Are You Experienced
Encyclopedia
Are You Experienced is the debut album by English/American rock
band The Jimi Hendrix Experience
. Released in 1967, it was the first LP for Track Records
. The album highlighted Jimi Hendrix
's R&B
-based, psychedelic
, distortion-and feedback
-laden electric guitar playing and launched him as a major new international star.
Are You Experienced has remained a critical and commercial success since its release. The album reached number 2 in the United Kingdom, behind The Beatles
' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
. The US version of the album contains some of Hendrix's best known songs, including "Purple Haze
", "Hey Joe
", "The Wind Cries Mary
" and "Fire". In 2003, Rolling Stone
magazine ranked it #15 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was an instant success and was a best-selling album in the United States in 1968 and critics subsequently regarded it as one of the best rock albums of all time.
In 2005 Are You Experienced was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry
at the Library of Congress
in the United States.
, Chas Chandler
, formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience in England in 1966 with Mitch Mitchell
on drums and Noel Redding
on bass. The band signed with Track Records, a new label formed by The Who
's managers Kit Lambert
and Chris Stamp
. They recorded three singles produced by Chas Chandler while simultaneously touring throughout England: "Hey Joe"/"Stone Free", which was released in December 1966 through Polydor Records because Track Records was not yet operational; "Purple Haze"/"51st Anniversary", released in March 1967 and was the first release by Track Records on a special white label; and "The Wind Cries Mary"/"Highway Chile" which was released in May 1967 and is said to be written by Hendrix for his long time love, Kathy Etchingham (whose middle name is Mary), after he was left alone at home when she stormed out after a fight. All three of these singles reached the Top 10 in the UK. The Experience's first single, "Hey Joe", reached Number Six on the UK chart in early 1967, followed soon after by "Purple Haze", which peaked at #3 on the charts and its double platinum debut album, Are You Experienced. During the making of these singles, The Jimi Hendrix Experience also cut the tracks that became their debut album, which Chandler also produced with the Olympic Sudios engineer, Eddie Kramer (some tracks were recorded with engineers Dave Siddle at De Lane Lea and Mike Ross at CBS Studios).
.
, which produced the original cover with a picture by Bruce Fleming; the independent Barclay Records
in France
, which produced a completely different cover featuring a photo of Hendrix performing on a recent French TV show, surrounded by "psychedelic
" painted, swirling graphics; and Track parent Polydor Records
in Germany
, Italy
, and Spain
. In Germany, Polydor used the original Track Records cover but added "Jimi Hendrix" in similar lime green text above the white Are You Experienced logos on the front; in Italy this added text was red, while in Spain it was yellow. These latter releases featured "fake" stereo, processed from mono. The back cover had a track list added.
Barclay Records
of France added final punctuation to the album title: Are You Experienced? Some tracklists of the album also add the question mark to the title track. The South Africa
n Polydor release (due to the apartheid racial barrier, and that the main customer base was seen to be "whites") had no pictures, only text on a plain red background (mono only). Japan
, Australia
and New Zealand
Polydor (mono only) copies used the original UK layout.
(whose group portraits appeared on all three of the band's US album covers).
Secondly, and more crucially, "Red House", "Can You See Me" and "Remember" were all removed in order to make way for the three UK hit singles, "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe", and "The Wind Cries Mary", with the running order being shuffled in the process. This time the running order was selected by Hendrix himself, but "Red House" was excluded from the album against his wishes. He was told that the US and Latin America did "not like the blues". The spelling of the song "Foxy Lady" was also changed to "Foxey Lady" on the US and Canadian releases. This selection of tracks was also remixed into stereo. In August, the US version of Are You Experienced saw issue in both the original mono mix and the new stereo mix and became a strong and enduring seller. When the album was finally released in August 1967, three months after its European release, the new lineup-proved hugely influential with the album peaking at #5 and remaining on Billboard’s album chart for two years.
The 1993 Alan Douglas
re-release (MCA 10893) had a chronological track list, starting with the first three UK singles A and B sides replaced by the Reprise stereo mixes (except for "Stone Free", "51st Anniversary", and "Highway Chile") and followed by the original track list of the UK LP. The version of "Red House" included on this CD edition was the same as that originally included on the US LP "Smash Hits" in 1969, and different from the version of "Red House" present on the original Track UK LP. That original Track UK LP version can be heard on the CD Jimi Hendrix: Blues. It might also be noted that at the end of the version of Red House on the original UK Track LP, a bit of studio dialogue between Hendrix and Chas Chandler can be heard, and that on the "Blues" CD, only a snippet of Hendrix speaking from the beginning of the dialog can be heard.
