder on "I Was Made to Love Her"--and lots of horsing around and awkward interview fragments. But in its balance of pop form, interstellar improv, R&B pedigree, and sheer charm, The BBC Sessions is about as accurate and honest a snapshot of the charismatic, still-pimply 24-year-old phenom as you're likely to hear. --James Rotondi

New Musical Express
This 37-track double-CD collection of the JHE's BBC Sessions includes a smattering of "anoraks only" naff tracks but also contains killer versions of classics such as "Driving South," "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze" and "Voodoo Chile." You also get devastating interpretations of "Day Tripper," "Fire" and a blasting 90 mph "Killing Floor...." And if that wasn't enough, we also get a bizarre psychedelic blues reworking of a 1960s Radio 1 jingle.

People
[T]hese live performances ... must have set teacups rattling throughout the Empire. Hendrix's sound finds new life on these two CDs.

Customer Reviews

Has the great, the good and the -frankly- sloppy
A die-hard Hendrix fan, I had to buy this album because let's face it - he had such a short career that anything new that is at all good is a bonus. This album delivers the goods. There are several versions of the same songs, giving a better-rounded view of his thinking and ideas, especially when compared to the versions on the released albums. Also included are some lead-in announcements and short interviews by totally straight-laced-sounding BBC chaps and gals that sound retro and enthusiastic next to Jimi's laid-back responses.

The first CD has the more polished recordings and is a great example of Jimi's singularly pure, unworldly music. With such superb takes of the gamut of his repertoire, it's like having Electric-Ladyland-quality on every song. The second CD has a lot of sloppy takes and frankly bad lyrics, singing and playing (no wonder they weren't released!) As a musician, though, I found it inspiring to hear that it didn't always work perfectly, to hear him and the others working it out. There are more of the BBC voice-overs on the second CD to make up for the bad takes though. It's a great slice of history, and it's remarkable they were willing to release it. I recommend this to anyone who loves that time in music, who loves Hendrix, who plays in any kind of band, or who just loves the guitar.

Get this instead of 'Radio One'
'BBC Sessions' is an expanded 2-disc version of an out-of-print Rykodisc CD called 'Radio One.' If you've already got 'Radio One,' you've already got most of the good stuff here and will probably want to pass on this. If you haven't, you're in for a treat, although you might end up wishing for a slightly shorter-running time if you aren't an absolute Hendrix fanatic.

In virtually every way, this is an improvement over the Rykodisc version. There's a better cover photo, for starters (the Ryko featured a hideous hand-tinted Jimi photo). There are better liner notes - Ryko should be downright ashamed of themselves for implying that John Lennon sang backup on Jimi's version of 'Day Tripper.' (The rumor, as anyone with ears will tell you, simply isn't true). There's also a more careful sequencing of songs, and some of the patter between the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the program hosts have been restored.

As I have several other live Hendrix CDs, my favorite parts of the BBC Sessions are the songs that Jimi simply didn't perform elsewhere. "Killing Floor," "Driving South," "Catfish Blues," and "Hoochie Koochie Man" all give Jimi lots of space to play around with the blues, which was something his first two studio LPs didn't allow him to do. We also get two off-the-cuff rock covers, one of "Day Tripper" and one of "Hound Dog." Yes, Hendrix' solo in "Day Tripper" isn't one of his best, but at least it shows that he wasn't going to copy George Harrison note-for-note either. There's also the fun "Radio One" jingle goof, and I'll note that other rock bands such as the Beatles and the Who also did their own jingle spoofs when they appeared on the Beeb. There's also the only known live version of "Burning the Midnight Lamp" and an early version of "Hear My Train A'Comin" which would eventually evolve into a real showstopping blues tune during the Woodstock era. For what it's worth, I always thought that "Hear My Train A'Comin"'s evolution was far more interesting than "Voodoo Child"'s, even though the latter is one of Hendrix' best loved songs.

The sound quality of these discs, as with almost all BBC recordings, is almost unnaturally crisp and clean. Most likely this is due to the BBC engineers insisting that the volume levels in the studio be kept to a certain level. (It seems of all the classic rockers, only Jimmy Page was able to break these rules with Led Zeppelin). While this isn't typical of Jimi Hendrix' signature sound, the crisp clear and relatively undistorted Strat playing proves that Hendrix never used distortion effects like a crutch. Hendrix could really play, and I enjoyed being able to hear his songs in non-distorted versions.

Despite my generally positive review, I would also suggest that you start your Hendrix collection with his three studio albums (Are You Experienced, Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland) and then start exploring his live output. "BBC Sessions" is a fine place to begin your journey into the world of live Hendrix.

An Absolute Hendrix Gem-- Thanks BBC!
If you're a Hendrix fan, you NEED this two-CD set! What could be better than the JHE in its prime, recorded meticulously in a "live-studio" format, in Swinging London, where it all "began" for him? These BBC recordings are remarkably crisp, and you'll hear a happy Hendrix absolutely soaring in his "first blush" of fame. This is possibly the most consistently excellent "live" stuff you'll hear. Be warned, these BBC mono recordings sound quite different from the usual classic live stuff-- Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock; "Machine Gun" at the Fillmore East; "Johnny B. Goode" at Winterland; "Like A Roling Stone" at Monterey; and "Little Wing" at the Royal Albert Hall. But in this BBC set, Hendrix' performances are consistent, conscientious, and his virtuosity is absolutely unquestioned. He mostly stays within the lines-- which can be a good thing, because I for one enjoy the exquisite tension borne when his infinity of ideas are balanced and honed within a psychedelic "pop" sensibility. And interestingly, I enjoy the tight, trebly mono sound because it provides another angle from which to enjoy Jimi's playing. There's also an intimate, conversational, "in the studio with Jimi" feel; his playing is red hot, and it cuts through like a thin laser here. I particularly love "Love or Confusion," "Wait Until Tomorrow," "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," "Hound Dog," and of course "Day Tripper" (in this CD version, unlike the earlier "Radio One" release, you can hear Hendrix doodling with Harrison's "I Want To Tell You" guitar intro before lurching into the famous "Day Tripper" riff). For those of you intensely involved with Hendrix' music, you'll dig the exquisite rhythm guitar he lays out throughout these cuts. For me, his soloing is almost of secondary interest compared to his unparalleled rhythmic ability. Let's face it-- with Hendrix, rhythm and lead often become meaningless categories, so integrated and complete is his playing. Hendrix is indeed the supreme rock instrumentalist of all time.