Top Artists – JImi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix – War Heroes

More Jimi Hendrix

  • Outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound from the first note to the last on this Hendrix classic
  • The material here is unusually well-recorded by Hendrix’s longtime engineer, Eddie Kramer – with sound that is competitive with, maybe even better than, Hendrix’s “real” albums
  • Features top-tier Hendrix rarities such as “Izabella,” “Highway Chile,” “Bleeding Heart” and “Stepping Stone”
  • “One of the few consistent compilations of unreleased Hendrix.”

Drop the needle at the start of either side and prepare to be floored. You won’t believe the big-time presence, the mindblowing energy, or the massive WHOMP factor. Here’s a copy with the kind of big, three-dimensional sound we wish we heard on more Hendrix records. You’ll know what I’m talking about as soon as the needle hits the groove.

The vocals are full-bodied and present with lots of body and breath. The bottom end is tight and punchy with more weight than we heard on other copies. You could play a good-sized stack of copies and you’d probably still not find one as open, spacious, and transparent as either of these sides.

The guitar — obviously a key element of any Hendrix recording — absolutely FLIES out of the speakers here. The bottom end is strong and solid, and the overall sound is big, rich and open.

Bridge of Sighs

Note that the guitar sound on the first track of side two appears to have acted as the template for Robin Trower’s sound throughout his career. We love Robin Trower — wish we could find more copies of Bridge of Sighs that sound good — but his guitar sound was all over this album years before it was on any of his own.

It’s beyond difficult for us to find killer copies of Jimi’s first three or four albums, so I advise you Hendrix fans to give this one a chance. It’s the real deal.

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Letter of the Week – “It just begs to be cranked up to sound its best.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Jimi Hendrix Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom, 

As you know, I have been picking up quite a few live album Hot Stampers recently. Here is another great example of having to turn the volume up loud to get that “I’m at the concert” feeling.

The sound on the LP is so well-balanced tonally top to bottom with absolutely no grittiness. It just begs to be cranked up to sound its best. That Tubey Magic is oozing from the grooves.

And what a performance from Jimi. I play guitar as a hobbyist and there is a reason why we crave the tones from old tube amps and those Marshall cabs with Celestion pulsonic coned speakers.

That Tubey Magic we love in the recordings just accurately captures what was being played. Superb in every way!!

Thanks as always,
Rob

Rob, thanks for writing. We could not agree more — the sound of the best vintage pressings puts you right there in the concert hall like nothing else can.

And of course, as you say, Band of Gypsys is yet another in the long list of recordings that really comes alive when you turn up your volume.

The best early Capitol copies of this album rock harder than practically any record we’ve ever played. If you have the system for it, this amazing Eddie Kramer recording will bring a live rock concert right into your living room.

Band of Gypsys is a big speaker record. It requires a pair of speakers that can move air with authority below 250 cycles and play at fairly loud levels. If you don’t own speakers that can do that, Band of Gypsys will never really sound the way it should.

This link will take you to the Hot Stamper pressings of our hardest rockin’ albums currently available.

Here are the titles that have earned a place on our none rocks harder list.

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Various Artists / Woodstock Two

More Live Albums

  • This early Cotillion pressing ROCKS with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it throughout
  • With Mint Minus Minus vinyl and no marks that can be heard, you will have a VERY hard time finding a copy that plays this well
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • Fifteen amazing live tracks from Jimi Hendrix; Jefferson Airplane; The Butterfield Blues Band; Joan Baez; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Melanie; Mountain; and Canned Heat
  • “If anything, this set, more concise and more focused, is a better bet than its predecessor.” — All Music

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Jimi Hendrix – Nine to the Universe

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More Rock Classics

  • This Hendrix instrumental compilation has Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides
  • The five jams contained herein may be for fans, but if you count yourself among those who bow before the amazing improvisational guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix, this is going to be the best sounding copy you will likely ever hear
  • In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Nine to the Universe a “B+” and called it “bracing progressive” rhythm and blues showcasing Hendrix’s most jazz-oriented improvisations
  • According to music scholar Craig Hansen Werner, “Nine to the Universe was one of the few works that suggested the direction Hendrix and [Miles] Davis would have explored had they worked together.”

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Jimi Hendrix – Rainbow Bridge

More Jimi Hendrix

  • This superb pressing of Rainbow Bridge boasts Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from top to bottom – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • A surprisingly good sounding album, one of the best of his posthumous releases
  • “‘Dolly Dagger’ is arguably one of the great pop songs of Hendrix’s career. Written towards the very end of his life, the song sounds like it was written years earlier, and it certainly has the same feel as many of the compositions on Hendrix’s debut, Are You Experienced?. Of course, Hendrix’s guitar work is inspired, but it doesn’t draw attention away from what is essentially a brilliantly crafted song.”

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Letter of the Week – “…suddenly it’s like being 12 again!”

More Jimi Hendrix

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:  

Hey Tom,   

I’ve been a bit remiss in thanking you for the last record, Electric Lady Land so thanks! I bought this when I was twelve, listened to it on headphones and was blown away, but as I got older and ended up with tapes and then CD’s it all faded… until you play a fantastic hot stamper on a great stereo and suddenly it’s like being 12 again! I would have paid the same for just side three with Rainy day, dream away, 1983 and Moon turn the tides.

Absolute bliss… and then there’s the other three sides!

Forget the haters, I am so glad you guys do what you do Tom.

Cheers, Peter

Peter, it always warms our hearts to hear that customers get the same feeling from our records as we do.

Crazy thing about Hendrix — so many pressings of his records are just a disaster. The same is true of Zep. Some of the shit that is out there is so bad it just blows my mind.

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Jimi Hendrix – Isle of Wight

  • Outstanding sound throughout for this fun live album, boasting solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on both sides of this early UK press – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • Allmusic: “Hendrix’s performances of Foxy Lady, Lover Man, Midnight Lightning, All Along the Watchtower, In from the Storm and Freedom are excellent and made Isle of Wight well worth the price of admission when it first came out in 1971.”

Superb live ROCK ’N ROLL sound. It’s so clean, clear and transparent with deep punchy bass. The guitars here sound excellent. And hey, let’s be honest, if the guitars don’t sound right on a Hendrix record. You’re in trouble!

Fortunately, that ain’t the case here. Everything sounds tonally right on the money. I can’t imagine this record sounding any better. It just sounds right. Just drop the needle on Freedom for a taste of that real Hendrix magic.

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Peter Frampton Shares Guitar Stories: George Harrison, Electric Lady & More

The Music of Peter Frampton Available Now

Peter Frampton Albums We’ve Reviewed

Peter Frampton is one of our favorite guitarists. I discovered his first album, Wind of Change, in 1972 and listen to it regularly to this day.

Please to enjoy. For more videos, please click here.

Jimi Hendrix – Crash Landing

More Jimi Hendrix

More Rock Classics

TWO GREAT TRIPLE PLUS SIDES on this original Reprise pressing! This is one of those somewhat controversial posthumous Hendrix albums, but it’s hard to argue with the quality of the best tracks on here, like the great Message To Love. I’m not going to go out on a limb and say this is a must-own album, but Hendrix fans will certainly find much to like here. We played a big stack of copies and most of them weren’t worth our time; a copy like this one lets you appreciate Jimi’s craft without mediocre sound getting in the way.

The overall sound is both richer and cleaner than you get on the average copy., not to mention more musical and enjoyable. The bass is strong, there’s lots of presence to the vocals and guitar, and more depth to the soundfield as well.

Bottom line? If you’re a Hendrix fan who wants to hear some of these later songs sound good, this Hot Stamper pressing will get the job done. (more…)