I’ve been looking for a vinyl copy of Electric Ladyland for awhile now. Occasionally I would find one while cratedigging, but discs themselves would always turn out to be in really rough shape. I think I’ve said before that I don’t care that much about the covers. As long as they’re in reasonably good shape, I’ll pick up the album if the vinyl is relatively clean. I’m not really a collector. I just want the music. I finally found the great Hendrix album last weekend at my favorite vinyl haunt, Hold Fast in Asbury Park. The cover was in pretty bad shape, but the vinyl wasn’t bad, and the price was right.
There are some albums that just sound like they were recorded in the middle of the night in a dimly lit studio. Electric Ladyland is a classic example of that. This is music of the night, dark, almost frightening at times. It’s the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, although the participation of bassist Noel Redding is minimal. Redding, along with manager Chas Chandler, was unhappy with the amount of time the band was spending in the studio. Hendrix not only invited friends to the sessions, he insisted on multiple takes of songs. So he ended up playing a lot of the bass parts (on a right-handed bass), while Redding sat it out in the pub.
The recording of actually began at Electric Ladyland began at Olympic Studios in London, but the sessions got down to serious business when recording moved to the newly opened Record Plant in New York City. Hendix was well known as a perfectionist. He insisted on 43 takes of “Gypsy Eyes,” and still wasn’t happy with the finished recording. He made Traffic’s Dave Mason (uncredited on the album) play the acoustic guitar part for “All Along the Watchtower” 20 times before he was satisfied. You know what? It was worth it, wasn’t it? There were other guest musicians along for the ride as well. Listen to Steve Winwood’s fantastic organ playing on the chilling “Voodoo Chile.” A third member of Traffic, Chris Wood, played on the album, as did future Band of Gypsys drummer Buddy Miles, renowned keyboard player Al Kooper, and Jefferson Airplane bass player Jack Casady (credited as Jack Cassidy). The album was recorded by Gary Kellgren and Eddie Kramer. (more…)
There is really no rhyme or reason for the way these things go, but lately I’ve noticed a very definite increase in the amount of people who are discovering, or rediscovering, Traffic. Maybe it’s the dearth of great music, maybe it’s just their time, but in the last few months I’ve had a number of people tell me how great Traffic was, as if it were a revelation.
This story I’m telling, it starts in the middle. But this is a story that loops and circles in on itself, like a cloverleaf roadway; you’ve got to start where you are, and go forward to the beginning.