First Rays of the New Rising Sun

First Rays of the New Rising Sun is an attempt to recreate the album Jimi Hendrix was working on at the time of his death in 1970, as close as is feasible to how he would have wanted it (based on recordings and notes he made during the last months of his life). After its release in 1997, the album reached #49 in the US and #37 in the UK. It was originally projected as a double-LP with a presumed release date of late 1970 or early 1971. Hendrix we... more

First Rays of the New Rising Sun is an attempt to recreate the album Jimi Hendrix was working on at the time of his death in 1970, as close as is feasible to how he would have wanted it (based on recordings and notes he made during the last months of his life). After its release in 1997, the album reached #49 in the US and #37 in the UK. It was originally projected as a double-LP with a presumed release date of late 1970 or early 1971. Hendrix went off to England in late August 1970 to play the Isle of Wight festival, followed by a brief European tour, but never returned. He asphyxiated (literally, drowned) in his own vomit—mainly, red wine - after taking an overdose of sleeping pills in London on September 18 at the age of 27. The original plans for the album changed many times and were never finalized. Hendrix was looking towards releasing a double or even triple-LP. During mid-summer 1970, Hendrix even talked about releasing an additional LP of new songs that didn't fit the... less