What I find interesting about this album is that for a lot of us in the U.S., we know it one way. Everyone out of the U.S. knows the album a different way, as it has "Red House", a blues track that for some reason, Reprise didn't want to put on there. It's adjusted to where the emphasis was on the hit singles, or at least songs they tried to push as hits. "Red House" didn't make it onto an album until SMASH HITS was released. In a way, it shows that Reprise were doing to Hendrix what Capitol was doing with Beatles albums, in terms of rearranging albums for their benefit, and not the artist. This was released a month before SGT. PEPPER, and once that happened, artists specifically wanted more control. As Hendrix became the focus, they made sure to layoff. Somewhat. Reprise later had an issue with the original nude cover of ELECTRIC LADYLAND, and that was the last time it would happen in his life. In truth, Reprise were a dorky label that managed to have good marketing and publicity people behind them (check out the Stan Cornyn book EXPLODING! for an incredible look at how the industry was run in California. Literally weed, acid, and an endless budget for gas and airplanes... makes me wish I existed during those days.
What I find interesting about this album is that for a lot of us in the U.S., we know it one way. Everyone out of the U.S. knows the album a different way, as it has "Red House", a blues track that for some reason, Reprise didn't want to put on there. It's adjusted to where the emphasis was on the hit singles, or at least songs they tried to push as hits. "Red House" didn't make it onto an album until SMASH HITS was released. In a way, it shows that Reprise were doing to Hendrix what Capitol was doing with Beatles albums, in terms of rearranging albums for their benefit, and not the artist. This was released a month before SGT. PEPPER, and once that happened, artists specifically wanted more control. As Hendrix became the focus, they made sure to layoff. Somewhat. Reprise later had an issue with the original nude cover of ELECTRIC LADYLAND, and that was the last time it would happen in his life. In truth, Reprise were a dorky label that managed to have good marketing and publicity people behind them (check out the Stan Cornyn book EXPLODING! for an incredible look at how the industry was run in California. Literally weed, acid, and an endless budget for gas and airplanes... makes me wish I existed during those days.
ReplyDelete