When Jimi Hendrix lost the original tapes to one of his albums
For every great artist, everything lives and dies by the final master tape. Even though musicians might like to spend years in the demo stages for every one of their tracks, it’s all set in stone once it comes to the masters, where the rest of the world can finally hear what the artist has worked so hard to achieve. Although Jimi Hendrix was used to creating musical magic everywhere he went, one of his masterpieces almost fell by the wayside when the tapes went missing.
Initially coming from Seattle, Hendrix had already cultivated himself as one of the most prominent artists in England before he even had a record out. As the rest of the British blues scene progressed into the land of psychedelia, Hendrix seemed to come directly from outer space, clad in different pastel colours and playing guitar unlike anyone ever to walk the earth.
With the release of Are You Experienced, fans got a taste of what Hendrix was capable of in the studio. From the opening guitar assault on ‘Purple Haze’, Hendrix was a force to be reckoned with, taking the studio and moulding it into a makeshift instrument throughout songs like ‘Manic Depression’ and the title track.
While the debut created an array of everything Hendrix was capable of, Axis: Bold As Love was when he started to become a songwriter. Citing everyone from Bob Dylan to Curtis Mayfield as an inspiration, most of Hendrix’s best work came from his sophomore release, including the soulful exercise ‘Little Wing’ and working in hard rock on tracks like ‘Spanish Castle Magic’.
Although Hendrix was enthusiastic about the final tracks, the initial sessions for the album were never recovered after being lost in London. Between recording sessions and various gigs, Hendrix left an entire reel of tapes in a taxi, all of which have since never been recovered.
Losing the entire first side of the album, Hendrix had to make up for lost time by turning over the lost side in just a few hours. Rather than spend time honing his craft as he had in the past, Hendrix enlisted Eddie Kramer to book studio time to whistle through the entire side in one session.
Despite being the stuff of nightmares for most musicians, Hendrix turned in one of his best performances a second time, with tracks like ‘Little Wing’ sounding better when played off the cuff. Even though the album was finally finished, the most time-consuming part of the recreation came when producing ‘If 6 was 9’.
Recorded initially with countless guitar overdubs, Hendrix worked diligently to recreate the sensation in one inspired session, making his guitar sound like an orchestra throughout three minutes. While Axis: Bold As Love may standard awkwardly between two of Hendrix’s masterpieces at times, the fact that half of it was made in a single session is just another testament to how much of a musical phenomenon the guitarist was in his prime. Even under pressure, Hendrix was still more than capable of turning the guitar world inside out.
