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The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric ladyland

12/05/10 || Smalley

Back in the 1960’s, before heavy metal, and when even hard rock was just in its infancy, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was basically the heaviest game in town; they made riffs that hold up even today as good headbanging fodder, and Jimi’s intense, passionate, wail-heavy solos have been imitated by just about every hard rock & heavy metal band since. Sadly, Hendrix only lived to see the three studio albums he recorded with the Experience be released (all of which I’ll be writing reviews for, muhaha), but the success he had with those records left a HUGE footprint on this music we cherish, and is why he deserves his place on GD, and why I’m going to help give it to him with this review.

“…And the gods made love” is basically an intro track, made up of nothing but space-y, echoing sound effects crashing over one another; trippy listening experience, yes, but “ladyland” doesn’t really get down to business until “Have you ever been (to electric ladyland)” begins. Mellow, relaxing guitar work plays as Hendrix’s incredibly rich, smooth voice spins vivid poetry, making it feel like you’re actually flying on an enchanted carpet, over a land full of naked, electric ladies. The moments of harmonized, falsetto-ish vocals make it have much more in common with vintage R&B than rock, but I’m not complaining, since it’s still a very cool way to get into “ladyland”.

“Crosstown traffic” injects more energy into the proceedings with its lively, hopping bass work, courtesy of Noel Redding, and prominent kazoo playing by Hendrix, which miraculously manages to sound good, and not dumb as hell! The “traffic as metaphor for an unwanted relationship” lyrics are brilliant as well: “I’m not the only soul who’s accused of hit and run/Tire tracks all across your back, I can see you had your fun/But darlin’, can’t you see my signals turn from green to red?/And with you I can see a traffic jam, straight up ahead!”.

Unfortunately, “Voodoo chile” then serves as a minor traffic jam in the album, one of the few such here; while I like how Hendrix payed tribute to Muddy Waters with this sweaty, sultry little blues jam… oh wait, make that a BIG blues jam. It goes on for 15 fucken minutes, and yes, Hendrix plays a mean guitar on it, and I like how the crowd samples give it this cool, smoke-filled club feel, but it easily could’ve ended several times before it finally did, and it almost gets to the point where you want to say to your CD “Okay Jimi, I know, you can play the guitar like crazy; I GET IT”. Still a cool song, but just too long for its own good.

Fortunately, “Little miss strange” then gets the album rolling smoothly again, by being a playful little tune about a girl who may just be a “devil in disguise”, with the lighter, much more sing-song-y vocals of Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell completely replacing Hendrix’s for the only time on “ladyland”. It’s a wonderful little change of pace, and the similarly easy-going, enjoyable “Long hot summer night” and “Come on (let the good times roll)” (an Earl King cover) keep us going strong here, with Jimi’s awesome vocals returning to boot.

“Gypsy eyes” has some real nice drumming and guitar work, but for some reason, Jimi’s vocals here sound incredibly tinny, and just plain shitty, to be honest. Yeah, I know this is an old album and all, but nothing else here has production this bad, and it makes a big dent in my enjoyment of the song, which I’m sure I would’ve liked a lot if it just wasn’t for that damn production. Anyway, “Burning of the midnight lamp” slows the album down a bit and allows it to stretch out some creative legs, with the unexpected (but welcome) appearance of an electric harpsichord, heavenly backup vocals from The Sweet Inspirations (who were Aretha Franklin’s backup group), and some crazy, extreme-distortion guitar effects later on. Very, very cool stuff.

“Rainy day, dream away” keeps the album chill, starting with casual, call-and-response playing between a saxophone and Jimi’s guitar, as Hendrix has a stoned-sounding conservation with himself about how “it’s rainin’ outside”. The relaxing organ work is a final touch that helps the song capture the feel of a lazy, rainy Saturday indoors perfectly , and “1983… (A merman I should turn to be)” continues with the vivid, evocative music, with its downbeat, mournful guitar work, haunting use of sound effects, and beautiful lyrics about escaping from war for good: “Hurrah, I awake from yesterday/Alive, but the war is here to stay/So my love Catherina and me/Decide to take our last walk through the noise to the sea/Not to die, but to be re-born/Away from a land so battered and torn/…forever”.

Though it does drag on a bit, “1983” is still possibly the most searing, emotionally potent song Hendrix ever recorded (although it’s hard to put anything above “Castles made of sand”), and “Moon, turn the tides…gently gently away” is a short, ambient follow-up, meant to represent Catherina and the protagonists descent through the ocean, and their final escape from the bloodshed of the surface world. Then, “Still raining, still dreaming” is a musical call-back to “rainy day, dream away”, only done with a lot more attitude and pizazz this time around. Sure, it packs none of the somber emotional impact “merman” had, but when a song is this much fucken fun, does it matter?

At any rate, things get weighty again soon enough on “House burning down”, which packs a fiery condemnation of the post-Martin Luther King assassination riots with its desperate, frantic guitar work, and unflinching narrative: “Sisters and brothers, daddies, mothers, standin’ ‘round cryin’/When I reached the scene, the flames were makin’ a ghostly whine/So I stood on my horse’s back, and I screamed without a crack/I say ‘Oh baby, why’d you burn your brother’s house down?’”. Then, the album finally begins winding up a bit with the Bob Dylan cover “All along the watchtower”, which has downright brilliant integration of acoustic guitar, perfect for the folk-y mood of the song, and also some of Jimi’s finest soloing, which is only surpassed by the following song…

“Voodoo child (slight return)”, which brings “ladyland” to its final, climatic, earth-shattering end. A quiet bit of guitar fiddling transitions into wailing, incredibly groovy soloing, which controls the song entirely until the half-minute mark, where Mitchell pitches in with a catchy drum line, and the soloing becomes this incredibly raw, distorted, fucken awesome riff-solo! As far as I’m concerned, THIS is Hendrix’s finest moment with his guitar, and the song just kicks complete and utter ass all the way around, and may very well be the first heavy metal song ever made.

Its an incredible way to end an incredible album, and a few mis-steps during the course of “Electric ladyland” doesn’t change the fact that it just radiates energy and life with every single fiber of its being. If ever an album sounded truly alive, it was this one, which was a great last hurrah for Jimi’s criminally short, but still brilliant, career. Please, go pay some respect to your musical forefathers, cherish teh Hendrix, and I’ll see you next time on my “Axis: bold as love” review!

Information
Released: 1968
Label: Track
Website: www.jimihendrix.com
Band
Jimi Hendrix: lead, rhythm, & bass guitar, lead & background vocals
Noel Redding: bass, background & lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Mitch Mitchell: drums, background & lead vocals

Tracklist
01. …And The Gods Made Love
02. Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
03. Crosstown Traffic
04. Voodoo Chile
05. Little Miss Strange
06. Long Hot Summer Night
07. Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)
08. Gypsy Eyes
09. Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
10. Rainy Day, Dream Away
11. 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
12. Moon, Turn the Tides…Gently Gently Away
13. Still Raining, Still Dreaming
14. House Burning Down
15. All Along The Watchtower
16. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

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