Jimi Hendrix's 1969 Greatest Hits album Smash Hits to be restored and reissued on CD and limited edition vinyl

SOURCE: Experience Hendrix, L.L.C.
DATE: June 14, 2002

For more than three decades, Smash Hits has been the sonic textbook for Jimi Hendrix. Released during his all-too-brief lifetime, Smash Hits has long been acknowledged as the best compilation to succinctly feature all of the classic recordings of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, from "Purple Haze" to "Foxey Lady." Now 1969's Smash Hits becomes the first mid-priced CD release ever issued under the banner of Experience Hendrix, the company formed in 1995 by his surviving relatives. In addition, beginning with Smash Hits, the Hendrix catalog now joins those of numerous other superstar artists successfully managed by Universal Music Enterprises (UME).

Smash Hits (Experience Hendrix/MCA/UME), released August 20, 2002, will be issued in both the CD format and in a special limited edition vinyl package (10,000 numbered albums). Both editions restore the original cover art and their respective 12-selection track listing. Smash Hits was first issued in the United Kingdom in 1968. The album compiled popular singles such as "Purple Haze" and "The Wind Cries Mary" with such non-album b-sides as "The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice”. The U.S. version, originally issued one year later in 1969, featured four different tracks and provided American audiences with their first opportunity to hear such unforgettable classics as "Red House" and "Stone Free".

There were only three Jimi Hendrix Experience albums released during the guitarist's lifetime. From both the U.S. and U.K. versions of Are You Experienced (1967), one of the most stunning debuts in rock history and a definitive album of the psychedelic era, Smash Hits rightfully culls "Foxey Lady," "Manic Depression," "Purple Haze," "Red House," "Hey Joe," "Stone Free," "The Wind Cries Mary," "Can You See Me," "Fire" and "Remember."

The Experience trio of Hendrix, drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding then returned to the studio for Axis: Bold As Love (1967) before releasing Electric Ladyland (1968), represented on Smash Hits by "Crosstown Traffic" and Hendrix's timeless cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower." The latter is the album's only selection produced by Hendrix rather than Chas Chandler, and "All Along The Watchtower" with "Hey Joe" are the only songs not penned by him.

Hendrix was the most innovative and incendiary (literally and figuratively) guitar player who ever lived. Yet an entire generation has come and gone, and a new one born, since he tragically departed the stage in 1970 at the age of just 27. With the reissue of Smash Hits, those generations can now experience on one midline album the signature songs by the greatest guitarist of all time.

The International edition of this newly remastered collection also features the original 1968 track listing including the ALTERNATE VERSION of "Red House."

SOURCE: Experience Hendrix, L.L.C.
DATE: September 18, 2002

Experience Hendrix, L.L.C./Seattle, WA -- "Yeah, thank you very much for showing up man, you're really beautiful and outta sight and thanks for waiting. It has been a long time, hasn't it? That does mean peace, not this, peace. Okay, give us about a minute to tune up all right, give us about a minute to tune up. It's good to be back in England. We'd like to do, er, start off with a thing that everybody knows out there. You can join in and start singing, matter of fact, it would sound better if you stand up for your country and your beliefs and start singing. And if you don't, fuck you!" And with that introduction, Jimi Hendrix led his trio consisting of Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums into a stirring rendition of "God Save The Queen." What followed was more than 90 minutes of undeniable Hendrix magic on stage.

On November 12, 2002, Experience Hendrix in association with MCA Records/Universal Music Enterprises will finally bring the definitive presentation of Hendrix's hallowed August 30, 1970 performance at the Isle Of Wight Festival Of Music to both home video and compact disc. Scheduled for simultaneous release on VHS, DVD, CD, limited edition 180-gram virgin vinyl, and a short-printed special edition 2CD Digipak comprising the trio's complete stage performance. Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight will present the most comprehensive collection of concert recordings from this historic event ever released in the 32 years since its was first laid to tape.

The November audio release of Blue Wild Angel will mark the first time that Hendrix's entire Isle Of Wight performance has been commercially released in its entirety. The release will also mark the first time The Experience's final UK performance in front of an audience in excess of 600,000 has ever been released on CD in North America. Geared to both the casual and hardcore fan, Blue Wild Angel will be released in three audio formats including an 11-selection single CD release featuring highlights from the show, a deluxe 19-track 2-CD digipak featuring the entire Isle Of Wight performance, and a 3-LP gatefold album release on 180-gram virgin vinyl. The 3-LP collection will be a limited edition featuring individually numbered packages.

On home video, Blue Wild Angel will represent the most extensive and technically complete release of this celebrated performance and officially replaces the now out of print 60-minute Live At The Isle Of Wight release from the early 1990's. Directed by Academy Award winner Murray Lerner, the newly extended home video release will feature an additional 16 minutes of previously unreleased footage not included in the original 102-minute Film Festival version that debuted October 2001. "The new film has the excitement and momentum of a real concert," explains Lerner. "I would think that Jimi would be very pleased with the outcome. I think we did a lot of justice to the music."

Ardent followers of the burgeoning DVD video format will clamor at Blue Wild Angel's newly created Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the audio portion of the program. Remixed by Hendrix's original studio engineer, Eddie Kramer, this release marks the first such venture in the Hendrix arena. As Janie Hendrix explains, "with the fast pace of change in technology we were finally able to take Jimi's music and with Kramer's fine touch along with the new studio equipment available at Sterling Sound, we can recreate the magic of actually being at the concert. The sound here is really amazing."

The extended video release will include complete recordings of fifteen songs, in their original chronological order, including "God Save The Queen," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Spanish Castle Magic," "All Along The Watchtower," "Machine Gun," "Lover Man," "Freedom," "Red House," "Dolly Dagger," "Foxey Lady," "Message To Love," "Ezy Ryder," "Purple Haze," "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," and "In From The Storm." Unfortunately, due to technical constraints during the original filming of the event, insufficient amounts of film is available of "Midnight Lightning," "Hey Joe," and "Hey Baby" and as a result they are not included in the program.

Rounding out the definitive release on DVD will be a host of special programs available exclusively in that medium, including a behind-the-scenes documentary with Director Murray Lerner. This special featurette will include additional archival footage of the festival also shot my Lerner, plus discussions on his approach to making the film, background on the festival itself, plus Lerner's own colorful impression of watching Hendrix on stage. Additionally, an exclusive "picture in picture" series will be available under separate menu that allows viewers to watch multiple camera angles simultaneously for four performances including "Spanish Castle Magic," "Machine Gun," "Red House," and "Foxey Lady." Also included on the disc will be a comprehensive collection of ephemera and memorabilia pieces from the event. Using a variety of video menus, fans will have access to a number of items including tickets, passes, original posters, and even Hendrix's own handwritten directions to the festival site.

Several other special additions to the DVD release will also be included when the product comes to market this November.