Electric Ladyland is the third and final album by
the Jimi Hendrix ExperienceThe Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English–American rock band, formed in London in 1966. Originally comprising American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until 1969, in which time they...
, released in 1968 on
Reprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra, which is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...
(see
1968 in music-Events:*January 4 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with bassist Noel Redding.*January 6 - Gibson Guitar Corporation patents its Gibson Flying V electric guitar design....
). Produced and mainly written by
Jimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter...
, the album is seen as the peak of Hendrix's mastery of the
electric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker. The signal that comes from the guitar is sometimes electronically altered with guitar effects such as...
. It is not only the last of his albums released as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but also the last of Hendrix's studio albums to be professionally produced under his own supervision. After
Electric Ladyland, Hendrix spent the remaining two years of his life attempting to organize a new band and recording a breadth of new songs. The original UK album cover was controversial because it had nude women on the front face. It was later replaced by a front cover made with Jimi Hendrix's face on it.
Released as a
double albumA double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold . A double album is typically, though not always, released because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium...
,
Electric Ladyland is a cross-section of Hendrix's wide range of musical talent. It includes samples of several genres and styles of music, including the psychedelia of "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" (previously a UK single in the summer of 1967), the bluesy guitar jam "
Voodoo Chile"Voodoo Chile" is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from the album Electric Ladyland. Recorded on May 2, 1968 at the Record Plant Studios in New York City, the recording session included Mitch Mitchell, drummer of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Steve Winwood of Traffic on B3 organ, and Jack...
", the New Orleans-style rock and roll of "
Come On"Come On", also known as "Let the Good Times Roll" is a song written and first performed by New Orleans R&B artist Earl King. Jimi Hendrix introduced it to wider audience by his cover in 1968.-Original version:...
", the epic studio production of "
1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)"1983... " is a song by English/American psychedelic rock band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, featured on their 1968 third studio album Electric Ladyland...
", and the social commentary of "House Burning Down". The album also features a cover version of
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
's "
All Along the Watchtower"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It initially appeared on his album John Wesley Harding...
" that has been widely praised by many, including Dylan himself, as well as "
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"Voodoo Child " is the last track on the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland. The song is known for its wah-wah-heavy guitar work. It is #101 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time....
", a staple of both radio and guitar repertoire.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 54 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Recording and production
After a troubled tour of
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
, a brief period of recordings for Electric Ladyland at Olympic studios in London,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and a prestigious concert at the Paris Olympia, Hendrix moved back to the USA for the start of his first proper tour there. Three months later he began work on the LP at engineer
Gary KellgrenGary Kellgren was an American record producer and co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios.-Engineering & Producing:...
and Chris Stone's newly opened
Record Plant StudiosRecord Plant Studios were three famous recording studios which were started and run by Gary Kellgren and Chris Stone . The first opening of the Record Plant was in New York City at 321 West 44th Street , in 1968...
which was situated close to his favorite clubs. It was recorded by Jimi's favorite engineers
Eddie KramerEddie Kramer is an audio engineer and producer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Triumph, Kiss , Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, Anthrax, Carly Simon, Loudness and Robin Trower.-1960s:Eddie...
and
Gary KellgrenGary Kellgren was an American record producer and co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios.-Engineering & Producing:...
, but although "other people have taken credit for the record, about ninety percent of it was done in Studio A in New York with Gary and Jimi." [Chris Stone] . During the recording of the album he fell out with producer Chas Chandler and bassist Noel Redding.
With a hectic tour schedule and also trying to record a masterpiece, Hendrix still wanted to have a life, so he combined work with pleasure by inviting his friends and acquaintances to the studio. Chas Chandler hated spending so much time in the studio and partly blamed it on these guests , but Jimi was determined to have his way and so his regular producer, manager and mentor
Chas ChandlerBryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
eventually quit in May 1968. Chandler later complained that Hendrix's insistence on doing multiple takes of every song ("
Gypsy Eyes"Gypsy Eyes" is a song by Jimi Hendrix, performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience on their 1968 album Electric Ladyland, and based on the field holler.-Lyrics:...
