It's 2022. The official Jimi Hendrix release, ELECTRIC LADY STUDIOS: A JIMI HENDRIX VISION, which is an almost annual event, will be released on March 25th. As the title suggests, it contains a session from Electric Lady Studios in 1970. In addition, the actual artwork was published in various media, and it will be released as a set of three CDs and Blu-ray audio, as well as a five-LP box set released at the same time. Jimi Hendrix's official releases have been overwhelmingly dominated by live recordings, so enthusiasts were excited about the release of a concept that was so specialized in specific studio recordings. However, there was no sign of the release after the crucial March 25th, and before we knew it, the official release for 2022 had been replaced by the 1969 LA Forum Live. In the first place, there was no announcement of the Japanese version of "ELECTRIC LADY STUDIOS: A JIMI HENDRIX VISION", which would normally be announced, and there is something reminiscent of the cancellation of the release at an early stage. Why was it not released? The truth remains a mystery, but it seems that there was some kind of barrier to releasing a complete set of studio recordings. Until now, the studio recordings released by Hendrix were basically compilations, and there was no project to compile session recordings from a specific period. Thus, "ELECTRIC LADY STUDIOS: A JIMI HENDRIX VISION" became a phantom release, but it was actually made with the intention of being released, and the sample LP box was sold on e-bay for nearly 6 million yen this April. At the same time, the advance CD was finally leaked, and the shocking contents were revealed. After all, it was completely mixed and mastered for release, so the sound quality is perfect. There is an impression that various recordings of Jimi Hendrix have been leaked, but in fact, most of them were leaked during the time of Alan Douglas, who produced many releases after his death. Since the rights were returned to Jimi's family in the late 1990s, the management of the recordings has been strict and there have been no leaks at all. It is only because we have reached the release stage like this that we can hear them. Especially when it comes to the recordings of Jimi's later years at Electric Lady Studios, there are few recordings leaked even during the Douglas era. On the other hand, in the book "JIMI HENDRIX: RECORDING SESSION", the scenes of Jimi's sessions in his later years are described in detail, citing the session tapes, and it was frustrating not to be able to hear them on audio. The content of "ELECTRIC LADY STUDIOS: A JIMI HENDRIX VISION", which was supposed to be realized there, is groundbreaking. The three discs clearly show how Jimi concentrated on his recording work in the short period from June to August after the completion of Electric Lady Studios, and how fulfilling the process was. The first disc starts with a different mix of "Ezy Rider," the first song Jimi started working on at Electric Lady Studios. This is a different mix with less overdubbing than the version heard in the official "FIRST RAYS OF THE NEW RISING SUN" and "THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE" boxes. The next disc is a June session at Electric Lady Studios, and Jimi's version of "Farther Up the Road," one of the few leaked recordings from this period, is also included in perfect sound quality. The last disc is a literal "long medley" recorded on June 24th, in which new song ideas are played as they come, and the medley never tires of the listener, even though it is over 20 minutes long. The second disc is a compilation of recordings from sessions held in July, and includes a number of wonderful session scenes of Jimi's later masterpieces, such as the session for "Dolly Dagger" recorded on July 1st, and "Angel" before Mitch Mitchell re-recorded the drums for "Cry of Love". The coolness of the unreleased track "Messing Around" recorded on June 16th is also shocking. The third disc focuses on the mixing process for each song. Jimi's recording at Electric Lady Studios was done energetically from June to July, and August was devoted to mixing work. Due to schedule conflicts such as live performances in Hawaii and the Isle of Wight, he was only in the studio for five days, but work on completing the album still progressed. Above all, since the official "FIRST RAYS OF THE NEW RISING SUN" showed the "finished version", it is assumed that this was compiled with the concept of wanting people to hear the trial and error of mixing by Jimi and Eddie Kramer. As a result, what is surprising about this three-disc set, which ended up being a phantom release, is that all of the session scenes and alternate mixes compiled there are very well-made, and yet the differences from the previously released versions are very easy to understand and enjoyable. What's more, the sound quality is impeccable. It could be described as the Jimi Hendrix version of "FULLY FINISHED STUDIO OUTTAKES". If you put it this way, you can see how amazing the content and sound quality are, right?
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