After Jimi's father, Al Hendrix, won back the rights to his son's musical catalogue, Are You Experienced was again re-issued in 1997 (MCA 11602) and 2010, now under Sony Music Entertainment
worldwide, preserving the UK and US versions in their respective territories and including the extra tracks missing from the respective editions and restoring the original mono version of "Red House" (minus the dialogue at the end). The 2010 release includes a booklet with pictures of the band, lyric sheets (handwritten by Hendrix) and gear rental recipts of a music supplier in London.
named it the fifth greatest album of all time in 2001. In 2003, the US version of the album was ranked number 15 on Rolling Stone
s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
, having been ranked as number 5 in their twentieth anniversary listing The Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years published in 1987. Kerrang!
magazine listed the album at No. 41 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". Guitarist
magazine named the album number one on their list of "the most influential guitar albums of all time" in 1994 and Mojo
magazine similarly listed it as the greatest guitar album of all time in 2003. Creem
magazine named the album number six on the Top Ten Metal Albums Of The 60s. Vibe (12/99, p. 156) included it in its list of 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century. NME
(10/2/93, p. 29) ranked it #29 in its list of the "Greatest Albums Of All Time". In March 2000 a poll from Guitar World
Magazine named Are You Experienced the greatest album of the Millennium. Later, in 2006, a reader's poll from that magazine placed the album at #3 on a list of the Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time. "The Jimi Hendrix Experience are a musical labyrinth—you either find your way into the solid wall of incredible sound, or you sit back and gasp at Hendrix’ guitar antics and showmanship, wondering what it’s all about," a review from the article “Walker Surprises” by Keith Altham from the New Music Express Magazine on April 8, 1967.
, except "Hey Joe" by Billy Roberts
.
United Kingdom & international editions
Side one:
Side two:
1997 Experience Hendrix reissue
North American edition
Side one:
Side two:
1997 Experience Hendrix reissue
1993 Alan Douglas
edition
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Production personnel
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
. Released in 1967, it was the first LP for Track Records
Track Records
Track Records is an English record label founded in London in 1966 by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of hard rock band The Who. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap...
. The album highlighted Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
-based, psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, distortion-and feedback
Audio feedback
Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...
-laden electric guitar playing and launched him as a major new international star.
Are You Experienced has remained a critical and commercial success since its release. The album reached number 2 in the United Kingdom, behind The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
. The US version of the album contains some of Hendrix's best known songs, including "Purple Haze
Purple Haze
"Purple Haze" is a song written in 1966 and recorded in 1967 by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and released as a single in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It appeared on their 1967 album Are You Experienced...
", "Hey Joe
Hey Joe
"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such, has been performed in a multitude of musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico...
", "The Wind Cries Mary
The Wind Cries Mary
The Wind Cries Mary is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience released as the band's third single, backed with "Highway Chile", on May 5, 1967. It reached no. 6 in the UK Charts. The track is an example of psychedelic blues-rock, as the song is in the key of F major, with a guitar solo primarily...
" and "Fire". In 2003, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine ranked it #15 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was an instant success and was a best-selling album in the United States in 1968 and critics subsequently regarded it as one of the best rock albums of all time.
In 2005 Are You Experienced was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
in the United States.
Development
Hendrix, along with producer and former bass player for The AnimalsThe Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
, Chas Chandler
Chas Chandler
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
, formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience in England in 1966 with Mitch Mitchell
Mitch Mitchell
John Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
on drums and Noel Redding
Noel Redding
Noel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
on bass. The band signed with Track Records, a new label formed by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's managers Kit Lambert
Kit Lambert
Christopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert was a record producer and the manager for The Who.-Early life:Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant Lambert...
and Chris Stamp
Chris Stamp
Christopher Stamp is a British psychodrama therapist based in the state of New York. Stamp is also known for co-founding the now defunct Track Records and for co-managing and producing such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s.-Childhood:Born into a working-class family,...
