Unreleased Hendrix Experience LP Due

First shot across the bow of the latest round of Hendrix repackagings reveals Hendrix at a transitional point in 1969 following the release of Electric Ladyland (sleeve pictured above).

By Blurt Staff

Valleys of Neptune is the name of a newly compiled album of 12 fully realized studio recordings, more than 60 minutes of music never commercially available on a Jimi Hendrix album. It's due March 9 from Experience Hendrix and Legacy Records as part of the new Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project, which will involve reissuing (yet again) the guitarist's back catalog in expanded form.

Centered around tracks recorded during a pivotal and turbulent four-month period in 1969, Valleys of Neptune unveils the original Jimi Hendrix Experience's final studio recordings, as the group lays down the foundation for what would have been the follow-up to Electric Ladyland, alongside Hendrix's first sessions with bassist Billy Cox, an old army buddy he'd recruited into his new ensemble.

Valleys of Neptune provides an up-til-now largely unseen view of what Jimi Hendrix was up to musically in the critical period between the release of Electric Ladyland in October 1968 and the 1970 opening of his own Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village, the state of the art facility where he would begin his final project, the ambitious double album First Rays of the New Rising Sun.

Janie Hendrix, CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC, the Hendrix family-owned company entrusted with preserving and protecting the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, noted, "My brother Jimi was at home in the studio. Valleys of Neptune offers deep insight into his mastery of the recording process and demonstrates the fact that he was as unparalleled a recording innovator as he was a guitarist. His brilliance shines  through on every one of these precious tracks."

Valleys of Neptune contains more than 60 minutes of previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix music - see track details below - originally recorded, and newly mixed for this release, by Hendrix's longtime engineer Eddie Kramer, who first worked with the guitarist on Are You Experienced? in 1967.  Valleys of Neptune is produced by Janie Hendrix, John McDermott (who contributes detailed liner notes to the album) and Eddie Kramer.

The title track "Valleys of Neptune" has long been one of the most sought after of any commercially unavailable Jimi Hendrix recording.  The song will be released as a single globally on February 2. nearly forty years after Jimi finished recording the track at New York's Record Plant in May of 1970.

Other highlights on Valleys of Neptune include covers of Elmore James' classic "Bleeding Heart" and Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" as well as premier performances of original Hendrix compositions like "Ships Passing Through The Night," "Lullaby For The Summer" and the original un-dubbed Jimi Hendrix Experience rendition of "Hear My Train A Comin'."   Also included is "Mr. Bad Luck," a Jimi Hendrix Experience track, produced by Chas Chandler during the 1967 Axis: Bold as Love sessions.

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As part of the opening wave of releases for the Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project, Legacy Recordings will also be releasing new deluxe CD/DVD editions of Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland, and First Rays of the New Rising Sun, also available on vinyl, on March 9.

Each of the essential titles in the Jimi Hendrix catalog to be reissued on Legacy will feature a bonus DVD featuring newly created documentaries directed by the Grammy award winning Bob Smeaton [Beatles Anthology, Festival Express, Beatles: The Studio Recordings] and featuring interviews with Experience members Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, original producer Chas Chandler and engineer Eddie Kramer.  In addition, Smash Hits, Jimi's original compilation, will be reintroduced. The critically acclaimed Live At Woodstock will be available as a standard DVD as well as a Blu-ray Disc.

Valleys of Neptune tracklisting:

Stone Free

Recorded: Record Plant, New York,  April 7, 9, 14, May 17,1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Billy Cox

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Backing Vocals: Roger Chapman, Andy Fairweather Low

Valleys Of Neptune

Recorded: Record Plant, New York, September 23, 1969, May 15, 1970

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Bass: Billy Cox

Percussion: Juma Sultan

Bleeding Heart   

Recorded: Record Plant, New York, April 24, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Billy Cox

Drums: Rocky Isaac

Tambourine: Chris Grimes

Maracas: Al Marks

Hear My Train A Comin'  

Recorded: Record Plant, New York,  April 7, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Mr. Bad Luck     

Recorded: Olympic Studios, London, May 5, 1967

Producer: Chas Chandler

Additional bass and drum recording, Air Studios, London, June 5, 1987

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Sunshine Of Your Love   

Recorded: Olympic Studios, London, February 16, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Percussion: Rocki Dzidzornu

Lover Man  

Recorded: Olympic Studios, London, February 16, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Ships Passing Through The Night

Recorded: Record Plant, New York, April 14, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Guitar, Vocals: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Fire  

Recorded: Olympic Studios, London, February 17, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass, Backing Vocal: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Red House  

Recorded: Olympic Studios, London, February 17, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell

Lullaby For The Summer

Recorded: Record Plant, New York, April 7, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Mixed By Eddie Kramer

Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell 

Crying Blue Rain    

Recorded: Olympic Studios, London, February 16, 1969

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Additional bass and drum recording, Air Studios, London, June 5, 1987

Vocal, Guitar: Jimi Hendrix

Percussion: Rocki Dzidzornu

Bass: Noel Redding

Drums: Mitch Mitchell