New Jimi Hendrix Single, “Somewhere,” From People, Hell & Angels

Experience Hendrix LLC and Legacy Recordings launch a yearlong celebration of the life and music of Jimi Hendrix (who would’ve turned 70 November 27, 2012)–with the simultaneous release of People, Hell & Angels (a new album of twelve previously unreleased studio performances) and newly-struck mono vinyl editions of Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love on Tuesday, March 5.

“Somewhere” — a previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix studio track providing a first taste of the forthcoming People, Hell & Angels — premieres on RollingStone.com Tuesday, January 8 and will be available as a single on Tuesday, February 5.

Recorded at New York’s Sound Center on March 13, 1968 and mixed by Eddie Kramer, “Somewhere” features Hendrix on guitar and vocals with Stephen Stills on bass and Buddy Miles on drums during the artist’s first session in America where he assumed the mantle of producer alongside performer.  While still performing in a trio context, Jimi explored new musical possibilities in “Somewhere.”  The sixth and final take from reel two, this newly available master is wholly different from previously available versions.

“Somewhere” will be available as a digital single, a limited edition vinyl single (available at independent record stores) and a CD single (available at Walmart).  The b-side of the vinyl single is a previously unreleased studio recording of “Power of Soul” by Band of Gypsys, mixed by Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Kramer in August 1970.  The CD single features the b-side, “Foxey Lady,” a previously unreleased Band of Gypsys performance recorded live at the Fillmore East in January 1970.  Both the vinyl and CD versions of “Somewhere” will tt struck in limited, numbered editions.

People, Hell & Angels will be showcased in a pair of hour-long special broadcasts on the NPR series “World Cafe.”  The album is also slated for a profile on “Elwood’s Bluesmobile,” the Dan Aykroyd-hosted radio series airing on 180 commercial stations across the United States, Canada and the Armed Forces Network.

An essential new album premiering twelve previously unreleased studio recordings completed by guitaristJimi Hendrix, People, Hell & Angels showcases the legendary guitarist working outside the original Jimi Hendrix Experience trio. Beginning in 1968, Hendrix grew restless, eager to develop new material with old friends and new ensembles.  Outside the view of a massive audience that made him (and the Experience) rock’s largest grossing concert act with two albums in the US Top 10, Jimi was busy working behind the scenes to craft his next musical statement.

These twelve recordings encompass a variety of unique sounds and styles incorporating many of the elements—horns, keyboards, percussion and second guitar—Jimi wanted to incorporate within his new music.   People, Hell & Angels presents some of the finest Jimi Hendrix guitar work ever issued and provides a compelling window into his growth as a songwriter, musician and producer.

With an album title coined by Jimi Hendrix, People, Hell & Angels reveals some of Hendrix’s post-Experience ambitions and directions as he worked with new musicians–including the Buffalo Springfield’sStephen Stills, drummer Buddy Miles, Billy Cox (with whom Hendrix had served in the 101st US Army Airborne and later played on the famed R & B ‘chitlin circuit’ together) and others–creating fresh and exciting sounds for the next chapter in his extraordinary career.

The dozen previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix performances premiering on People, Hell & Angelsinclude “Earth Blues,” “Somewhere,” “Hear My Train A Comin’,” “Bleeding Heart,” “Baby Let Me Move You,” “Izabella,” “Easy Blues,” “Crash Landing,” “Inside Out,” “Hey Gypsy Boy,” “Mojo Man” and “Villanova Junction Blues.”

A musical companion piece and successor to 2010’s Valleys Of Neptune, the critically acclaimed album showcasing the artist’s final recordings with the original Jimi Hendrix Experience, People, Hell & Angels offers tantalizing new clues as to the direction Hendrix was considering for First Rays Of The New Rising Sun, his planned double album sequel to 1968’s groundbreaking Electric Ladyland.

People, Hell & Angels is co-produced by Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott.

Concurrent with the March 5 release of People, Hell & Angels, Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings will release 12″ vinyl editions of Are You Experienced (both US and UK versions) and Axis: Bold As Love, newly struck on 200-gram audiophile vinyl.  Each of these albums is individually numbered and features original artwork and sequencing.

Taken from the original monaural mixes created by Chas Chandler, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Kramer in 1967, with all analog mastering by Bernie Grundman, these much-sought-after mixes of Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love have been unavailable for decades.

Are You Experienced, the mind-blowing debut from the Jimi Hendrix Experience, is arguably the most fully-realized first album by a “new” artist and is inarguably one of the most influential, significant and enjoyable rock albums of all time.  There are, however, two distinctly different editions of this cornerstone in the rock pantheon. The original version, prepared and sequenced by Jimi and producer Chas Chandler, was issued throughout Europe In May 1967 and excluded the group’s first three UK singles (“Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe,” “The Wind Cries Mary”). While there has never been a mono release of the UK version of Are You Experienced in the US, the classic US version–with the iconic fish-eye cover–was only available in mono for a brief period following its original release in August 1967.  The original monophonic mixes for both the UK and US editions for Are You Experienced have been transferred to disc from the original master tapes by noted mastering engineer Bernie Grundman. Grundman’s all analog mono mastering process preserves the integrity, while projecting the vitality, of the original recordings.

Axis: Bold As Love, the sensational sophomore release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience showcased the artist’s expansive musical experimentalism while acknowledging his early R&B and soul music influences.  Remastered from the original two-track mixdown master tapes, Axis: Bold As Love’s 13-songs capture the rapidly evolving trio nearing the apogee of their career with a string of seminal classics including “Spanish Castle Magic,” “Little Wing,” “Castles Made Of Sand,” and “If 6 Was 9,” the classic Easy Rider anthem.  The original monophonic mixes have been transferred to disc from the original master tapes using Grundman’s all analog mono mastering process.

Are You Experienced – US sequence and artwork

Side 1

Purple Haze
Manic Depression
Hey Joe
Love or Confusion
May This Be Love
I Don’t Live Today

Side 2

The Wind Cries Mary
Fire
3rd Stone From the Sun
Foxey Lady
Are You Experienced

Are You Experienced – UK sequence and artwork

Side 1

Foxey Lady
Manic Depression
Red House
Can You See Me
Love or Confusion
I Don’t Live Today

Side 2

May This Be Love
Fire
Third Stone From The Sun
Remember
Are You Experienced

Axis: Bold As Love

Side 1

EXP
Up From The Skies
Spanish Castle Magic
Wait Until Tomorrow
Little Wing
If 6 Was 9

Side 2

You Got Me Floating
Castles Made of Sand
She’s So Fine
One Rainy Wish
Little Miss Lover
Bold As Love

jimihendrix.com

About Legacy Recordings

The multiple Grammy-winning Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment’s catalog division, produces and maintains the world’s foremost catalog of historic reissues, an unparalleled compendium of thousands of digitally re-mastered archival titles representing virtually every musical genre including popular, rock, jazz, blues, R&B, folk, country, gospel, Broadway musicals, movie soundtracks, ethnic, world music, classical, comedy and more.

About Experience Hendrix L.L.C.

Founded by James ‘Al’ Hendrix, Jimi’s father, in 1995, Experience Hendrix, has been managed since its inception by the family members handpicked by Al during his tenure as Chairman.   It is the official family company charged with managing the music, name, image and likeness of Jimi Hendrix. As a part of their daily operations, Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix oversee Jimi’s timeless legacy on a worldwide basis.

SOURCE Legacy Recordings