Axis: Bold as Love

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Axis: Bold as Love
Axis: Bold as Love cover
Studio album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Released 1 December 1967 (UK)
15 January 1968 (US)
Recorded May-June, October 1967.Recorded at Olympic Studios, London, England.
Genre Psychedelic Rock
Hard Rock
Blues-Rock
Psychedelic Soul
Length 38:49
Label MCA
Producer(s) Chas Chandler
Professional reviews
The Jimi Hendrix Experience chronology
Are You Experienced
(1967)		 Axis: Bold as Love
(1967)		 Smash Hits
(1968)


Axis: Bold as Love is the second album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in 1967 (see 1967 in music). Following the seminal Are You Experienced, the band delivered another classic, although Axis: Bold As Love is overshadowed by its predecessor and successor (Electric Ladyland). The album was made all the more remarkable considering the recording was made under a pressure of the band's recording deal, according to which the group had to make two albums in the year 1967.

During the sessions, The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their 4th UK single, entitled "Burning of the Midnight Lamp"/"Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice" in August 1967. However, it did not become a major hit, peaking only at #18, much to Jimi's disappointment. Though the single was not released in the US, Jimi would place "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" on the band's third - and final - album, Electric Ladyland, the following year. "Up from the Skies" was another failed single from the album. Hendrix was later quoted as saying that he did not like single releases at all, and rather wanted to express himself through his albums.

Many of the album's songs were composed with studio recording techniques in mind, and were rarely played at live performances. Only "Spanish Castle Magic" and "Little Wing" were performed regularly at concerts.[1] "Spanish Castle Magic" is named after a well known jazz club. "Little Wing" has become one of Hendrix's best-known songs. It was covered by Eric Clapton's short lived band, Derek and the Dominos, three years later and also an instrumental cover by Stevie Ray Vaughan is well known. Kirk Hammett of Metallica has also covered the song on live performances, and Sting included an adult contemporary rendition of the song on his ...Nothing Like the Sun album. Another notable musician who has done covers of songs off of this album is John Mayer, who performs "Wait Until Tomorrow" on Try! and also covers "Bold as Love" on Continuum. On this original recording, Hendrix plays his guitar through a Leslie speaker, that is typically used with electric organs, for the first time. Because of a distortion effect used at the same time, the resulting sound does not resemble that of an organ however. On later recordings and live performances Hendrix used the "Univibe" effect pedal to get a simulated Leslie sound, instead of using a real speaker. "Little Wing" is the indian name of Hendrix's guardian angel (like "Waterfall", that is mentioned in the song "May this Be Love" on the debut album).[2]

The title track, "Bold as Love", is often considered to be the first pop recording to feature a stereo flanging effect.[3] The effect can be heard during the outro of the track. The Beatles had notably used a mono flanging effect some time earlier on the Magical Mystery Tour album and EP (As far as mono flanging effects go, Miss Toni Fisher released "The Big Hurt" in January 1960. That song had flanging effects that preceded any other 1960's psychedelic tune[citation needed]). The song "Little Miss Lover" was the first to feature percussive muted wahwah -effect (with the fretboard hand "killing" notes) - a technique that was later adopted by many other guitarists (it can be heard for example on Isaac Hayes's famous Shaft -theme). "Little Miss Lover" is also notable for being a predecessor of "funk rock" music that Hendrix later developed further.[citation needed]

The intro track of the album features conversation between Mitchell and Hendrix about UFOs. A person mentioned, Paul Carusoe, is a harmonica player who plays on the track "My Friend" that is placed on First Rays of the New Rising Sun album. "Up From the Skies" features Mitchell playing with brushes. The song is about space creature who has visited the earth before thousands of years ago and now returns to see how it has changed. "Wait Until Tomorrow" is pop-song with equipped with notable R&B -guitar riff. Mitchell and Redding sing backing vocals. The fourth track, "Ain't No Telling", is a rock song with a complex structure despite of its short length. The last song of A-side, "If 6 was 9", is album's longest track and arguably also the most psychedelic. On the track Hendrix plays a small Indian flute, and Chas Chandler and Graham Nash use their feet during the outro to make some stomping.

A regular rock song, "You Got Me Floatin'", starts the second side of the album. It features some backward played guitar just like the following track, "Castles Made of Sand", which is a "dylanesque" ballad featuring a backwards guitar solo. During the song Hendrix tells three different stories about disappointments or failures. After that comes Redding's contribution to the album as a composer. He sings lead vocals himself with some help from Mitchell. "One Rainy Wish" begins as a ballad but gets rock feel during the chorus that is in different time signature than verses.

On some British reissues of the album, the track running order has been changed slightly, "Bold as Love" not being the last track.[citation needed]

Initially released in the UK in December of 1967, when it reached a healthy #5 peak, Axis: Bold As Love was held over until mid-January 1968 in the US due to the unrelenting sales of the band's first album. It was another success, reaching #3 in Jimi's native country.

A new cover of the hit, "Bold as Love" has been released on John Mayer's new album, Continuum.

The album's famous cover is inspired by traditional Hindu representations of the revelation of Krishna's universal form to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.

Hendrix was also somewhat disappointed with the album's cover art. Although he appreciated the symbolic design, he had requested cover art that showcased his "Indian" heritage. The British art designers who created the cover assumed that he meant India the South Asian country, not the Native American race, and thus created cover art that depicts Hendrix and his Experience bandmates as the Vedic deities Durga and Vishnu.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted.

  1. "EXP" – 1:55
  2. "Up from the Skies" – 2:55
  3. "Spanish Castle Magic" – 3:00
  4. "Wait Until Tomorrow" – 3:00
  5. "Ain't No Telling" – 1:46
  6. "Little Wing" – 2:24
  7. "If 6 Was 9" – 5:32
  8. "You Got Me Floatin'" – 2:45
  9. "Castles Made of Sand" – 2:46
  10. "She's So Fine" (Noel Redding) – 2:37
  11. "One Rainy Wish" – 3:40
  12. "Little Miss Lover" – 2:20
  13. "Bold as Love" – 4:09

[edit] Credits

[edit] Additional personnel

  • Gary Leeds – foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9"
  • Graham Nash – foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9"
  • Michael Jeffery – foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9"
  • Trevor Burton – back-up vocals on "You've Got Me Floatin'"
  • Roy Wood – back-up vocals on "You've Got Me Floatin'"
  • Chas Chandler – producer and foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9"
  • Eddie Kramer – engineer

[edit] Production

  • Producer: Chas Chandler
  • Engineers: Terry Brown, Eddie Kramer
  • Recorded at: Olympic Studios, London, England.
  • Remastering supervisors: Janie Hendrix, John McDermott
  • Remastering: Joe Gastwirt, Eddie Kramer, George Marino
  • Design: David King,
  • Cover design: David King, Roger Law
  • Inlay design: Petra Niemeier
  • Photography: Karl Ferris, Gered Mankowitz, Linda McCartney
  • Liner notes: Michael Fairchild
  • Liner photography: David Sygall
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