Released April 22, 1997 Artist Jimi Hendrix Label MCA Records | Length 69:25 Release date 22 April 1997 | |
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Recorded March 1968 – August 1970 First Rays of the New Rising Sun
(1997) Experience Hendrix The Best of Jimi Hendrix
(1997) Genres Rock music, Psychedelic rock, Blues rock, Hard rock Producers Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Kramer, Mitch Mitchell, John Jansen Similar Jimi Hendrix albums, Rock music albums |
First rays of the new rising sun
First Rays of the New Rising Sun is a compilation album by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix, released in 1997 by MCA Records. It featured songs Hendrix had recorded for an unfinished double album before his death in 1970. Most of them were first released on the posthumous 1971 albums The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge, along with subsequent compilations in edited form, before they were compiled by audio engineer Eddie Kramer in 1997. Kramer selected and sequenced the songs in their original form to realize Hendrix's planned album to the best of his abilities, based on the latter's notes and the level of each track's completion.
Contents
- First rays of the new rising sun
- Background
- Release and reception
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
Background
First Rays of the New Rising Sun was an attempt to produce the fourth studio album of the same name Hendrix was working on before his death in September 1970. Recorded between March 1968 and August 1970, most of the songs compiled on this compilation had previously been released on the posthumous 1971 albums The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge, which were themselves compiled by recording engineer Eddie Kramer and drummer Mitch Mitchell. During the 1970s through the 1990s, the songs also appeared on other posthumous compilations supervised by producer Alan Douglas, who overdubbed other instruments into the recordings. For the 1997 compilation, Kramer instead used the original master recordings and sequenced the songs to realize Hendrix's plans to the best of his abilities. He selected tracks based on their original level of completion and Hendrix's personal notes.
Release and reception
When First Rays of the New Rising Sun was released in 1997, it charted at number 49 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and at number 37 on the UK Albums Charts in Britain. In 2010, the album was remastered and re-released by Sony Legacy, on March 8 in the UK and March 9 in the US.
According to Robert Christgau in Blender, First Rays of the New Rising Sun was Kramer's reimagination of Hendrix's projected double LP, which was not as remarkable musically as his last studio album Electric Ladyland (1968) and "not too profound lyrically". Nonetheless, Christgau deemed it a suitable successor to The Cry of Love, as well as "a powerful collection by a genius whose songwriting kept growing and whose solos rarely disappoint." Sean Murphy from PopMatters believed it was more successful than The Cry of Love in realizing Hendrix's vision. He highlighted the "liberating presence" of bassist Billy Cox, deeming him an improvement over Noel Redding. According to Murphy, Cox allowed the band to "spread out and chase the guitarist as he soars above, around and beneath them". Rolling Stone magazine called the album "a cohesive cosmic missive", writing that it "illuminates what would have been a transitional phase for Hendrix".
Track listing
All songs were written by Jimi Hendrix.
- "Freedom" – 3:27
- "Izabella" – 2:50
- "Night Bird Flying" – 3:50
- "Angel" – 4:22
- "Room Full of Mirrors" – 3:20
- "Dolly Dagger" – 4:44
- "Ezy Ryder" – 4:09
- "Drifting" – 3:48
- "Beginnings" – 4:13
- "Stepping Stone" – 4:12
- "My Friend" – 4:36
- "Straight Ahead" – 4:42
- "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" – 6:04
- "Earth Blues" – 4:21
- "Astro Man" – 3:34
- "In from the Storm" – 3:41
- "Belly Button Window" – 3:36
Personnel
Songs
1Freedom3:26
2Izabella2:52
3Night Bird Flying3:52