. They recorded three singles produced by Chas Chandler while simultaneously touring throughout England: "Hey Joe"/"Stone Free", which was released in December 1966 through Polydor Records because Track Records was not yet operational; "Purple Haze"/"51st Anniversary", released in March 1967 and was the first release by Track Records on a special white label; and "The Wind Cries Mary"/"Highway Chile" which was released in May 1967 and is said to be written by Hendrix for his long time love, Kathy Etchingham (whose middle name is Mary), after he was left alone at home when she stormed out after a fight. All three of these singles reached the Top 10 in the UK. The Experience's first single, "Hey Joe", reached Number Six on the UK chart in early 1967, followed soon after by "Purple Haze", which peaked at #3 on the charts and its double platinum debut album, Are You Experienced. During the making of these singles, The Jimi Hendrix Experience also cut the tracks that became their debut album, which Chandler also produced with the Olympic Sudios engineer, Eddie Kramer (some tracks were recorded with engineers Dave Siddle at De Lane Lea and Mike Ross at CBS Studios).
Production
The album was produced in a very short time. According to the background information in the 180 gram vinyl re-release as of 2010, Hendrix stated he wanted to record with "the best gear and musicians available". Producer Chas Chandler supplied a Fender Fuzz Tone amplifier for Hendrix's Fender StratocasterFender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
.
European release
Are You Experienced was released in the United Kingdom in May 1967 without the three singles, as was the custom in the UK at that time. At the time of release, The Jimi Hendrix Experience had been extensively touring in Europe. The touring for the album began during the winter of 1966-67, around working man's clubs and little theaters in the north of England. The effort paid off, the album became one of the defining releases of the psychedelic movement, reaching #2 in the UK and remaining on the British charts for eight months behind The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.Album cover
In Europe this LP was released by three different companies: the new "independent" Track RecordsTrack Records
Track Records is an English record label founded in London in 1966 by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of hard rock band The Who. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap...
, which produced the original cover with a picture by Bruce Fleming; the independent Barclay Records
Barclay Records
Barclay Records is a French record label founded in the mid-1950s by Eddie Barclay under the alias, Edouard Ruault. Eddie Barclay also founded the Riviera label in the early-1950s....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, which produced a completely different cover featuring a photo of Hendrix performing on a recent French TV show, surrounded by "psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
" painted, swirling graphics; and Track parent Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. In Germany, Polydor used the original Track Records cover but added "Jimi Hendrix" in similar lime green text above the white Are You Experienced logos on the front; in Italy this added text was red, while in Spain it was yellow. These latter releases featured "fake" stereo, processed from mono. The back cover had a track list added.
Barclay Records
Barclay Records
Barclay Records is a French record label founded in the mid-1950s by Eddie Barclay under the alias, Edouard Ruault. Eddie Barclay also founded the Riviera label in the early-1950s....
of France added final punctuation to the album title: Are You Experienced? Some tracklists of the album also add the question mark to the title track. The South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n Polydor release (due to the apartheid racial barrier, and that the main customer base was seen to be "whites") had no pictures, only text on a plain red background (mono only). Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Polydor (mono only) copies used the original UK layout.
The Reprise American & Canadian compilation release
Although word of the Hendrix phenomenon spread to the US, he was not seen in America (and no records were released) until the summer of 1967, when, at Paul McCartney's insistence, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival, held in Monterey California on June 18, 1967. The performance, which Hendrix climaxed by burning his guitar, was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker for the documentary Monterey Pop. It was only after this show-stealing performance that his American and Canadian label, Reprise Records, prepared the album for release, but with some significant changes. The cover and the art on the album changed. The UK cover, which featured a picture of the band on a black background, was abandoned, and a more psychedelic design was devised by photographer designer Karl FerrisKarl Ferris
Karl Ferris is an English photographer/designer, best known as one of the principal innovators of "psychedelic" photography. A photographer to the “British Rock Elite” - Eric Clapton, Cream, Donovan, The Hollies and Jimi Hendrix - Ferris was invited - as a style consultant and their personal...
(whose group portraits appeared on all three of the band's US album covers).
Secondly, and more crucially, "Red House", "Can You See Me" and "Remember" were all removed in order to make way for the three UK hit singles, "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe", and "The Wind Cries Mary", with the running order being shuffled in the process. This time the running order was selected by Hendrix himself, but "Red House" was excluded from the album against his wishes. He was told that the US and Latin America did "not like the blues". The spelling of the song "Foxy Lady" was also changed to "Foxey Lady" on the US and Canadian releases. This selection of tracks was also remixed into stereo. In August, the US version of Are You Experienced saw issue in both the original mono mix and the new stereo mix and became a strong and enduring seller. When the album was finally released in August 1967, three months after its European release, the new lineup-proved hugely influential with the album peaking at #5 and remaining on Billboard’s album chart for two years.
