This set includes the complete studio recordings of Jimi with Curtis Knight, until rumoured additional tracks see the light of day. There is a great deal of worthwhile playing in these recordings. Knight's vocals on the 1965 recordings can turn toward the trivial (Simon Says, Gotta Have a New Dress) or downright silly (UFO, Strange Things); on the 1967 tracks they are often rambling afterthoughts; but Jimi's signature guitar is always there. Unlike on the live recordings, Jimi makes almost no vocal contribution on the studio tracks.
As with the live set, here the SPV CDs have in general been avoided, because of their compression, clipping, and processed sound. In some cases they were needed for mixes or tracks that appear nowhere else. All tracks are stereo except where mono is noted. LP tracks were manually de-clicked, and then underwent a light automated de-crackle. Starting sources were in pretty good shape, so the result is very good.
Each track is listed with the "Electric Gypsy" / "UniVibes" index number and the "Jimpress" / "Ben Franklin" index number. Sometimes the EG/UV number does not precisely match the particular mix, due to the fact that many of the mixes are not separated out by UV, or are on releases not covered there.
Track timings are given for the actual song, excluding spoken intros, and are not in general the times between CD index marks.
The particular mix chosen for each track was a subjective thing, but generally stereo, most complete, least overdubbed mixes were used. Even after those guidelines were used, there were some choices to make, and these were made based on sound quality and some attempt to have mixes within each group of tracks be roughly consistent with each other.
Disc 1: Studio, 1965
The first 3 tracks are demos with Jimi on guitar and Curtis Knight on vocals. They appeared for the first time on the SPV CD's. The guitar on "If You Gonna Make a Fool of Somebody" is very different from that on the other 3 tracks, and Jimi's participation is questionable. The track is included just in case.
[S1442] U.F.O. (3) 2:54
(CD: Ballad of Jimi)
[S1444] Better Times Ahead 2:33
(CD: Ballad of Jimi)
[S1445] Everybody Knew but Me 1:32
(CD: Ballad of Jimi)
If You Gonna Make a Fool of Somebody 2:43
(CD: Ballad of Jimi)
On the remaining tracks, Jimi plays guitar (except for U.F.O. (1)). On the first 4 tracks, Jimi plays a straight guitar, and the mixes have his guitar left and the vocals either down the center or to the right.
[S402] Don't Accuse Me (2) 3:57
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
Some releases have added backing vocals and doctored the track. This mix drops the
backing vocals and is unedited.
[S373] Fool for You Baby (1) 1:47
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
The SPV CD mix is edited to run longer, this is the unaltered track.
[S365] Gotta Have a New Dress (1) 3:05
(LP: Get That Feeling)
The SPV CD has this track edited to run slightly longer. This is the unaltered version.
[S379] Welcome Home (2) 3:33
(LP: The Wild One)
This is a couple of seconds more complete than on the SPV CD.
On the next 7 tracks, Jimi plays fuzz guitar. Generally, guitar is mixed left and vocals are right. Exceptions are noted.
[S370] Knock Yourself Out (3) 5:58
(LP: Looking Back with Jimi Hendrix)
Instrumental track, stereo and complete, this mix has bass and drums central.
[S1433] How Would You Feel (2) 3:10
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
This is the slightly longer stereo mix.
[S380] Simon Says (1) 3:12
(LP: Historic Hendrix)
Several releases, including the SPV CD, have added horns on this track. This mix
without horns is found on many releases.
[S385] Strange Things (1) 2:58
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
The SPV CD has this track edited. This unedited mix is found on many releases.
The stereo image is reversed on this track, so the channels were swapped so that
the mix matches the others.
[S396] Hornet's Nest (3) 3:39
(LP: Hush Now)
Instrumental track; this is the complete edit with no organ, only found on this LP. Other
releases include the organ track or have an incomplete mono mix.
[S1443] You Don't Want Me (3) 2:59
(CD: Balled of Jimi)
Other releases have a vocal mix, this is the only place to find the instrumental mix
(but see bonus tracks for the vocal mix). The fuzz guitar is mixed to the right on
this release.
[S399]/ No Such Animal Part 1/Part 2 4:49
[S400] (original single)
This mono track is found on one LP release complete, and on all other releases split in two.
Here the two overlapping parts have been restored to form the complete track.
[S446] U.F.O. (1) 2:47
(LP: The Legends of Rock)
This mono mix is longer and does not include the very annoying added "alien" vocals.
This is the only release that has it, to my knowledge.
This track was initially thought to be from the 1967 sessions, but there are several
indications that it is probably from 1965. The guitar here is not Jimi, and he doesn't
play bass on any of the other 1965 tracks, so the question arises whether Jimi contributes
on this track or not. It is included just in case.
Bonus Tracks
The Original Singles
They're incomplete and mono, but they're also historic. The 4 original single sides on RSVP appeared in 1965, before Jimi's fame, so they're honest representations of his session playing from this period. Also included is the single mix of "You Don't Want Me", although this didn't appear until August 1967. Since this is the only 1965 studio track available in both vocal and instrumental mixes, it seemed worthwhile to include the vocal mix.
[S355] How Would You Feel (1) 2:45
(single: RSVP 1120)
[S356] Welcome Home (5) 2:43
(single: RSVP 1120)
[S357] Hornet's Nest (1) 2:26
(single: RSVP 1124)
[S358] Knock Yourself Out (1) 2:35
(single: RSVP 1124)
[S359] You Don't Want Me (1) 2:11
(LP: Flashing (Nardem))
The George's Club
Rehearsals
I think now that these tracks should have been included with the live set. Even though it seems extremely likely that these are not live tracks, they almost certainly date from the George's Club period rather than from the October 1965 sessions. They were probably either studio rehearsals or (less likely) on-stage rehearsals for the George's Club gig. Both tracks are taken from the collector's tape that was used for the live set. The tracks are in true stereo.
