The Jimi Hendrix Story

With a title of The Jimi Hendrix Story, and weighing in at four CDs and 52 tracks in length, you'd expect this 1998 release to cover all the bases of the legendary guitarist's short but remarkable career. Well, the answer to this is it does...and it doesn't. None of the definitive studio versions of such classics as "Purple Haze," "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," or "Fire" are included here -- they all appear to be live renditions. So, if you're looking for a box of the Hendrix tunes you've known and loved for decades by this point, you're out of luck. However, if you're looking for rare Hendrix material, The Jimi Hendrix Story certainly contains its share of uncommon goodies. Tops on the list would be "Red House" and "Room Full of Mirrors" -- both of which include song structures reasonably different than the renowned studio versions. But the majority of the tracks here are ultra obscurities -- in fact, you'd have to be a supreme Jimi-ologist to even confirm for sure if Hendrix is really even appearing and/or playing on certain tracks -- especially such early sessions as "No Business" and "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Calling You" (the latter of which sounds like it could be a Funkadelic track, rather than one of Jimi's). While it's certainly not essential Hendrix, there's no denying that there are quite a few interesting, uncommon items here, that the average fan probably has not come across yet. ~ Greg Prato|