Pro Studio 9.7

Aud 7.3 - Most of the 1970 audience tapes are horrible, barely audible sludge fests, this one is not. You actually can hear Jimi! His guitar, singing, and the band rise enough above the noise to actually provide a decent listening experience. Not great, but not the typical hot mess either.

Jimi Hendrix - Black Gold ... Volume 1,2,3   (5 Disc's) Pro Studio 9.7 - Expertly compiled and many would say that this represents one of the top tier collections of studio work compilations out there. In its own right, you could say the “Black Gold” series is definitive or at least was held in that esteem for many years by collectors. CD 1:  (77:21, 11 tracks) Playhouse Theatre, London, 06oct67 (track 1) Record Plant, New York, 03may68 (track 2) Drake Hotel, Jimi Solo, New York, 17apr68 (tracks 3-11) 1. Ain't Too Proud To Beg (Parts I & II) 8:35 2. Voodoo Chlid (Slight Return) [The Session: takes 1-15] 32:43 3. Long Hot Summer Night (Parts I& II) 4:23 4. 1983...(A Merman Should Turn To Be) 4:00 5. Moon Turn The Tides...Gently, Gently Away 3:28 6. Angel 3:22 7. Cherokee Mist 3:12 8. Getting My Heart Back Together Again 1:21 9. Voodoo Chile 6:07 10. Gypsy Eyes 5:53 11. Gypsy Eyes 4:14 CD 2:  (70:31, 11 tracks) Record Plant, New York, 14jun68 (track 1) Record Plant, New York, 10jun68 (tracks 2-4) Record Plant, New York, 14may68 (track 5) Electric Ladyland Studiod, New York, 16jun70 (track 6) Record Plant, New York, 24mar69 (track 7) Record Plant, New York, 24sep69 (tracks 8-9) Olmstead Studios, New York, 04mar69 (track 10) Record Plant, New York, 21apr69 (track 11) 1. South Saturn Delta 3:29 2. Rainy Day, Dream Away [overdub session: take 1] 0:56 3. Rainy Day, Dream Away [take 2] 2:19 4. Rainy Day, Dream Away [take 3] 10:21 5. Third Stone From The Sun/ Villanova Junction Blues 14:05 6. Jam Back At The House 5:47 7. Bleeding Heart 3:48 8. Pride Of Man [take 1] 1:28 9. Pride Of Man [take 2] 2:18 10. Midnight, Valleys Of Neptune Arising [takes 1-7] 14:51 11. Sending My Heart To Linda [takes 1-2] 11:06 CD 3:  (71:12, 6 tracks) Electric Ladyland Studiod, New York, 23jul70 (track 1) Record Plant, New York, 21nov69 (track 2) Record Plant, New York, 23jan70 (track 3) Record Plant, New York, 07nov69 (tracks 4-5) Sheridan Square, Greenwich Village, New York, 10sep69 (track 6) 1. Had To Cry Today 16:30 2. Paper Airplanes [rehearsals] 26:41 3. Blue Suede Shoes [jam] 11:36 4. Izabella [overdub session: take 2] 3:50 5. Izabella 4:41 6. Honey Bed [takes 1-5] 7:52 CD 4:  (31:59, 2 tracks) Record Plant, New York, 07jan70 (track 1) 25 Brook Street, London, Home Rec., 10mar69 (track 2) 1. Mannish Boy [rehearsals: takes 1-7] 39:55 2. Closer To The Truth [Room Full Of Mirrors] 22:06 CD 5:  (70:35, 6 tracks) Record Plant, New York, 01may68 (track 1) Greenwich Village, New York, Home Rec., 01feb70 (track 2, medley) Record Plant, New York, Jimi solo, 20apr68 (tracks 3-6) 1. Voodoo Chile [Blues Session: takes 1-5] 36:44 2. Instrumental Jam Inc.: 23:48 Stepping Stone Sending My Love To Linda Freedom Here Comes The Sun Cherokee Mist All Devil's Children 3. 3 Little Bears 2:38 4. Gypsy Eyes 2:38 5. 1983...(A Merman I Should Turn To Be) 4:27 6. Untitled Instrumental 0:44

Jimi Hendrix - Black Gold ... Volume 2 Pro Studio 9.7 - Expertly compiled and many would say that this represents one of the top tier collections of studio work compilations out there. In its own right, you could say the “Black Gold” series is definitive or at least was held in that esteem for many years by collectors. CD 3:  (71:12, 6 tracks) Electric Ladyland Studiod, New York, 23jul70 (track 1) Record Plant, New York, 21nov69 (track 2) Record Plant, New York, 23jan70 (track 3) Record Plant, New York, 07nov69 (tracks 4-5) Sheridan Square, Greenwich Village, New York, 10sep69 (track 6) 1. Had To Cry Today 16:30 2. Paper Airplanes [rehearsals] 26:41 3. Blue Suede Shoes [jam] 11:36 4. Izabella [overdub session: take 2] 3:50 5. Izabella 4:41 6. Honey Bed [takes 1-5] 7:52 CD 4:  (31:59, 2 tracks) Record Plant, New York, 07jan70 (track 1) 25 Brook Street, London, Home Rec., 10mar69 (track 2) 1. Mannish Boy [rehearsals: takes 1-7] 39:55 2. Closer To The Truth [Room Full Of Mirrors] 22:06  

