Jimi Hendrix: Purple Box Disc-by-Disc

I'm thinking a song-by-song thread would be just too onerous and restricting, therefore I'd like to discuss each disc separately. Every couple of days we'll move on to the next disc in the set.
And so, beginning with disc 1, here's some questions to ponder, but feel free to comment on anything pertaining to the CD in question.
I only ask that you don't jump too far ahead.

1. Were there any egregious omissions? If so, what were they?
2. Is there any dead weight/filler here?
3. What are the highlights for you?
4. CD cover art quality: yea or nay?
5. Were there available alternate versions of certain songs included in the box that should have made the cut?
6. Does this box help you understand Hendrix's personality more than the albums released during his lifetime?
7. Do you think the roughly chronological track order was a good idea? Or should it have been constructed a la Dylan's Biograph, in a fragmented, scattershot approach?
8. How do the individual discs stand up on their own? Which disc is the best? Which disappoints?

Disc one:

1. "Purple Haze" (Hendrix) – 3:26
2. "Killing Floor" (Burnett) – 3:05
3. "Hey Joe" (Roberts) – 2:52
4. "Foxy Lady" (Hendrix) – 3:27
5. "Highway Chile" (Hendrix) – 3:40
6. "Hey Joe" (Roberts) – 3:06
7. "Title #3" (Hendrix) – 2:12
8. "Third Stone from the Sun" (Hendrix) – 9:18
9. "Taking Care of No Business" (Hendrix) – 3:42
10. "Here He Comes (Lover Man)" (Hendrix) – 3:02
11. "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" (Hendrix) – 1:30
12. "If 6 Was 9" (Hendrix) – 5:57
13. "Rock Me Baby" (Josea, King) – 3:20
14. "Like a Rolling Stone" (Dylan) – 6:52

* Tracks 7, 9 and 10 are previously unreleased recordings.
* Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11 and 12 are previously unreleased alternate recordings.
* Tracks 2 and 3 recorded live at Olympia Theatre, Paris, France, October 18 1966.
* Tracks 13 and 14 recorded live at the Monterey International Pop Festival, June 18 1967.

 

Great box set but I wish they had not included previously released material like Monterey Pop.

 

It does seem odd to have included those tracks, only to turn around a couple of years later and release the whole Monterey gig again.
I'm hoping Chris M has some insight into what their rationale was.

 

I have wanted this box since it was first released. I finally managed to get the 4cd+1dvd digipack book version last year and love it. The only moot point was that there was no simple track listing for each disc, apart from the expanded notes.I ended up having to print off a track list.

 

Great idea for a thread! Not sure why the 2 Monterey tracks were included. The Eddie Kramer mixes are much better than the previous mixes of that material but at the time I was hoping for more new material. I'll have much more to say about disc 1 tonight.

 

An unexpected treat for me on disc 1 is the embryonic take of 'Burning of the Midnight Lamp'---which is in my top 3 Jimi songs. I love the bit in the notes where it says you can hear Jimi's footsteps as he runs back into the booth to listen to the take, even as Mitch and Noel carry on jamming.
You get a real sense of the excitement of the creative process as it unfolds.


PS Years ago I used to think the line "The smiling portrait of you hanging on my frowning wall" was "The smiling Vulture of Doom..."

 

I usually do not care about pretty packaging. However, the generic title ("The Jimi Hendrix Experience") and look of the box set buried this gold mine among the grey, bootleg and repackaged Hendrix stuff already out there.

If you saw this in the record store, shelved alongside other "European" Hendrix box sets, you'd have to look twice to see a sticker noting "56 unreleased or unavailable recordings" and realize this was a legit release. If you were on the Internet, no title to search for.

My box set is packed up, but I would like to see how the back of the box set looked (with the track listing) if anyone can post photos.

 

I got that box for Christmas the year it came out. I'm not much of a Hendrix expert so I wouldn't have noticed any glaring omissions, if any. It is one of my all-time favorite box sets though - great sound, great music. Disc 3 is probably my favorite Hendrix disc, period.

 

I don't have the booklet with me, but does anyone know if the only "alternate" aspect of 'Highway Chile', as it appears here, is that it's in stereo? No other difference?

I'm not crazy about the lyrics in that one. For me, the real meat of that track is the tone Jimi gets in the riff. It's like having a Skilsaw taken to your forehead...but in a good way.

 

Similar case for me, recently picked this up and has been a permanent fixture in the car ever since (I drive a lot with work)... Great set, read some criticisms of EH on these boards for their mastering but I think the set sounds great. Loud but not an issue for me.

My knowledge of Hendrix lore is limited but I would love to hear an extended version of the Axis take of Little Wing without the fade out. Does one exist?

 

I lothis set although I haven't played it in awhile....thanks for bringing it up, I'll be spinning a couple of these discs later tonight!

