| Electric Ladyland | ||||
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 Reprise Records cover | ||||
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| Released | October 16, 1968 (1968-10-16) | |||
| Recorded |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 73:56 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Jimi Hendrix (credited)[nb 1] | |||
| Jimi Hendrix US album chronology | ||||
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| Jimi Hendrix UK album chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Electric Ladyland | ||||
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Electric Ladyland is the third and final studio album bythe Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in October 1968. Adouble album, it was the only record from the Experience with production solely credited to Hendrix.[nb 1] The band's most commercially successful release and its only number one album, it was released byReprise Records in the United States on October 16, 1968, and byTrack Records in the UK nine days later. By mid-November, it had reached number 1 on theBillboard Top LPs chart, spending two weeks there. In the UK it peaked at number 6, where it spent 12 weeks on the British charts.
Electric Ladyland includes a cover ofBob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", which became the Experience's best-selling single, reaching number six in the UK and number 20 in the United States. Although the album confounded critics upon its release, it has since been viewed as one of Hendrix's best works and one of the greatest albums of all time, being featured on various "greatest albums" lists, includingQ's 2003 list of the 100 greatest albums and various editions ofRolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", on which it was ranked 53rd in the 2020 iteration.
The Experience began recordingElectric Ladyland at several studios in the United States and UK between July 1967 and January 1968.[6] Recording resumed on April 18, 1968, at the newly openedRecord Plant Studios in New York City, withChas Chandler as producer and engineersEddie Kramer andGary Kellgren.[7]
Hendrix was famous for his studio perfectionism; he and drummerMitch Mitchell recorded over 50 takes of "Gypsy Eyes" over three sessions.[8] Hendrix was insecure about his voice and often recorded his vocals hidden behind studio screens. He sang backing vocals himself on the title track and on "Long Hot Summer Night".[9] As recording progressed, Chandler became frustrated with Hendrix's perfectionism and his demands for repeated takes.[10]
Hendrix allowed friends and guests to join them in the studio, which contributed to a chaotic and crowded environment in the control room and led Chandler to sever his professional relationship with Hendrix.[10] BassistNoel Redding recalled: "There were tons of people in the studio; you couldn't move. It was a party, not a session."[11]
Redding, who had formed his own band in mid-1968,Fat Mattress, found it increasingly difficult to fulfill his commitments with the Experience, so Hendrix played many of the bass parts.[10] The album's cover states that it was "produced and directed by Jimi Hendrix", which disturbed Chandler since he produced some of the songs.[12] Thedouble LP was the only Experience album mixed entirely in stereo.[13]
Hendrix experimented with other combinations of musicians, includingJefferson Airplane'sJack Casady andTraffic'sSteve Winwood, who played bass and organ, respectively, on the 15-minute slow-blues jam "Voodoo Chile".[10] In March 1968, he was joined onstage at the Scene Club in New York byJim Morrison ofthe Doors[14] and in early April, Hendrix appeared at an impromptu jam withB.B. King,Al Kooper, andElvin Bishop.[15]
According to music criticJim DeRogatis,Electric Ladyland is "a sprawling exploration of the studio as a place to create what [Hendrix] called 'sound paintings.'"[16] According to music journalistDavid Stubbs,Electric Ladyland is "undoubtedly a rock album, albeit rock on the point of evolving into something else."[17]Uncut magazine's John Robinson said that its music reconciles thepsychedelic pop of Hendrix's earlier recordings with the aggressivefunk he would explore on his 1970 albumBand of Gypsys.[18] During its recording, Kramer experimented with innovative studio techniques such asbackmasking,chorus effect,echo, andflanging, whichAllMusic's Cub Koda said recontextualized Hendrix's psychedelic and funk sounds on the album.[19]
