Yet another rehash of PPX/Ed Chalpin/Curtis Knight material that has been released ad nauseum alongside legitimate, aithorized Hendrix material since 1967. Worse yet, Jimi doesn`t even play on some of this stuff. If you haven`t run across this stuff yet, and it`s hard not to, most of these recordings are from sessions with one of Jimi`s pre-"Experience" bands, Curtis Knight & The Squires. I think their biggest gig was at NYC`s Cheetah Club in 1965. They were a decidedly lame R&B cover band destined to play local nightclubs and release 45 rpm records that never got airplay and never had a hit. Their live gimmick was a young 20-year-old southpaw guitarist from Seattle who could be depended upon to do the unexpected. Their leader, Knight, was a Jackie Wilson wanna-be who never amounted to anything. Tired of the suits and the steps and the fines and the constraints of the repertoire, Hendrix formed his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. The Squires played Harlem and New Jersey; The Blue Flames played Greenwich Village. It was there that Jimi was discovered, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Unfortunately Hendrix neglected to mention that he was still under contract with PPX Enterprises, among others, when he achieved fame with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. As a consequence, PPX was granted permission to release albums of Curtis Knight and the Squires material featuring Jimmy Hendrix. In my opinion, they breached the spirit, if not the letter of the ruling by issuing these recordings as "Jimi Hendrix" albums, which they weren`t. They were Curtis Knight albums, but Knight wouldn`t have sold albums. Hendrix didn`t change his name to "Jimi" until he and Chas Chandler were enroute to London. He was under contract with PPX as "Jimmy" and/or "James".
Buyer beware. If you`re interested in hearing Hendrix before his 1966 transformation, this is for you. If you`re searching for quality Hendrix material, this is absolutely not for you.
Release Date: , Phantom