 

I have no idea if such a thing exists, but it's one of my Holy Grails. We should ask Chris M. He's probably been entrusted with the master tapes by now.

 

That solo floors me everytime, but I just always feel unsatisfied and always want more. Maybe that was the intention.

 

Thats the only difference I ever noticed too. I love the riffage on this track.

 

Dosn't the live version from Hendrix in the West (and this box) have a slightly extended solo? If yes, maybe he had a change of heart regarding the best length for this sublime solo.

 

Modern stereo remix of a song only ever released/mixed in mono...

 

My highlights would be "Killing Floor" live from Paris. Better than the 'Monterey Pop' version, IMO.

The better/new mixes Kramer did for the Monterey tracks.

The snippet of the early version of BOTML. I just wish it was a full/actual take with this harpsichord-focused arrangement.

The stereo "Highway Chile" (even though it sounds nothing like what it would have been in 1967 - stereo field way too narrow, etc).

Most of the alternate recordings, while interesting for their insight into the development of the songs (it's cool to actually be able to hear all the talking in "Purple Haze" that got buried in the mix), don't really hold up to repeated listening for me. But that is usually the case with these "anthology"-type sets

And, as expected, the three "new" tracks didn't do anything for me. IMO, they had to really scrape the barrel for those...

 

The box cover always bothered me (I saw the artwork before the box was even released and commented on it then)
Looks like Noel's hand is in Jimi's pants!

 

I thought reissuing the two Monterey tracks was somewhat odd. Cool performances, but at the time I remember thinking that EH should have reissued the entire Monterey performance on another release. Purple Haze, Title #3, Hey Joe, Taking Care Of No Business, Here He Comes, Third Stone From The Sun and If 6 Was 9 were all welcomed additions.

 

One of my holy grails as well. I've always wondered how much longer the track runs after it fades. It does seem like it fades at the climax of the solo and all of the live versions are longer.

For some reason, maybe b/c it wasn't on an LP, Highway Chile was never issued in stereo. I assume it was never mixed in stereo in the 60's. In any event the box version is a remix done by Eddie Kramer in the late 90's for the box. IMO it is too narrow. I would have preferred a more vintage wide stereo mix.

 

Which tracks are you referring to?

 

"Taking Care Of No Business"
"Here He Comes (Lover Man)"
"Title #3"

Though, now that I see what I wrote again, I'm probably being too harsh on the first two. I know they didn't have a lot of completely "new" songs available from so early on. They deserve release, I just don't care for them as much as the rest (it also probably has to do with having too high of an expectation of Jimi from his initial creative outburst)...

 

I love the alternate vocal "Purple Haze". It still puts a big smile on my face with (The Jimi laughing) 'Mary Had A Little Lamb" ending and all.

Title # 3 is my cell ring tone. People go who is/ What is that ???

I'll Play disc 1 out tonight. Great thread idea....

 

Hard to say, I think the idea of the box was simply to compile a bunch of interesting unreleased or OOP material. Not necessarily to showcase the absolute best of the unre material.

For me only the 2 Monterey tracks, Foxy and arguably the 3rd Stone (not the chatter, the song proper which is the same as the LP). Foxy is just an alt stereo mix. I'm glad to have it but it is a bit of a place holder IMO. On one hand the LP version of 3rd Stone provides context for the studio chatter but on the other it isn't anything new. I can understand why they put it there though. Everything else is at least interesting for the fan. Not much I go back to though. A lot of disc 1 falls into the 'historically interesting' category.

It was amazing to hear the unedited spoken bit in vintage alt mix of If 6 Was 9. Title #3 is cool. Odd that it was recorded 6 months after Can You See Me but is very similar.

I still can't believe how good the 10/18/66 tape is. Amazing we have such a great recording of their 4th show. This was before the JHE had even set foot in a studio. Probably the best evidence of how Jimi was playing at the Cafe Wha.

I can't think of any save for maybe a raw version of Midnight Lamp.

I think it does. Taking Care of No Business and It's Too Bad do show a side of Jimi that isn't on display on the LP's.

Definitely a good idea. It would be jarring to have the primitive AYE recordings next to the First Rays stuff.

I think Disc 2 has the most bang for the buck. Much of Disc 3 is stuff we already have (on In the West) but I don't have a problem with those mixes on the box.

 

I love the Rodney Dangerfieldisms that Jimi tosses off in 'Taking Care of No Business'.
His delivery is perfect, just the right amount of ironic detachment. Listening to it yesterday I almost did a spit take when he sang "I'm so broke I can't pay attention."

Does anyone else like those borderline corny backing vocalists in 'Hey Joe'? To me it's like what it might've sounded like if Curt Boettcher had produced Jimi. Think about that for a second and tell me if it doesn't make you chortle some.