Maps of Music

Are You Experienced (1967)

Where the lyrics of Are You Experienced take you, and where it was really made.

The debut album was first issued in the UK without three of the band's singles, which were added only to the US edition.

Key places

Olympic Studios, the main recording room (1967)

Recording site Olympic Studios — Chandler booked many of the album sessions at Olympic because the room was acoustically superior and had newer equipment. Engineer Eddie Kramer joined the band there on 3 February 1967. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

De Lane Lea Studios, the early sessions (1967)

Recording site De Lane Lea Studios — Early sessions for the album, including Hey Joe on 23 October 1966, were held at De Lane Lea Studios. Chandler later became dissatisfied with the sound quality there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Are You Experienced is the debut studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
• Released in the UK on 12 May 1967 by Track Records
• Released in the US on 23 August 1967 by Reprise Records, with a different track list
• Recorded over five months, from late October 1966 to early April 1967
• Completed in 16 recording sessions at three London studios
• The first three singles were left off the UK LP and included on the US edition

Background

• Hendrix struggled to earn a living as a back-up guitarist on the R&B circuit
• Chas Chandler, who was leaving the Animals, brought Hendrix to London on 24 September 1966
• Chandler recruited Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell to form the Experience
• Decca Records rejected the band before they signed with Track
• Track was formed by the Who's managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp

Recording

• Sessions began on 23 October 1966 with Hey Joe at De Lane Lea Studios
• Olympic Studios became the main studio, and engineer Eddie Kramer joined on 3 February 1967
• British studios were still using four-track recorders while American studios used eight-track
• Much of the pre-production was done at a shared apartment to save money
• Final mixing was completed at Olympic by 3 a.m. on 25 April 1967

Cover

• Chris Stamp designed the UK cover, which used a photo by Bruce Fleming
• Hendrix disliked the UK cover, so Karl Ferris shot a new one for the US release
• The US cover was shot at Kew Gardens in London with a fisheye lens

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born James Marshall Hendrix in Seattle on November 27, 1942; began playing guitar at age 15 in 1958.
• Enlisted in the US Army in 1961 and was discharged in 1962; then played on the Chitlin' Circuit with bands in Tennessee and Nashville.
• Moved to England in late 1966 after Chas Chandler of the Animals became his manager, and formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Members

• The Jimi Hendrix Experience consisted of Hendrix on guitar and vocals, bassist Noel Redding, and drummer Mitch Mitchell.
• Hendrix later worked with Billy Cox in the Band of Gypsys and the Cry of Love tour lineup.

Career

• The Experience achieved three UK top-ten hits in 1967: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary".
• Hendrix became famous in the US after his performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
• Electric Ladyland (1968) was his most successful album and his only US Billboard 200 number-one album.
• He headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970.
• He died in London in September 1970 at age 27 from barbiturate-related asphyxia.
• Hendrix is ranked by Rolling Stone as the greatest guitarist of all time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as part of the Experience.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Melody Maker praised the album's artistic integrity and the band's varied use of tempo
• NME's Keith Altham called it a brave effort by Hendrix to produce an original and exciting musical form
• Rolling Stone's Jon Landau, in November 1967, praised Hendrix as a great guitarist and brilliant arranger
• Landau disapproved of Hendrix's singing and songwriting and called the lyrics inartistically violent

Reappraisal

• Many critics later named it one of the greatest debut albums in rock and of all time
• Ritchie Unterberger called it one of the definitive albums of the psychedelic era
• Noe Goldwasser, founding editor of Guitar World, called it a veritable textbook of what a musician can do with his instrument
• Charles Shaar Murray said the album completely changed notions of what a guitar could sound like
• Robert Christgau called it a bombshell debut in his review for Blender

Records

• Reached number two on the UK chart and stayed 33 weeks
• Reached number five on the US Billboard Top LPs chart and stayed 106 weeks
• Sold more than one million copies within seven months of release
• Included in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2005
• Rolling Stone ranked it 30th in its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The UK edition left out Hey Joe, Purple Haze and The Wind Cries Mary, which were top ten hits in the UK, and the US edition added them
• Hendrix disliked the UK cover, and Karl Ferris shot a new photo at Kew Gardens for the US release
• The UK release was kept from the top spot by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• At Monterey Pop, Hendrix burned and smashed his guitar on stage, which helped the US release
• Track was not yet operational when the first single came out, so Polydor issued it with its own logo
• Polydor's head of A&R Horst Schmaltze called the finished LP the greatest thing he had ever heard

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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