BBC Sessions is an album of recordings by the rock group the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on MCA Records on June 2, 1998. It contains all the surviving tracks from their various appearances on BBC radio programmes, such as Saturday Club and Top Gear, recorded in 1967.
| BBC Sessions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | June 2, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1967, 1969 | |||
| Studio | BBC studios | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 107:20 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Robert Christgau | B+[3] |
| Rolling Stone | [4] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | B+[5] |
At a BBC radio session, a practice still alive in British radio today, a band is required to record material in a studio quickly with limited overdubbing, largely limited to and relying upon their live sound. Many groups as part of this tradition choose to record some songs that are not part of their main repertoire. The album also includes the only two surviving Hendrix UK TV soundtracks (both BBC) Late Night Line Up ("Manic Depression" only survives) and the 1969 Lulu Show (complete). BBC Sessions therefore offers its own unique example of the Experience sound, and a revealing glimpse of a song from their early repertoire Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" and their only known studio recording of Bob Dylan's "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
Apart from the "live" in studio versions of well-known Experience songs, there are several unique studio recordings of songs, i.e. "Driving South" (three versions), which includes several guitar lines derived from Albert Collins' "Frosty" (1962) and "Thaw Out" (1965), "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man", "Catfish Blues", "Hound Dog", "Hear My Train A Comin'" (two versions) and a couple of novelty tracks: the amusing parody of a BBC Radio 1 jingle "Radio One", and a recording with a young Stevie Wonder on drums (a cover of Wonder's own "I Was Made to Love Her").[6] It also includes the sound track from the band's infamous appearance on Lulu's television show in 1969.[6]
This collection has been re-released as part of the Hendrix Family's project to remaster Jimi's discography in 2010 by Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings. The re-release contains two digitally remastered sound discs with "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" bonus track from August 24, 1967, and a DVD videodisc of footage from recording sessions, and 22 pages of program notes.[7] Some of this material had previously been released by Rykodisc in 1988 on an album titled Radio One.[1]
Track listing
editDetails taken from the original Experience Hendrix CD notes;[6] other sources may show different information.
All tracks are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted
| No. | Title | Recorded | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Foxey Lady" | 2/13/67 for Saturday Club | 3:00 |
| 2. | "Alexis Korner Introduction" | 0:28 | |
| 3. | "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" (Bob Dylan) | 10/17/67 for Rhythm and Blues | 3:32 |
| 4. | "Rhythm and Blues World Service" | 0:12 | |
| 5. | "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" (Willie Dixon) | 10/17/67 for Rhythm and Blues | 5:30 |
| 6. | "Traveling with the Experience" | 0:22 | |
| 7. | "Driving South" (Curtis McNear a.k.a. Curtis Knight[8]) | 10/17/67 for Top Gear | 5:31 |
| 8. | "Fire" | 3/28/67 for Saturday Club | 2:42 |
| 9. | "Little Miss Lover" | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 2:58 |
| 10. | "Introducing the Experience" | 0:51 | |
| 11. | "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 3:43 |
| 12. | "Catfish Blues" (Robert Petway) | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 5:29 |
| 13. | "Stone Free" | 2/13/67 for Saturday Club | 3:26 |
| 14. | "Love or Confusion" | 2/13/67 for Saturday Club | 2:54 |
| 15. | "Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts) | 2/13/67 for Saturday Club | 4:02 |
| 16. | "Hound Dog" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 2:43 |
| 17. | "Driving South" (McNear) | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 4:49 |
| 18. | "Hear My Train A Comin'" | 12/15/67 for Top Gear | 5:00 |
| No. | Title | Recorded | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Purple Haze" | 3/28/67 for Top of the Pops | 3:17 |
| 2. | "Killing Floor" (Chester Arthur Burnett a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf) | 3/28/67 for Saturday Club | 2:28 |
| 3. | "Radio One" | 12/15/67 for Top Gear | 1:34 |
| 4. | "Wait Until Tomorrow" | 12/15/67 for Top Gear | 2:55 |
| 5. | "Day Tripper" (Lennon–McCartney) | 12/15/67 for Top Gear | 3:25 |
| 6. | "Spanish Castle Magic" | 12/15/67 for Top Gear | 3:08 |
| 7. | "Jammin'" | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 3:24 |
| 8. | "I Was Made to Love Her" (Stevie Wonder, Lula Mae Hardaway, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy) | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 3:05 |
| 9. | "Foxey Lady" | 2/13/67 for Saturday Club | 2:59 |
| 10. | "A Brand New Sound" | 0:54 | |
| 11. | "Hey Joe" (Roberts; alternate take) | 2/13/67 for Saturday Club | 2:58 |
| 12. | "Manic Depression" | 4/17/67 for Late Night Line-Up | 3:11 |
| 13. | "Driving South" (McNear; alternate take) | 10/6/67 for Top Gear | 3:22 |
| 14. | "Hear My Train A Comin'" (alternate take) | 12/15/67 for Top Gear | 5:03 |
| 15. | "A Happening for Lulu" | 1/4/69 for Happening for Lulu | 0:20 |
| 16. | "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" | 1/4/69 for Happening for Lulu | 4:09 |
| 17. | "Lulu Introduction" | 1/4/69 for Happening for Lulu | 0:23 |
| 18. | "Hey Joe" (Roberts) | 1/4/69 for Happening for Lulu | 2:44 |
| 19. | "Sunshine of Your Love" (Pete Brown, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton) | 1/4/69 for Happening for Lulu | 1:17 |
| 20. | "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" (2010 reissue bonus track) | 8/24/67 for Top of the Pops | 4:31 |
Personnel
edit- Jimi Hendrix – vocals, guitar
- Mitch Mitchell – drums, except "Jammin'" & "I Was Made to Love Her"
- Noel Redding – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Stevie Wonder – drums on "Jammin'" & "I Was Made to Love Her"
- Alexis Korner – slide guitar on "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man"
Peak chart positions
edit- US Billboard 200: No. 50
- UK Albums Chart: No. 42[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Unterberger, Richie. "Jimi Hendrix Experience: Radio One". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
- ^ a b Koda, Cub. "The Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (2011). "Robert Christgau: Album: Jimi Hendrix: BBC Sessions". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ "Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions – Review". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2006.
- ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Grade List: Jimi Hendrix". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ a b c Sinclair, David (1998). The Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions (Album notes). The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Universal City, California: MCA Records. OCLC 50109734. MCAD2-11742.
- ^ Experience Hendrix. "BBC Sessions (2CD + DVD and LP Editions)". jimihendrix.com (official website). Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ Curtis Knight filed for the songwriting credit for "Driving South", although Hendrix adapted it from instrumentals by Albert Collins.
- ^ "Jimi Hendrix Experience – Albums". Official Charts. Retrieved 19 October 2016.