Name: JIMI HENDRIX - FILLMORE EAST 1968 2ND SHOW
SKU: K5172043
Availability: BackOrder

Description

Fillmore East, New York City, NY, USA 10th May 1968 (2nd Show)

　The release of Jimi Hendrix’s precious recordings, which began with his Hawaii live performances in his later years, has recently been followed by releases capturing the dynamic stage of 1967 with audience recordings of astonishing sound quality. And this time, we have the release of a live recording from 1968, which could be said to be the peak of Jimi and the Experience.

　Jimi gained popularity in his native America after appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival the previous year, but despite that, his live performances in America in 1967 were limited to the summer, and he continued to focus on performing in England as he had done up until then. It may seem surprising considering his explosive popularity at Monterey, but in February 1968, he returned to America and

They resumed live performances in earnest, resulting in a wealth of live recordings throughout the year.

　Moreover, the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, where Jimi had performed the previous year (although no recordings from that performance have been unearthed), opened a branch on the East Coast, and Jimi performed at a theater named the Fillmore East on May 10th. This was his first time performing at the Fillmore East, a venue that holds a special connection to him.

　Two stages were performed on this day, but the second show is the one that has the audience recording. It doesn’t have the same soundboard-like closeness as the 1967 Stockholm recording that has been released so far, but the balance between Jimi’s vocals and performance is very good, and considering that this was also recorded in 1968, the quality is surprisingly easy to listen to. Since it is such an audience recording, there are items such as “ONE NIGHT STAND” and its copy “CITY TO THE STICKS ’68” that have been released in the past.

However, they were basically out of pitch, and the cassettes were dropped, and the final cut was covered with fake cheers to hide the cuts that occurred between songs. After all, the performance and sound quality were excellent, so the antiquated processing was just too disappointing.

Among traders, ATM, Jimi’s huge sound source network, naturally has a version without such tricks in circulation, and it has been considered the best among enthusiasts in recent years. Last year, a version based on this that thoroughly removed the hiss noise, which was a dilemma of the original sound source, was shared on a fan site. However, since the hiss was suppressed, the finished product had an undeniable feeling of equalization.

However, for this release, a first-generation master that was only available to core traders was provided by a world authority on Hendrix research. Therefore, it is natural that the sound quality is better than any previous version. What is even more noteworthy is that the finale “Wild Thing”, which was cut off in less than a minute in the previous sound source, is recorded for more than three minutes here. Even so, it is still an incomplete recording, but the difference in recording time is too great.

And to make it suitable for a limited press CD release, the final touch was to reduce hiss noise without changing the sound quality. The pitch was also adjusted.

　The sound quality is so good that the performance has long been well-known among enthusiasts for its incandescent quality, but Jimi here is really in top form. At the time, he was in the middle of working on his masterpiece double album “ELECTRIC LADYLAND,” and he was on a roll. It was as if that momentum was transferred to the stage, and he played it down so well that it felt good.

　This is especially evident in “Red House.” There are many photos from that day, but Jimi, who switched to a black Les Paul for this song, begins to play the notes cautiously in the first half, but then he starts to play like a raging wave. It was a 15-minute performance, but it didn’t feel long at all, which was impressive.

Unlike the previous year, when he played solos within the scope of studio recordings, his popularity allowed him to include a lot of improvisation and the playing time of each song began to be extended, and even “Hey Joe,” a symbol of Jimi’s early singles, has a live arrangement in the intro. What’s more, Jimi’s solo in this song is spectacular, with devilish playing.

By the way, the amp was not working properly as soon as the show started that day, and the noise that came from the amp was so vivid that you could hear it. Even so, Jimi continued to play hard until “Foxy Lady” without getting tired, but the amp was replaced during the guitar change time at “Red House”.

Even so, Jimi had plenty of room on this day, and even in between these troubles, he played the intro to Chuck Berry’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man,” and then lightly played Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love,” which later became a regular stage repertoire. He also played a cover song with Bob Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” which was a great performance (the playful ending was also a masterpiece). This is a wonderful live performance that really packs in the momentum unique to the first half of 1968. It is also a famous sound source known from past items, but the overdue definitive version of the 1968 Fillmore that will sweep them away is finally here!

(62:30)
1. Lover Man 2. Fire 3. Foxy Lady 4. Red House 5. Hey Joe 6. Sunshine Of Your Love
7. Hear My Train A Comin’ 8. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
9. Purple Haze 10. Wild Thing