Aud 7.9  - You know how so many of the 68 audience tapes sound horrid?  This is not one of them!  This actually captures a moment in time where you get a real sense of the venue, and of the time. Vocals and guitar are pretty clear with some cool “hall” vibe, but not echoey just vibey. Nice!

Aud 7.0 - Distant and muddy, but Jimi’s guitar thankfully cuts through the murkiness. If you are collecting, than you know good quality 1970 shows are in limited supply, but at least this one sort of features the guitar more or less.

Studio Quality 9.2

Both Shows Disc 1 Aud 6.8 There’s music here actually, but we all know these are not the best of the best. Disc 2 Aud 7.5 Clearly the better of the two shows. You can really get into this one, even though vocals are bit buried. Band just played freaking loud, gotta expect that sometimes!

Aud 8.3 - A loud tape, but surprisingly clear and enjoyable. Comes from a very low gen or master source, very crisp in every frequency, as if optimized for a commercial release – must be a remaster because I do not remember this being so good.

Aud 8.3 - Not your typical mumbled mess of a tape here, this one is rather powerful without the distortion. Anyone could appreciate this tape, which is why it comes recommended by most collectors.

9.8 - pro studio recordings

9.8 - Pro studio recordings

SDBRD 9.0 and Aud 7.8  - What you have here are two big upgrades. The first is a well travelled sdbrd that had problems that were never addressed, but should have been. Mainly, hiss and uneven volume. Those have been fixed here, and the results are spectacular!  The second show was not terrible but got little respect mainly because of terrible tape noise. Thanks to modern technology, that has been fixed. Now, this tape is MUCH easier to listen to, even though it still gets cluttered during very loud passages.

Aud 6.9 - Yeah, kinda low rating but super high energy and fantastic playing, early energy.

Audience -  all shows  Berlin Aud 7.2 A reasonably clear tape, Jimi vocals come through and guitar is right up front too. Drums a little buried but you get enough to know what’s going on. Enjoyable! Cologne Aud 7.0 Mono recording without much separation of instruments, guitar being the clearest here. Hamburg Aud 6.6 Very loud and distorted recording.  Nuremberg Aud 6.7 Thin, with tape noise present, no dynamics, only Jimi's guitar is heard but it is heard clearly ringing out like he was the only one mic’d up!

Aud 7.7  - Guitar is the dominant instrument on this tape, which features qualities I can appreciate knowing that there is so much worse out there than this. The DVD features a short segment of footage synced properly with the audio so collectors will enjoy that.

Aud 7.0 - A touch of distortion and noisy but ferociously exciting in every way. You get a vivid sense of the electric atmosphere from the first notes. That alone draws you right into this show.

Aud 6.9  -  Distant, with only Jimi’s singing and a booming bass audible, except for when Jimi is soloing and then you hear his leads bouncing almost like quadraphonic around the venue. Now, that does add some cool atmospherics, but this tape is for the hard core.  Lastly, I can say at least this – Red House sounds much better, and I am sure if someone remastered this tape it would bring out a lot more good stuff so it is salvageable IMHO.

CD1 Aud 7.6 There are several tape sources for this show, to my ears I like this one the most. CD 2 Aud 7.8 A little better here, maybe it’s just a tad bit more separation of instruments and overall timbre.

Aud 8.8 - Utterly fantastic! Early experience, very good sound, total grooviness abounds.

Aud 6.9 - Not very good, but I think someone has mastered this nonetheless because a lot of the mid band muck is gone, and you can hear Jimi sing!  You get his guitar next in this mix, and at times the sun peaks from behind the clouds. I think, if you are a collector, this is of historical importance due to Jimi’s connection with the Southern blues.

Aud 8.4 - A very good, clear tape for the time (includes Corn Exchange and Saville Theater 67 both excellent). Only problem is, the taper recorded less than 1 minute on almost every song except for a Red House. Kind of infuriating. (Red House is complete and smokes! It seems this was recorded by someone who interviewed Hendrix, so he probably just wanted small pieces to embellish his interview tape to be broadcast at his college station or something).

Aud 6.9  - A smoking hot show marred by sub par recording quality. That being said, collectors will want this due to the scarcity of live recordings during this part of the 1968 Tour (notwithstanding the excellent Ottawa show now legitimately released).