The CD releases
The original Reprise (USA/Canada) CD was originally identical to their original stereo LP version, whereas the European CD release used the original UK track list, but replaced with the Reprise stereo re-mix versions (except for the original mono version of "Red House", which has never been mixed into stereo and "Remember", which used the mono version, but processed to "sound stereo").The 1993 Alan Douglas
Alan Douglas (record producer)
Alan Douglas is an American record producer who has worked with Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Lenny Bruce and the Last Poets. He runs his own record label, Douglas Records....
re-release (MCA 10893) had a chronological track list, starting with the first three UK singles A and B sides replaced by the Reprise stereo mixes (except for "Stone Free", "51st Anniversary", and "Highway Chile") and followed by the original track list of the UK LP. The version of "Red House" included on this CD edition was the same as that originally included on the US LP "Smash Hits" in 1969, and different from the version of "Red House" present on the original Track UK LP. That original Track UK LP version can be heard on the CD Jimi Hendrix: Blues. It might also be noted that at the end of the version of Red House on the original UK Track LP, a bit of studio dialogue between Hendrix and Chas Chandler can be heard, and that on the "Blues" CD, only a snippet of Hendrix speaking from the beginning of the dialog can be heard.
After Jimi's father, Al Hendrix, won back the rights to his son's musical catalogue, Are You Experienced was again re-issued in 1997 (MCA 11602) and 2010, now under Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
worldwide, preserving the UK and US versions in their respective territories and including the extra tracks missing from the respective editions and restoring the original mono version of "Red House" (minus the dialogue at the end). The 2010 release includes a booklet with pictures of the band, lyric sheets (handwritten by Hendrix) and gear rental recipts of a music supplier in London.
Reception
Are You Experienced has been cited as one of the greatest debut albums of the rock era. The TV channel VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
named it the fifth greatest album of all time in 2001. In 2003, the US version of the album was ranked number 15 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
, having been ranked as number 5 in their twentieth anniversary listing The Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years published in 1987. Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine listed the album at No. 41 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". Guitarist
Guitarist (magazine)
Guitarist is a monthly music making magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. The magazine features reviews of newly released guitars, amplifiers and other equipment, plus interviews with guitar players, features on the guitar industry, news articles, and features on playing...
magazine named the album number one on their list of "the most influential guitar albums of all time" in 1994 and Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine similarly listed it as the greatest guitar album of all time in 2003. Creem
Creem
Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...
magazine named the album number six on the Top Ten Metal Albums Of The 60s. Vibe (12/99, p. 156) included it in its list of 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
(10/2/93, p. 29) ranked it #29 in its list of the "Greatest Albums Of All Time". In March 2000 a poll from Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
Magazine named Are You Experienced the greatest album of the Millennium. Later, in 2006, a reader's poll from that magazine placed the album at #3 on a list of the Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time. "The Jimi Hendrix Experience are a musical labyrinth—you either find your way into the solid wall of incredible sound, or you sit back and gasp at Hendrix’ guitar antics and showmanship, wondering what it’s all about," a review from the article “Walker Surprises” by Keith Altham from the New Music Express Magazine on April 8, 1967.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, except "Hey Joe" by Billy Roberts
Billy Roberts
Billy Roberts is an American songwriter and musician credited with composing the 1960s rock music standard "Hey Joe"...
.
United Kingdom & international editions
Side one:
- "Foxy LadyFoxy Lady"Foxy Lady" is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from their 1967 album Are You Experienced. It can also be found on a number of Hendrix's greatest hits compilations, including Smash Hits and Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix...
" – 3:22 - "Manic DepressionManic Depression (song)"Manic Depression" is a song written and recorded by Jimi Hendrix and first released in 1967 on the Are You Experienced album.-Overview:The song's name is an old name for bipolar disorder, a mental health disorder...
" – 3:46 - "Red HouseRed House (song)"Red House" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and originally recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966. The song, a slow twelve-bar blues, "is one of the most traditional in sound and form of all his official recordings". It was developed during his pre-Experience days while Hendrix was...
" – 3:53 - "Can You See Me" – 2:35
- "Love or Confusion" – 3:17
- "I Don't Live Today" – 3:58
Side two:
- "May This Be Love" – 3:14
- "Fire" – 2:47
- "3rd Stone from the SunThird Stone from the Sun"Third Stone From the Sun" is a song written and originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix and released as "3rd Stone From The Sun" on the 1967 Are You Experienced album by Jimi Hendrix Experience...
