Jimi Hendrix
In The West

THE REVIEW

Produced by Eddy Kramer and John Jansen and remixed at Electric Lady Studios (Hendrix's personal recording studio), In The West, released in 1972, is a collection that contains some of the best live performances by the Experience '69 - '70.
An album devoid of famous chart hits but more focused on the musical aspect, improvisation, and the Blues.

"Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry) violated and devastated by the Hendrix treatment, the wild "Lover Man" and the spectacular "Blue Suede Shoes" (Carl Perkins) immediately make us understand that it is in the live dimension where the Experience fully expresses its wild power. Jimi's guitar blasted at improbable volumes, in the throes of feedback crises, becomes a fierce animal to tame, control, domesticate...

If Lucifer himself asked me what sound I would want for my guitar, I have no doubt: I would sign up for this.

The explosive "Voodoo Chile", dark and fiery, where Hendrix asserts his African American roots, shows how Jimi was 20 light years ahead of the blues revival in vogue at the end of the '60s. The band is now well-rehearsed, with Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding - Billy Cox on bass.
In a trio, you can't bluff: if you can't play, you're screwed...
"The Queen (British National Anthem)" and a tribute to the psychedelic Beatles ("Sergeant Pepper's"), leading to the masterful version of "Little Wing" (rarely performed live) that gently accompanies us to the album's masterpiece.
Dedicated to Linda Keith (a stunning babe and Keith Richards' girlfriend), recorded at the San Diego Sports Arena, we have no choice but to sink into our favorite couch, fasten our seatbelts, crank the volume to 10, and start the stellar "Red House": a full 13:06 for a journey with no return into the cosmic blues.

"In The West" stands at the top of Hendrix's posthumous discography and is recommended to all lovers of wild rock'n'roll.