Why Jimi Hendrix hated his album covers
Jimi Hendrix appears to have been a rather conflicted man. His wild stage persona, famed for pyromania and cliché rock ‘n’ roll hedonism, was at odds with the demeanour Hendrix’s friends would fondly reflect on following his tragic death. Those who knew Hendrix described him as a reserved, laid-back man prone to bouts of shyness.
“In real life, Jimi Hendrix was nothing like the wild guy that he portrayed on stage,” The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies once recalled of his late acquaintance. “He was a quiet, introverted guy like Ray was. He was explosive on stage but very softly spoken off it. I’d see him from time to time at the Scotch of St James or at parties. We used to exchange the odd word to each other, but it was never like we were close.”
Also contradicting this less-than-gregarious demeanour was Hendrix’s vanity. While his words may have been few during social engagements, Hendrix was always sure to wear the loudest clothing. People often speak of vanity as a negative, but it’s important to value one’s appearance. Not only can it communicate your unique creative flair, but in Hendrix’s case, it could compensate for social ineptitude.
Hendrix’s consciousness of outward appearances bled over onto the cover art on his album releases too. For those wondering why Hendrix’s different albums often tended to have alternative covers for UK and US releases, it’s because he was particularly picky when it came to the record sleeves of his albums.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1967 debut record, Are You Experienced, introduced Hendrix’s unequalled guitar virtuosity with timeless classics like ‘Foxy Lady,’ ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘The Wind Cries Mary’. The record was first released in the UK with a sleeve design depicting Hendrix wearing a cape as he powered, arms open, above his bandmates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.
“[Hendrix’s] music at the time was pretty wild, and the prevalent thing at the time was psychedelic and all things strange, so you had to do something odd,” explained the original cover’s photographer, Bruce Fleming, in the book Jimi Hendrix and the Making of Are You Experienced. “The more outrageous and outlandish you got, the better. So I went for a dark green background – deep, deep green – and then just him with his cloak up.”
Sadly, Hendrix hated the picture as he thought the cape made him “look like a fairy” and demanded a different image for the album’s US release. For the revised artwork, Hendrix and the Experience commissioned Karl Ferris, who used a fish-eye camera lens and some acid wash colour effects to create the psychedelic look. The US cover held this iconic circular image of the trio over a bold yellow background with purple lettering overlain.
The group was happy with the cover, and so they gave Ferris a call when looking to create the artwork for the second studio album, Axis: Bold as Love, later that year. This time, a new photo taken by Ferris was adapted by artist Roger Law, who combined it with a colourful arrangement of the different forms of the Hindu deity Vishnu.
“When I first saw that [cover] design, I thought, ‘It’s great,’ but maybe we should have an American Indian,” Hendrix was quoted as saying in the book Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Experience. Despite being appreciative of the colourful artwork, Hendrix could see no tangible connection between the band and the Hindu deity. “The three of us have nothing to do with what’s on the Axis cover.”
In light of previous misalignments, Hendrix was sure to write an accurate description of what he wanted for the Electric Ladyland cover in 1968. He sent his label a detailed set of instructions complete with a rough sketch of the sleeve he had in mind, namely, a photograph taken by Linda Eastman (later married to Paul McCartney) featuring Hendrix playing with children on the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in New York’s Central Park.
Defying Hendrix’s expressed wishes, the obstinate label executives decided to market the record with a completely different visage. While the Linda Eastman idea materialised on the album’s 50th-anniversary cover, Hendrix had to make do with another Ferris photograph, this time a red and orange exposure captured during a performance at London’s Saville Theatre.
Once again, the UK version of Electric Ladyland featured a different design. Instead of using a photo of Hendrix and the band, the label used a controversial photo of 19 naked women sitting facing the camera, with three of them holding prior Hendrix records.
Despite some turbulence regarding the cover’s pornographic nature, Hendrix wasn’t displeased with the artwork but would have been much happier had he been involved in the decision. “I didn’t know a thing about the English sleeve,” Hendrix told Melody Maker in 1968. “Still, you know me, I dug it anyway. Except I think it’s sad the way the photographer made the girls look ugly. Some of them are nice-looking chicks, but the photographer distorted the photograph with a fish-eye lens or something. That’s mean. It made the girls look bad.”
