Classic Albums : Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland (1997)

This documentary examines the making of the critically acclaimed, multi-platinum Jimi Hendrix double album Electric Ladyland.

Televised initially on VH1 and then on PBS, the Rhino Home Video release of this program contains additional footage not seen on the TV version. The story is told using archival film clips, the diary of one of Hendrix’s employees, demos, live performances, home movies, and still photos, intercut with interviews featuring bandmembers Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, singer/keyboard player Stevie Winwood, engineer Eddie Kramer, and Hendrix’s manager, Chas Chandler (in his final interview). Hendrix produced Electric Ladyland himself, and the 1968 LP contained his biggest hit – a cover of the Bob Dylan song “All Along the Watch Tower,” as well as “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” which later covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Named after Hendrix’s New York studio where it was recorded, Electric Ladyland featured guest performances by Buddy Miles, Steve Winwood, Jack Casady, Dave Mason, Chris Wood, and Al Cooper.

Electric Ladyland is the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in 1968 on Reprise Records (see 1968 in music). Written and produced by Jimi Hendrix, the album is seen as the peak of Hendrix’s mastery of the electric guitar, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. It is not only the last of his albums released as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but also the last of Hendrix’s studio albums to be professionally produced under his own supervision. After Electric Ladyland, Hendrix spent the remaining two years of his life attempting to organize a new band and recording a breadth of new songs.