Electric Ladyland is a cross-section of Hendrix's wide range of musical talent. It includes examples of several genres and styles of music: the psychedelic "Burning of the Midnight Lamp", a UK single the previous summer (1967), the extended blues jam "Voodoo Chile", the New Orleans-styleR&B ofEarl King's "Come On", the epic studio production of "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)", the social commentary of "House Burning Down", and the sixties-era British pop ofNoel Redding's "Little Miss Strange". The album also features an electric reworking of theBob Dylan song "All Along the Watchtower", which has been highly acclaimed by critics as well as by Dylan himself,[20] and also "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", a staple of both radio and guitar repertoire.Rolling Stone's Holly George-Warren praised "Crosstown Traffic" for itshard rock guitar riff.[21]
"All Along the Watchtower" became the band's top-selling single and their only US top 40 hit, peaking at number 20; it reached number five in the UK.[22] The album also included one of Hendrix's most prominent uses of awah-wah pedal, on "Burning of the Midnight Lamp", which reached number 18 in the UK charts.[23]
Hendrix had written to Reprise describing what he wanted for thecover art, but was largely ignored. He expressly asked for a color photo byLinda Eastman (later known as Linda McCartney following her marriage withPaul McCartney) of the group sitting with children onthe sculpture ofAlice in Wonderland inCentral Park, and drew a picture of it for reference.[24] The company instead used a blurred red and yellow photo of his head while performing atSaville Theatre, taken byKarl Ferris.[25]
Track Records used its art department, which produced a cover image by photographerDavid Montgomery, who also shot the inside cover portrait of Hendrix, depicting nineteen nude women lounging in front of a black background.[26] Hendrix expressed initial displeasure and surprise with this "naked lady" cover (but later toldRolling Stone magazine that he "dug it anyway"),[27] much as he was displeased with theAxis: Bold as Love cover, which he found disrespectful.[28] The cover was banned by several record dealers as "pornographic", while others sold it with the gatefold cover turned inside out, or in a brown wrapper.[29]
The album was also issued in two parts in the UK, with different cover art.
In France and theBenelux countries, Hendrix's recordings were released byBarclay Records,[30] andElectric Ladyland featured a front cover photograph byAlain Dister,[31] and inner sleeve photographs by Jean-Pierre Leloir and Donald Silverstein.[32]
Electric Ladyland was released in the US on October 16, 1968.[33] It was a "hit psychedelic album",Richie Unterberger later wrote,[34] and by mid-November, it had reached number one in the US, spending two weeks atop thepop charts.[35] Thedouble LP was the Experience's most commercially successful release and Hendrix's only number-one album.[36] In the UK, it peaked at number six and charted for 12 weeks.[37]
Electric Ladyland confounded contemporary critics; reviewers praised some of its songs but felt the album lacked structure and sounded too dense.[38]Melody Maker called it "mixed-up and muddled", with the exception of "All Along the Watchtower", which the magazine called a masterpiece.[38] Reviewing forRolling Stone in 1968,Tony Glover said Hendrix's original songs sometimes soundunstructured and was somewhat disappointed by the "heavy handed guitar" on "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" and the science-fiction conclusion to "House Burning Down". Ultimately, Glover appreciated the "energy flow" unifying the songs and described Hendrix as "amazing", adding thatElectric Ladyland serves as "an extended look into Hendrix's head, and mostly it seems to have some pretty good things in it (who among us is totally free of mental garbage?)".[39]Robert Christgau was more enthusiastic inStereo Review, regarding it as an explosive showcase of rock's "most important recent innovation"—the "heavy" guitar aesthetic—and "an integrated work-in-itself in more ways than one". He found the production exceptional—"the best job of stereo for its own sake I know"—and was surprisingly impressed by the quality of the lyrics. While most guitarists in rock believed improvisation to be a straightforward endeavor, Christgau said "Hendrix achieves unique effects, effects you'll never get fromKenny Burrell", citing "Voodoo Chile" as an example.[40] He later namedElectric Ladyland the fifth-best album of 1968 in his ballot forJazz & Pop magazine's critics poll.[41]
| Retrospective professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 97/100 (deluxe edition)[42] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [19] |
| Blender | [43] |
| Down Beat | [44] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [45] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 10/10[46] |
| PopMatters | 10/10[47] |
| Q |  [48] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [49] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | A[50] |
| Uncut | [18] |
