JIMI HENDRIX Live At Woodstock

Jimi Hendrix «Smoking» taken in early 1967 in Gered’s Masons Yard studio in London.

Is there any rock fan who does not love something from WOODSTOCK? This double disc live collection is JIMI HENDRIX and his friends playing together at in 1969, a great collection of live music as far as I can tell, a must have collection for fans.

In terms of sound, this is actually quite a good recording. The instruments come across quite clear and there is little to no tape hiss. The usual suspects from recordings of this time period have all been cleaned up or didn’t exist in general. I did notice that some of the bands members, specifically the percussion and rhythm guitar have been edited out of the majority of the album. They are clearly audible at the start of the record and show up on a couple of other songs but for the most part all you get is the trio of HENDRIX, MITCHELL and COX. It is a strange way to mix the album and will annoy some purists out there. It didn’t detract from the experience for me, but it is a bit odd when you notice it.

The actual set list is pretty awesome. All the expected hits are there and they are all represented with great live takes. So buy this and you’ll get fierce versions of FIRE, VOODOO CHILE (SLIGHT RETURN) and PURPLE HAZE amongst others including IZABELLA and the now legendary STAR SPANGLED BANNER. If anything it proves to be a great compilation of his work and is benefited from the fact that it is a superb live performance.

I can’t see why any JIMI HENDRIX fan would not enjoy this. I would assume that some purists might take offence and cry about the fact that half of the band have been edited out. What remains is still an incredible performance, one that I greatly enjoyed. So don’t mind these issues and give it a good listen.