[L408] Killing Floor (3) 3:13
(tape)
First part of the intro is not on tape, so this is patched in from LP.
[S450] Last Night (1) 2:23
(tape)
Disc 2: Studio, 7/67
These sessions are of interest because they were recorded after Jimi was well on his way to stardom. Many appear to have originally been instrumental tracks, onto which Knight overdubbed vocals. In many cases the instrumental mixes were selected, either because they appear to have originally been recorded that way or to highlight Jimi's playing. Some alternate vocal mixes of those songs that probably had original vocals are included with the bonus tracks.
The following tracks feature Jimi on guitar.
[S683] Gloomy Monday (5) 1:05
(LP: You Can't Use My Name)
Incomplete first take, preceded by that remarkable studio chat.
[S684] Gloomy Monday (6) 2:33
(LP: You Can't Use My Name)
Second take.
[S397] Gloomy Monday (2) 2:12
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
This is the official take, which fades incomplete at the end on all releases.
[S378] Hush Now (2) 1:19
(LP: The Eternal Fire of Jimi Hendrix)
This incomplete alternate instrumental take is only available in un-doctored form (1)
on the SPV CD, but the mix is much inferior to the mix used for (2). Unfortunately,
(2) is edited with repeats to make the track longer. Here the repeats in (2) are removed
and the original track restored.
[S391] Love Love (1) / Mercy Lady Day 8:42
(LP: The Legends of Rock)
This is the complete instrumental mix.
[S389] Ballad of Jimi (6) / My Best Friend 2:27
(CD: Ballad of Jimi)
The instrumental mix is available on several releases. This is an alternate instrumental
mix from the SPV CD, with the percussion less prominent. This is one of the few tracks
on the SPV CDs that is not compressed and clipped. For the vocal mix, see the
bonus tracks.
[S390] Hush Now (5) 6:49
(CD: Historic Hendrix / LP: Looking Back with Jimi Hendrix)
The best mix (of the many out there) of this track. Complete, and without vocals.
The track is incomplete on this CD, so the remainder (in the same mix) was added
from LP.
[S397] Gloomy Monday (4) 3:06
(LP: Hush Now)
This mono official take is included because it has some different guitar by Jimi.
The vocals by Knight are also different. As far as I know this is the only release that
has it.
[S371] Happy Birthday (1) 2:00
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
This vocal track is available on many releases. There is an instrumental mix, but it
is very incomplete. The SPV CD contains a doctored edit. Note that this is essentially
another take of "Love Love" with different vocals, or perhaps "Love Love" was a jam
around the theme of "Happy Birthday".
On the remaining tracks Jimi plays fuzz bass.
[S387] Day Tripper (1) / Future Trip (1) / Flashing (1) 8:16
(LP: My Best Friend)
This is the complete instrumental medley from which these 3 tracks were extracted and
vocals added. Only available on a few LPs, of which this is the best sounding.
[S1451] Odd Ball (3) 4:46
(CD: Something on Your Mind)
This longest mix of this instrumental track is only available on this release.
[S388] No Business (2) / Sleepy Fate 2:50
(LP: My Best Friend)
Instrumental mix. Most releases contain the vocal mix.
[S393] Get That Feeling (1/3) / Second Time Around 10:43
(LP: Guitar Giants Vol. 1 / LP: My Best Friend)
This is mostly an instrumental mix, which fades about 1:40 before the end. The
remainder has been edited on from one of the vocal mixes, which are also cut
during the drum solo. So this is a more complete version than any released mix.
There is some unavoidable change in sound between the mixes. Note: this instrumental
mix is wider stereo than the version on the LP "Second Time Around".
Bonus Tracks: Vocal mixes
Since much of the 1967 material is available in both instrumental and vocal mixes, a sampling of the vocal edits are included as extra tracks. The only other 1967 track with a vocal mix is "Get That Feeling", but a sample of that is available as the end of the version above (which is probably more than enough). There's also "Future Trip", but that is part of the long "Day Tripper" jam and again, two parts of that jam with vocals are probably sufficient... "No Business" and "Ballad of Jimi" were probably originally recorded as vocal tracks, so it seemed particularly important to include these. For the remaining tracks, the choice of mix/edit was difficult here, as with the rest of the studio material, but space limitations dictated using shorter vocal edits. The ones included are vinyl single edits, and these appeared on some of the earliest singles and LPs of the 1967 material. However, the historical value of the actual single mixes isn't as great as that of the true pre-Experience singles from 1965, so stereo mixes were used for these rather than the mono mixes from the actual singles.
[S363] No Business (4) 2:26
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
There are many releases with this vocal mix. The SPV CD has this track edited to run
longer.
[S362] Ballad of Jimi (2) 2:23
(LP: In Memoriam)
This mix with the original vocals is harder to find, only appearing on a few of the earliest
releases.
[S368] Hush Now (8) 3:48
(LP: My Best Friend)
This is the shorter of the two single edits, which appears in a stereo mix on many releases.
The stereo on this LP is somewhat wider than on others.
[S369] Flashing (2) 2:30
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
This is the original single edit, the B-side to "Hush Now", here mixed in stereo.
[S374] Day Tripper (6) 2:43
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
Another single edit that appears in stereo on many releases.
[S395] Love Love (6) 5:12
(CD: Historic Hendrix)
Released as the flip side to "Day Tripper" on single, but here in stereo.