That EL box set was largely dismissed as a waste of time all-around. I'd be surprised if it sold well.

The remaster of the album was garabge.

The 5.1 mix was garbage.

I have Hendrix fanatic friends who know every single bootlegged bit, and what they included and didn't include in terms of studio outtakes was ridiculous and made no sense.

And the Hollywood Bowl show was probably included to pad out the set and make it look enticing. But it's the kind of bullshit they usually reserve for their "Dagger Records" bootleg-style label. Actually there have been releases on that label that are better.

They have also been releasing "new studio albums" that are bogus pro-tooled frankenteined shit, in the same vein as the mid-70's releases that they spent years trying to eliminate from the public's psyche. I couldn't find a single worthwhile track on any of those albums.

They are clueless.

But the standalone live releases have mostly been great. I guess it's hard to mess those up.

I'm not sure what the Hendrix nerds think about it, but I like listening to South Saturn Delta. I'm also quite fond of the Billy Cox / Mitch Michell combo with Hendrix. That was the winning one.

yeah, those releases have been confusing, as they almost always contain tracks from 3 to 4 years time.
They should have just focused on one year / one session at a time, much like Elvis's collectors label does. Then they fill the disc out with random instrumental jams and live rehearsals. For as much as I loved the inclusion of Woodstock on the last release with Jimi on bass... it made no sense on that release. They should have done a full disc of songs like this (and they easily could)

The dagger releases are great albeit not great sounding. It just sucks Jimi stuck to the same 6-8 songs almost every night.
It does suck theres not more soundboards out there of his shows though. Ive spent a day going through setlists and on occasion, hed do something like this...

I have the EL box set. I will agree that the live album with it is garbage. But the studio album and outtakes are great. I haven't listened to the 5.1 mix yet and truthfully there are so few producers that can do a good 5.1 mix that I never hold out much hope unless it says mixed by Steven Wilson or Nick Davis.

Not really. They pulled a Brendan O'Brien and made it super loud and compressed for no reason.

I don't know anything about Hendrix outtakes but what they chose to include and exclude is supposed to be weak sauce.

In other words they totally shit the bed.

With the amount of outtakes and sessions currently circulating I would consider putting something out officially and of high quality to be pretty daunting. I mean that's why they get paid and it should happen but perusing infromthestorm.net is one of the longest web-pages I've ever come across, let alone listening to it all.

They don't get paid until something is released because they own all the tapes. It's their job to go through it all and figure it out. There are also business reasons for not putting a lot of good stuff on a box like this and that's lame too.

Like I said, they should really take a page from Elvis's collectors label. They release a classic album, then usually a bonus disc of studio outtakes. Or, they'll release a bunch of out takes from one particular session. And for live shows, its either the best show of a particular tour, or, a hodge podge best of a particular tour. Sure they've had their misses but for the most part they at least have a direction it seems. Its not a, hey we found this cool out take, what can we toss together to make a buck.

It's kind of funny that we're having this back and forth on a Pearl Jam message board.
Listening to the Sotheby's Auction Tape currently and it dawned on me that I don't think I've listened to any of the Legacy/Experience releases.

As far as "essential" official live releases, I doubt most folks would argue with:

- Monterey 1967
- Miami Pop Festival 1968
- Winterland 1968 (Highlights CD)
- Clark University 1968 (Official Bootleg)
- Machine Gun (BOG 1st Show)
- Berkeley 1970 (Late Show)

Normally I would include San Diego 69, London 69 and Berkeley 70 (Early Show) too but they aren't available as standalone releases yet.

Atlanta, Woodstock and Isle Of Wight are very sub-par performances IMO and are best avoided.

I like the Berkeley one quite a bit. Hearing it + some other recordings with Mitch and Billy together is why I like that combo the best. Mitch is wilder on the drums and to me, fits better with Hendrix's style, while Billy holds it down and locks into the groove more than Noel.

Hey Baby / In From the Storm - Hawaii 70 as a stand alone single performance released on the Purple Box set.

The problem with the Maui recordings is that the drums were overdubbed/added later, because they had been poorly recorded. So I don't consider them genuine live tracks.

Songs for Groovy Children is officially out today... the 4 Band of Gypsy concerts.

I have disc 1 on right now (which was previously released)
BY FAR the best version of Hear My Train A Comin' - Buddy is a monster on that track.
This whole set is smoking hot, I listened to the first release of it quiet a few times.

Someone needs to get the Seattle musicians together to do some sort of Hendrix tribute show this summer (even if its just them from home streaming it to all of us) and have it raise money for charities. With everything going on in the world, and no music festival tours, and, the 50th anniversary of Jimis death, it just seems like it should happen.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, PJ should cover 1983

I had Monterey on cassette and played the shit out of it, of everything I've heard that show always hits the spot.

yesterday I posted that he should be considered the Godfather of Grunge instead of Neil, in the context of a discussion about how many genres of music were created by Black people

Monterey is of course one of his most famous performances, but I would argue that it's a bit lackluster compared to other live releases. The vibe is somewhat laid back and the performance fairly average. The Paris radio broadcasts, Miami Pop or the best moments from Winterland and San Diego are a lot more urgent and exciting.

The inconsistant disarray of live Hendrix releases is unfortunate and I think he would have been better served by maybe a small handful of themed releases and a 2-disc compilation of the best live moments.

Here's mine!!!

101 Intro (1968-10-12 (E) Winterland)
102 Fire (1969-05-24 San Diego Sports Arena)
103 Are You Experienced? (1968-10-10 (E) Winterland)
104 Hear My Train A-Comin' (1968-10-10 (L) Winterland)
105 Spanish Castle Magic (1969-05-24 San Diego Sports Arena)
106 Little Wing (1969-02-24 Royal Albert Hall)
107 Tax Free (1968-05-18 (E) Miami Pop)
108 I Don't Live Today (1968-05-18 (L) Miami Pop)
109 Red House (1969-05-24 San Diego Sports Arena)
110 Hey Joe (1968-10-12 (E) Winterland)
111 Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (1968-10-10 (E) Winterland)
201 Stone Free (1970-01-01 (L) Fillmore East)
202 Izabella (1969-12-31 (E) Fillmore East)
203 Machine Gun (1970-01-01 (L) Fillmore East)
204 Ezy Ryder (1969-12-31 (E) Fillmore East)
205 Message To Love (1970-05-30 (E) Berkeley)
206 Foxy Lady (1970-07-04 Atlanta Pop)
207 Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) (1970-05-30 (L) Berkeley)
208 Lover Man (1970-05-30 (L) Berkeley)
209 Dolly Dagger (1970-08-30 Isle Of Wight)
210 Johnny B. Goode (1970-05-30 (E) Berkeley)
211 Purple Haze (1970-07-04 Atlanta Pop)
212 In From The Storm (1970-08-30 Isle Of Wight)

I'd have to dig mine out as it's been awhile since I've listened, but the Stages box set is really solid.

Is that the one with the four live shows?