John Perry (4) (1952–)

Have You Ever Been... to Electric Ladyland? - 33 1/3 #8
A review of the original Continuum paperback edition (March 31, 2004) now published by Bloomsbury Academic.

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 life so battered and torn...
forever... - excerpt from "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" by Jimi Hendrix.

I was actually rather shocked when I read reviews of Nisi Shawl's recent short story 2043... a show more Merman I Should Turn to Be (Amazon Original Stories: Black Stars #3, August 2021) and not a single review mentioned that the title and the story were obviously inspired by the Jimi Hendrix song on the Electric Ladyland album from 1968. Was Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) already forgotten by the current generation?

Shy, gentle spoken and self-effacing in interviews, Hendrix was such a showman and virtuoso on stage that he left an indelible impression on my generation. Filmed performances such as the American breakthrough at Monterey Pop in 1967 and the concluding set at the Woodstock Festival 1969 cemented him as an iconic figure of early rock music.

This 3rd and final studio album released in his lifetime provides at least some idea of where the future would have taken him. It stretches far afield from his early roots of rhythm & blues and into the space age and science fiction visions which were fueled by his increasing experimentation with electronics and the possibilities of the electric guitar. This eventually led him to building his own custom designed recording studio Electric Lady in New York City where his final sessions were held which continue to be released posthumously.

See album cover at https://i.discogs.com/Im6H_znFVQEifNwAx5gIQ1SYM4_nHJZYRTnxKpddTs4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:...
Jimi Hendrix's originally planned front cover for the Electric Ladyland album, not used until the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition in 2018. Photograph by Linda McCartney. Image sourced from Discogs. Read the story behind the original cover at the Jimi Hendrix website.

See photograph at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Alicia_en_el_pa%C3%ADs...
The setting for the above photograph was the Alice in Wonderland statue in New York City's Central Park. Image sourced from Wikipedia by Andrés Nieto Porras from Palma de Mallorca, España - Alicia en el país de las maravillas, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

John Perry provides an excellent overview of the career of Jimi Hendrix in this early entry in the 33 1/3 series which helped set the benchmark for the future volumes to come. There is life history combined with career history, a detailed song-by-song analysis of the works on the album with some elements of musicological knowledge (but not enough to be off-putting to non-experts), some behind the scenes info about album demos and session outtakes, and a conclusion about the album's historical significance to recorded music.

If I don't meet you no more in this world
Then I, I'll meet ya on the next one
And don't be late
Don't be late. - excerpt from "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix

Soundtrack
Listen to the complete original Electric Ladyland (1968) album via a YouTube playlist which begins here or on Spotify here.
Listen to the complete extended Electric Ladyland: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2018) album via a YouTube playlist which begins here or on Spotify here.

Trivia and Links
See photograph at https://64.media.tumblr.com/e2426a32d75c7951cd6a799a6e71f170/tumblr_nfxmbo0PfQ1t...
An outtake photo from the 1967 Central Park NYC photo session. Image sourced from Linda McCartney Photography.

Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland was published as part of the initial group of Continuum 33 1/3 series of books surveying significant record albums, primarily in the rock and pop genres. The series is now published by Bloomsbury Academic. The GR Listopia for the 33 1/3 series is incomplete with only 38 books listed as of September 2024. For an up-to-date list see Bloomsbury Publishing with 198 books listed for the Main Series as of September 2024. The Main Series does not include the 33 1/3 books in the Global series which focuses on music from the regions of Europe, Oceania, Japan, Brazil, South Asia and Africa. You can search through those at the World Music listing here. show less

Not a bad entry, not a great one. The author's love of Jimi is obvious and he does shed some interesting light on how Jimi played and how he got some of the sounds he achieved, but, I don't know...I was hoping for more insight, I guess.

Like this series a lot. Anything that makes you think differently about a song you’ve heard a million times is good. It even made me want to listen a million and one times more.

First title I have read in the 33 1/3 series. Somewhat revealing but not enough focus or depth for me on the creation of the album.