" apparently took 43 takes, and he still wasn't satisfied with the result), combined with what Chandler saw as Hendrix's drugged incoherence, led him to sell his share of the management company to his partner Michael Jeffery. But then Hendrix went on to produce his most successful LP himself and several very successful tours, mostly sold out.
Hendrix's studio perfectionism was legendary – he reportedly made guitarist
Dave MasonDavid Thomas Mason is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. In his long career, Mason has played and recorded with many of the era's most notable musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, The Rolling...
do over 20 takes of the acoustic guitar backing on "All Along the Watchtower" – yet he was always insecure about his voice and often recorded his vocals hidden behind studio screens. Hendrix sings all the backing vocals himself on the title track and on "Long Hot Summer Night". He was said to be very happy with the vocal results on the title track.
Despite having to go back on tour before the album was finished, many of the album tracks show Hendrix's vision expanding far beyond the scope of the original trio and saw him collaborating with a range of outside musicians including Dave Mason, Chris Wood and
Steve WinwoodStephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English singer-songwriter who performs and writes rock, blues-rock, and jazz. He sings with a tenor voice and is a multi-instrumentalist who plays Hammond organ, guitar, bass, and other string instruments. In addition to his solo career, he was a member of...
from
TrafficTraffic were an English rock band formed in 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group influenced by The Beatles when releasing early pop singles , and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards,like the...
; future
Band of GypsysBand of Gypsys is a live album and a project by Jimi Hendrix, backed by Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, that followed Experience. Released before his death in 1970, it was the last album Hendrix himself authorized, and the only Hendrix-authorized album to be released on Capitol Records...
drummer
Buddy MilesGeorge Allen Miles, Jr. , known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.-Early life:...
;
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
bassist
Jack CasadyJack Casady , is an American musician considered one of the foremost bass guitarists of the rock music era and best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane. First playing as a lead guitarist with the Washington D.C...
; and former Dylan organist
Al KooperAl Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, probably best known for organizing the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, though he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity...
.
Co-operation between Hendrix and bassist Noel Redding (who was of the same opinion about time spent in the studio as Chandler ) was strained during the production of the album. Hendrix plays bass tracks (on a right-handed bass guitar) on many tracks including the bass solo parts on "1983". Sometimes Hendrix recorded bass tracks just in order to make things go on faster. Redding plays acoustic guitar and sings lead vocals with Mitchell on his own track, "Little Miss Strange."
Release and reception
Electric Ladyland was first released in the U.S. in September 1968 and became a massive hit; it was Hendrix's only #1 album. The UK edition reached #6 upon its release amid considerable controversy. A letter Hendrix wrote to Reprise described exactly what he wanted for the cover, but it was mostly ignored. He expressly asked for a colour photo by
Linda EastmanLinda Louise McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman, heiress to the Lindner Department Store fortune.She married Paul McCartney of The Beatles on March 12 1969, and was a member of Wings...
of the group sitting with children on a sculpture from Alice in Wonderland in Central Park, NY, even drawing a picture of it for reference. The company instead used a blurred red & yellow photo of his head, taken by
Karl FerrisKarl 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...
. Track Records had its own art department, which produced a cover depicting 19 nude women lounging in front of a black background. The original UK & German CD release from the 1980s features the UK artwork cover, while the Allan Douglas' re-master CD issue features the U.S. version by Ferris, which has since become the official worldwide cover of
Electric Ladyland. The company Experience Hendrix, which owns the rights to the album and most of Hendrix's catalogue, has stated that the original UK nudes cover will not be used any longer, since Hendrix himself did not like it; nonetheless Hendrix's own choice, the Eastman photo, is still ignored.
A dispute nearly occurred over the album's title. In the final stages of production, a studio technician renamed the album "Electric
Landlady." The album was almost released under this official title until Hendrix noticed the error, which upset him considerably.
