The Sotheby Auction Tapes


A few years ago, some tapes came up for auction at Sotheby's Auction House, in England. The tapes in question were outtakes, demos, and different mixes of tracks from Jimi's first 3 albums, mostly from Axis: Bold As Love. Where these tapes came from, I'm not sure. There is talk that some of them came by way of Chas Chandler, former producer of the Experience, who had planned on releasing them, but was unable to come to terms with the previous Hendrix estate (read: Alan Douglas didn't want anybody involved in his turf). Wherever they came from, they are a treasure. While there are only 3 tracks that didn't come out in some form on the official releases, that doesn't matter. Even if you've heard all these tracks on the official releases, they will sound new again when you hear them here. Obviously rough, many being rough takes or demos, it's interesting to hear how the song's early beginnings would mature into their final forms. As for the three `new' tracks; Little One (two takes of this song) is, hmmmm, Middle Eastern R&B is the only way I can describe it. Think Ravi Shankar playing Motown songs. It features Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones on sitar, giving it that Mideast feeling. Dream, from an acetate only issue, is a Noel Redding song which also features Noel on vocals. A very funky style number, though I'm unsure whether he's trying to sing like Bob Dylan or John Lennon. Dance, another acetate, is a Noel Redding/Mitch Mitchell composition, with Mitch on vocals this time. Jimi would modify Dance over time, into the song Ezy Ryder.

Sound quality is good to very good, considering the age of these tapes, and how they probably weren't looked after the way a master tape would be. A nice collection, which have appeared in a number of ROIO releases in different configurations. Probably more one for the collector than the average listener, though a good listen for either.

Catalog #: Midnight Beat MB CD 010