Jimi Hendrix - Blues [2LP]

Beneath the psychedelic fireworks, Jimi Hendrix was always a bluesman, and Blues makes that case across two 180 gram LPs.

First released in 1994, the collection draws on studio sessions, outtakes, jams and live recordings made between 1966 and 1970. Together they show a guitarist steeped in Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Albert King, constantly bending those traditions into shapes nobody had heard before, alone with an acoustic guitar one moment and leading a band at full volume the next.

The set opens with a rare solo Hear My Train A-Comin' on twelve-string acoustic guitar, a glimpse of Hendrix stripped right down to the bone. Red House appears in its original form, lean and smouldering, while Voodoo Chile Blues offers a looser, slow-burning take on the material that grew into one of his signature epics. Things close with a blistering live Hear My Train A-Comin' from Berkeley, the electric twin to the opening track and a showcase for his staggering control of feedback and tone.

Across four sides of heavyweight vinyl, the sustain and spontaneity come through with real weight. For anyone who loves electric blues, this is Hendrix doing what came most naturally. Every bend and growl of the strings lands with the immediacy of being in the room.