Kirsty MacCollKirsty Anna MacColl was an English singer-songwriter.MacColl scored several pop hits from the early 1980s to the early 1990s...
later used this alternate title for
an albumElectric Landlady is Kirsty MacColl's third studio album. Released in 1991, it was her second Capitol Records release and second collaboration with producer/husband Steve Lillywhite...
of her own.
In 2005
Q magazineQ is a music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, with a circulation of 130,179 as of June 2007.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new...
readers voted
Electric Ladyland the 38th greatest album of all time; in 2003 the TV network
VH1VH1 is an American cable television network based in New York City...
placed it at number 72. In 2003, Rolling Stone declared it the 54th greatest album of all time. The album is included in the book
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, released in 2006.It consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2005, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd. The book is arranged chronologically, starting with Frank Sinatra's In the...
. Also,
The SourceThe Source is a United States-based, monthly full-color magazine covering hip-hop music, politics, and culture, founded in 1988. It is the world's second longest running rap periodical, behind United Kingdom-based publication Hip Hop Connection. The Source was founded as a newsletter in 1988. The...
magazine ranked it #40 on their
Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time list in 2006.
US Release (LP)
Nudes Cover Track Listing (UK) (CD)
Personnel
The following credits are from the CD booklet.
- Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter...
– electric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker. The signal that comes from the guitar is sometimes electronically altered with guitar effects such as...
, bassThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
(on tracks 2, 6, 8, 11, 14 and 15), electric harpsichord (on track 9), percussionA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration...
, lead vocals (on all non-instrumental tracks except 5 in which Mitch and Noel sing), background vocals, kazooThe kazoo is a wind instrument with a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when one vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton—a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane.-Playing:...
made of comb and paper (track 3), a slide used in "All Along the Watchtower" is actually a cigarette lighterA lighter is a portable device used to create a flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable fluid or pressurized liquid gas, a means of ignition, and some provision for extinguishing the flame.-History:...
- Mitch Mitchell
John "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
– drumsA drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...
(on all tracks except 10 and 13), percussionA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration...
, background vocals, lead vocals (with Redding on track 5)
- Noel Redding
David "Noel" Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
– bassThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
(on tracks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 16), background vocals, acoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only acoustic methods to project the sound produced by its strings. The term is a retronym, coined after the advent of electric guitars, which depend on electronic amplification to make their sound audible....
(on track 5), lead vocals (with Mitchell on track 5)
- Jack Casady
Jack Casady , is an American musician considered one of the foremost bass guitarists of the rock music era and best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane. First playing as a lead guitarist with the Washington D.C...
– bassThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
(on track 4)
- Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English singer-songwriter who performs and writes rock, blues-rock, and jazz. He sings with a tenor voice and is a multi-instrumentalist who plays Hammond organ, guitar, bass, and other string instruments. In addition to his solo career, he was a member of...
– organ (on track 4)
- Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, probably best known for organizing the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, though he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity...
– piano (on track 6)
- Cissy Houston
Emily Cissy Drinkard Houston , better known as Cissy Houston, is a Grammy Award winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
and The Sweet Inspirations – background vocals (on track 9)
- Larry Faucette – congas (on tracks 10 and 13)
- Mike Finnigan
Mike Finnigan is an American keyboard player and Vocalist, his specialty being the Hammond Organ. Finnigan has toured and sessioned for the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Sam Moore, Crosby Stills and Nash, Dave Mason, Buddy Guy, Manhattan Transfer, Taj Mahal, Michael McDonald,...
– organThe organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet...
(on tracks 10 and 13)
- Freddie Smith – tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, is the most common type of saxophone. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef,...
(on tracks 10 and 13)
- Buddy Miles
George Allen Miles, Jr. , known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.-Early life:...
– drumsA drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...
(on tracks 10 and 13)
- Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was an English musician and one of the founding members of the rock group The Rolling Stones. Jones was known for his use of multiple instruments, his flamboyant attire and his recreational drug excesses.- Early life :Jones was born in the Park Nursing Home in Cheltenham,...
