Winterland

Given that Jimi Hendrix's career as a frontman lasted only about three years, it might be hard to believe that there's still great material that hasn't been officially released even 40 years after his death (of course, unofficially released is a different matter). But here is Jimi's three-night stand at Winterland in San Francisco from October of 1968, which, despite excellent recordings by Wally Heider, sat largely unreleased until 2011. A single disc was compiled and released by Rykodisc in the early '90s (there was also a hard-to-find three-track bonus disc), but had been out of print for years when this box set arrived. The Winterland shows were notable for a few reasons. The original Jimi Hendrix Experience had been together for two years and were probably playing at the height of their powers in October 1968 (they would break up in June of 1969). They had about the most hectic schedule imaginable. This was before the days of setting up a tour that proceeds from city to city in an orderly manner. Most gigs were one-offs that the band would fly to, then fly home. Back home, they'd record for a day or two, then fly off again to gigs. Three days at one venue were a luxury and the San Francisco crowds encouraged experimentation, leading to a nice synergy between performer and audience. Although presented as three days, there were actually six shows. The Experience repertoire was not that deep, so most tunes were played at least twice, if not more ("Purple Haze" was played in every set). Jimi's m.o. was that the first set was mostly "the hits," or at least known tunes, while the second set generally had some surprises. Producers John McDermott and Eddie Kramer have done a really nice job of sequencing and editing to maintain much of the ebb and flow of Jimi's sets while avoiding too much track repetition. Jimi's opening sets were practically identical on October 10 and 11 so the producers chose to focus mostly on the second sets from those days. In fact, disc one (October 10) is the entire second set intact, with the insertion of "Foxey Lady" from the first set. It's clear from the opener, "Tax Free" (covering "a couple Swedish cats"), that Jimi is in complete control with his guitar, moving from standard Strat tones to raging feedback at will. "Lover Man" and "Sunshine of Your Love" are pretty loose, but Jimi really digs in on an amazing "Hear My Train A-Comin'." Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" with Jack Casady is next, then Jimi turns to some fan favorites to close the set. Jimi's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock is well known, but the Experience had been performing it for quite some time by Woodstock. This version from the 10th makes Woodstock sound downright conventional. It's nearly three minutes into this version before anything remotely resembling "The Star-Spangled Banner" emerges. Disc two is also mostly the second set, but it's edited a bit more. The set is intact until "Foxey Lady," except "Spanish Castle Magic" was removed as the second tune. This version of "Tax Free" is about the same length but is actually quite different from the first night. Both "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Hey Joe" get some assistance on organ from Herbie Rich of the Buddy Miles Express (who opened the show). After "Foxey Lady," we go back to the opener from set one, "Are You Experienced?," with Virgil Gonsalves (also from the Express) sitting in on flute. An excellent version of "Red House" also comes from the first set, while "Hey