" – 6:50 - "Remember" – 2:53
- "Are You ExperiencedAre You Experienced? (song)"Are You Experienced?" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience for their 1967 debut album Are You Experienced. The song was recorded on April 3, 1967 at Olympic Sound Studios in London, England; the songs "May This Be Love" and "Highway Chile" were recorded on...
" – 4:17
1997 Experience Hendrix reissue
- "Hey JoeHey Joe"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such, has been performed in a multitude of musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico...
" – 3:30 - "Stone FreeStone Free"Stone Free" is a song by Jimi Hendrix, the first song he wrote. The Jimi Hendrix Experience first released it in December 1966 as the B-side of Hendrix's first single "Hey Joe." In December 1969 "Stone Free" was released as a single in the US, backed with "If 6 Was 9."The song is one of the few...
" – 3:36 - "Purple HazePurple Haze"Purple Haze" is a song written in 1966 and recorded in 1967 by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and released as a single in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It appeared on their 1967 album Are You Experienced...
" – 2:51 - "51st Anniversary" – 3:15
- "The Wind Cries MaryThe Wind Cries MaryThe Wind Cries Mary is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience released as the band's third single, backed with "Highway Chile", on May 5, 1967. It reached no. 6 in the UK Charts. The track is an example of psychedelic blues-rock, as the song is in the key of F major, with a guitar solo primarily...
" – 3:20 - "Highway ChileHighway Chile"Highway Chile" is a song by English/American psychedelic rock band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, featured as the B-side to their 1967 third United Kingdom single "The Wind Cries Mary"...
" – 3:32
North American edition
Side one:
- "Purple Haze" – 2:46
- "Manic Depression" – 3:46
- "Hey Joe" – 3:23
- "Love or Confusion" – 3:15
- "May This Be Love" – 3:14
- "I Don't Live Today" – 3:55
Side two:
- "The Wind Cries Mary" – 3:21
- "Fire" – 2:34
- "Third Stone from the Sun" – 6:40
- "Foxey Lady" – 3:15
- "Are You Experienced?" – 3:55
1997 Experience Hendrix reissue
- "Stone Free" – 3:35
- "51st Anniversary" – 3:15
- "Highway Chile" – 3:32
- "Can You See Me" – 2:32
- "Remember" – 2:48
- "Red House" (stereo mix) – 3:51
1993 Alan Douglas
Alan Douglas (record producer)
Alan Douglas is an American record producer who has worked with Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Lenny Bruce and the Last Poets. He runs his own record label, Douglas Records....
edition
- "Hey Joe" – 3:34
- "Stone Free" – 3:39
- "Purple Haze" – 2:54
- "51st Anniversary" – 3:18
- "The Wind Cries Mary" – 3:24
- "Highway Chile" – 3:35
- "Foxy Lady" – 3:22
- "Manic Depression" – 3:46
- "Red House" (stereo mix)– 3:53
- "Can You See Me" – 2:35
- "Love or Confusion" – 3:17
- "I Don't Live Today" – 3:58
- "May This Be Love" – 3:14
- "Fire" – 2:47
- "Third Stone from the Sun" – 6:50
- "Remember" – 2:53
- "Are You Experienced?" – 4:17
Personnel
All track numbers are according to the United Kingdom and international editions track listing.The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
on track 1, handclapsClappingA clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance...
on track 6, voice of "Star Fleet" on track 9, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on track 11 - Noel ReddingNoel ReddingNoel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals on tracks 1, 8 and 14 - Mitch MitchellMitch MitchellJohn Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
on tracks 4, 7, 10 and 13, backing vocals on track 6, cowbell on track 13
Production personnel
- Chas ChandlerChas ChandlerBryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, voice of "Scout Ship" on track 9 - Dave Siddle – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
on tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 - Eddie KramerEddie KramerEdwin H. Kramer is an audio engineer and producer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Triumph, Kiss , Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, Anthrax, Carly Simon, Loudness, and Robin Trower.-1960s:Eddie...
– engineering on tracks 7, 11 and 17, additional engineering on tracks 5, 8, 9 and 14 - Mike Ross – engineering on tracks 1, 3 and 9
Songbooks
- Instrumental parts for 17 songs: ISBN 0-7935-2694-9
- Drum parts for 17 songs: ISBN 0-634-00920-6
External links
- NPR special on the selection of the album to the 2005 National Recording RegistryNational Recording RegistryThe National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...