- percussionA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration...
[on track 15]
- Dave Mason
David Thomas Mason is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. In his long career, Mason has played and recorded with many of the era's most notable musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, The Rolling...
– Acoustic 12-String guitar (on track 15), backing vocals (on track 3)
- Chris Wood
Christopher Gordon Blandford 'Chris' Wood was a founding member of the English rock band Traffic, along with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Dave Mason.- History :Chris Wood had an interest in both music and painting from early childhood...
– fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
(on track 11)
Production
- Producers - Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter...
& Chas ChandlerBryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
- Engineers - Eddie Kramer
Eddie Kramer is an audio engineer and producer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Triumph, Kiss , Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, Anthrax, Carly Simon, Loudness and Robin Trower.-1960s:Eddie...
& Gary KellgrenGary Kellgren was an American record producer and co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios.-Engineering & Producing:...
- Mixed by - Jimi Hendrix & Eddie Kramer
- Arranged by Jimi Hendrix
- US cover liner note by Jimi Hendrix
- US cover design - Karl Ferris
- US cover inside photos - Linda Eastman (McCartney)
Linda Louise McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman, heiress to the Lindner Department Store fortune.She married Paul McCartney of The Beatles on March 12 1969, and was a member of Wings...
& David Sygall
- US art direction - Ed Thrasher
- UK cover design - David King, Rob O'Connor
- UK cover inside photos - David Montgomery
1st cd remaster by Lee Herschberg (Reprise 6307-2)
2nd cd remaster by Allan Douglas
- Remastering - Joe Gastwirt
- Liner notes - Michael Fairchild
3rd cd remaster by Experience Hendrix
- Remastering supervisors - Janie Hendrix, John McDermott
- Remastering - Eddie Kramer & George Marino
- Art direction - Vartan
- Liner notes - Jeff Leve
- Essay - Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor was a British journalist, best known as the long-serving press agent for The Beatles. He was a local journalist in Liverpool who worked for the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, the News Chronicle, the Sunday Dispatch, and the Sunday Daily Express, and was also a regular columnist and...
Album
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1968 |
Billboard Top 200 Albums |
1 |
| 1968 |
UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website ; the full Top 200 is published exclusively in ChartsPlus.To qualify for the UK albums...
|
6 |
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart |
Position |
| 1967 |
"Burning of the Midnight Lamp "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, first released as a mono single b/w "The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice" in the United Kingdom on August 19, 1967 . It later appeared on the band's third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland...
" |
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
|
18 |
| 1968 |
"All Along the Watchtower" |
Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
20 |
| 1968 |
"All Along the Watchtower" |
UK Singles Chart |
5 |
| 1969 |
"Crosstown Traffic "Crosstown Traffic" is the 3rd song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from the album Electric Ladyland.-Composition & Lyrics:The song features a makeshift kazoo made with a comb and tissue paper. The backing vocals are performed by Experience bassist Noel Redding and Traffic's Dave Mason.This song is...
" |
UK Singles Chart |
37 |
| 1970 |
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return) "Voodoo Child " is the last track on the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland. The song is known for its wah-wah-heavy guitar work. It is #101 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time....
" |
UK Singles Chart |
1 |
| 1971 |
"Gypsy Eyes "Gypsy Eyes" is a song by Jimi Hendrix, performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience on their 1968 album Electric Ladyland, and based on the field holler.-Lyrics:...
/Remember" |
UK Singles Chart |
35 |
| 1990 |
"All Along the Watchtower EP (with "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 on the run and planning to head to Mexico after...
" & "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)") |
UK Singles Chart |
52 |
| 1990 |
"Crosstown Traffic" |
UK Singles Chart |
61 |
See also
- Classic Albums
Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.-Format:...
- The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003.Related news articles: The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums...
- Electric Church
Electric Church was a quasi-spiritual belief that electric music brings out emotions, feelings, and creative ideas in people, and encourages spiritual maturity...
- Electric Larryland