Over time,Electric Ladyland's critical standing improved significantly, with author and musicologist John Perry describing it as "one of the greatest double-albums in Rock."[51] According to author Michael Heatley, "most critics agree" that the album was "the fullest realization of Jimi's far-reaching ambitions";Guitar World editor Noe Goldwasser called it his greatest work.[52] The record was also deemed an essential hard rock album in Tom Larson's 2004 bookHistory of Rock and Roll,[53] andClash reviewer Robin Murray viewed it as a "true classic of the psychedelic rock era".[54] In a retrospective review forBlender, Christgau wrote that it was the definitive work ofpsychedelic music,[43] describing the record as "an aural utopia that accommodates both ingrained conflict and sweet, vague spiritual yearnings, held together by a master musician".[55] InCharlotte Greig's opinion, much likeAre You Experienced,Electric Ladyland was "groundbreaking, introducing audiences to a style of psychedelic rock rooted in the blues".[56]The Washington Post criticGeoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of theprogressive soul development from 1968 to 1973.[57] Author Amy Wallace called the album a "classic ofacid rock."[58]
Electric Ladyland has been featured on many greatest album lists, including a number 10 ranking onClassic Rock magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever,[59] and number 37 onThe Times' 100 Best Albums of All Time.[60] Music journalist and authorPeter Doggett argued that it is very likely the greatest rock album of all time because of its exceptional concept, artful melodies, experimentation, and skilled musicianship, which he felt remains unparalleled by any other rock artist.[61] The album was included in "A Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[62] In 1999, it was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame,[63] and in 2000, it was voted number 32 inColin Larkin'sAll Time Top 1000 Albums.[64] In 2003,Q magazine namedElectric Ladyland as one of the 100 greatest albums.[65]Rolling Stone ranked it 54th in the 2003 edition of its"500 Greatest Albums of All Time" publication[66] and 53rd in the 2020 edition.[67]
The original US Reprise and UK Track albums did not list running times for the songs.[68][69] Track lengths are taken from the 1968 InternationalPolydor Production album.[70] Some of the song titles differ slightly between the original US and UK album editions and between the titles shown on the album back cover, the inside liner notes, and the labels on the records themselves; the titles listed here are those shown on the record labels. All songs are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted.
| No. | Title | UK title (where different)[69] | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "... And the Gods Made Love" | "And the Gods Made Love" (no ellipsis) | 1:19 |
| 2. | "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)" | 2:08 | |
| 3. | "Crosstown Traffic" | "Cross Town Traffic" | 2:25 |
| 4. | "Voodoo Chile" | 14:50 |
| No. | Title | UK title (where different)[69] | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Little Miss Strange" (Noel Redding) | 2:47 | |
| 2. | "Long Hot Summer Night" | 3:21 | |
| 3. | "Come On (Part 1)" (Earl King) | "Come On" | 4:04 |
| 4. | "Gypsy Eyes" | "Gipsy Eyes" | 3:38 |
| 5. | "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" | "The Burning of the Midnight Lamp" | 3:33 |
| No. | Title | UK title (where different)[69] | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rainy Day, Dream Away" | 3:39 | |
| 2. | "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" | Three ellipses instead of four | 13:25 |
| 3. | "Moon, Turn the Tides....Gently Gently Away" | Three ellipses instead of four | 0:58 |
| No. | Title | UK title (where different)[69] | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" | 4:19 | |
| 2. | "House Burning Down" | 4:26 | |
| 3. | "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan) | 3:54 | |
| 4. | "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" | "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" | 5:06 |
| Total length: | 73:56 | ||
Credits taken from the 1993 MCA compact disc liner notes.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Additional musicians
Production
Digital remastering
| Chart (1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| CanadaRPM Top 50 Albums[73] | 1 |
| Germany Charts[74] | 12 |
| Norway Charts[75] | 13 |
| UKOfficial Charts[76] | 6 |
| USBillboard Top LPs[76] | 1 |
| USTop R&B Albums[77] | 5 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| France (SNEP)[78] | Gold | 100,000* |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[79] | Gold | 100,000* |
| United States (RIAA)[80] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)Cover Picture :Alain Dister / Inside picture : Jean-Pierre Leloir / Photographs of Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding : Donald Silverstein
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