Jimi Hendrix - First Rays of the New Rising Sun

The guy was damn ingenious with a guitar, but not half as industrious as the folks who've packaged and repackaged his posthumous material. First Rays of the New Rising Sun, however, is an attractive assortment of "spiritual, very earthy" late recordings that surfaced in the '70s via The Cry of Love, Crash Landing, Rainbow Bridge, and War Heroes. Hendrix appeared to be in transition between flamboyant showman and serious musician personas at the time (meaning his work, had he lived, might have been twice as meritorious and half as fun), and that makes many of these tracks all the more interesting. --Steven Stolder Amazon.com

 Headed to a new, exciting path (unfortunately did not live long enough).
The tracks display a vibrant Jimmi & band combining Rock, R & B in an exciting new direction. It really doesn't matter some of them were left unfinished - what did surface showed a great but unfulfilled promise.
God only knows what he could've accomplished. Great stuff ! April 28, 2008

 Not the final word on Jimi's last album
Ever since Jimi's untimely death in September 1970 people have debated over what exactly his last album would have sounded like had he lived to finish it. Several posthumous releases have attempted to put this issue to rest. The official "First Rays Of The New Rising Sun" is the best attempt to date. However, it could have been a lot more comprehensive and true to Jimi's vision.

As noted by previous reviews, the producers should have considered Jimi's own handwritten notes. He left pretty detailed instructions about the title to use, songs to include, cover art and even the running order. Unfortunately, most of this was disregarded by Experience Hendrix/MCA.

For details on Jimi's wishes for his fourth studio album read the article on Wikipedia on First Rays or the book "Black Gold" by Steven Robey.

If I could take over Experience Hendrix for a day, I'd issue a 2CD set
called "People Hell and Angels" and include the majority of actual
songs (not jams) that Jimi recorded for his planned triple album. Anything from May 1969 to his late sessions in August 1970. I would have used the cover art Jimi drew up in the summer before his
death. Without a doubt, Jimi probably would have changed his mind about what he wanted on his next album. But Jimi's handwritten ideas are better than the guess work that's been going on since 1970.

Here's my version of a 2 disc version of First Rays Of The New Rising
Sun. All of the songs are included on the official First Rays except
where noted. Maybe EH will reissue the album as a deluxe edition and include more of these tracks.

DISC ONE
1. Dolly Dagger
2. Night Bird Flying
3. Room Full Of Mirrors
4. Belly Button Window
5. Freedom
6. Ezy Ryder
7. Astro Man
8. Drifting
9. Straight Ahead
10. Drifter's Escape (from South Saturn Delta)
11. Come Down Hard On Me (from the JHE box set)
12. Beginnings
13. Cherokee Mist (from the JHE box set)
14. Angel
15. Stepping Stone
16. Izabella
17. Hear My Train A Comin' (the outstanding May 1969 Band of Gypsys version. An outtake from the :Blues album)

DISC TWO
1. Bleeding Heart (from South Saturn Delta)
2. Earth Blues Today
3. Country Blues (from the JHE box set)
4. Midnight Lightning (from South Saturn Delta)
5. Burning Desire (edited version of Baggy's Rehearsal studios 1st take)
6. Valleys Of Neptune (Heard on Lifelines but unavailable commercially)
7. Heaven Has No Tomorrow (Heard on Lifelines but unavailable commercially)
8. Sending My Love (Heard on Lifelines but unavailable commercially)
9. Pali Gap (from South Saturn Delta)
10. Hey baby (New Rising Sun)
11. Message To Love (from the JHE box set)
12. Power of Soul (from South Saturn Delta)
13. Once I Had A Woman (from :Blues)
14. Bolero (cool instrumental. Unavailable commercially)
15. In From The Storm

My version would feature 2 1/2 hours of music. If 2Pac can put out a
2CD posthumous studio album so can Jimi! And I'm sure people would buy
it.


April 15, 2008

 Save your money
There is only two songs I thought worth buying. Audio is bad on some cuts. CD does not play reliably in my truck. Hurray for MP3s. This one is already in bottom of my closet. :( March 23, 2008

 First Rays of the New Rising Sun
Great CD. If you like Jimi you must buy this disk. Very good music from a very good artist. September 4, 2007

 JIMI'S FINAL ALBUM, FINALLY RELEASED HIS WAY !
After guitar god Jimi Hendrix died, he released more albums than he did when he was still alive. Control of Jimi's music fell into the hands of attorneys who saw the opportunity to turn a fast buck, and quickly released this excellant music chopped up into several different albums (Rainbow Bridge, Cry of Love, War Heroes, etc.,etc.). After much litigation and several years, control of Jimi's music was given to Jimi's father and sister. They formed the Experience Hendrix record label and went to work. The first task at hand was to put together First Rays of the New Rising Sun, Jimi's title to the double-album he was putting the finishing touches on when he died. Through interviews with the producer, engineers, and musicians who worked on the project, they finished the album according to Jimi's specifications. The music on the album is sophisticated, energetic, and precise. Hendrix fans will recognize most of these songs. Freedom, Angel, Dolly Dagger, Roomful of Mirrors, Isabella, Hey Baby(New Rising Sun), and the beautiful Drifting are all highlights. Like The Beatles leaving behind the cute mop-top Beatlemania era with Rubber Soul and Revolver, Jimi seemed to be breaking away from the psycadelic wild-man theatrics of his early days, and getting down to the business of creating serious music with a conscience. You will find some of Jimi's best songs, vocals, and guitar playing on the aptly titled First Rays of the New Rising Sun. No Jimi Hendrix fan should be without it. March 20, 2007

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