Live at Berkeley
Live album by
Jimi Hendrix
ReleasedSeptember 16, 2003 (2003-09-16)
RecordedMay 30, 1970
VenueBerkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, California
GenreRock
Length67:47
LabelMCA
ProducerAbe Jacob
Jimi Hendrix chronology
Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Jimi Hendrix
(2003) 		Live at Berkeley
(2003) 		The Singles Collection
(2003)

Live at Berkeley is a live album by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix. It documents his second performance at the Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970, and was released by MCA Records on September 16, 2003.

Background

Hendrix performed in Berkeley about one month into his The Cry of Love Tour with bassist Billy Cox and drummer Mitch Mitchell. The set list was fairly typical for the tour – a mix of popular tunes and some newer material. "Hey Joe", "Foxey Lady", "Purple Haze", and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" had been in Hendrix's concert repertoire since he first recorded them.[1] "Machine Gun" was released two months earlier on the live Band of Gypsys album, and "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" was in development for his planned fourth studio album.[1] Portions of some of these songs were included in the 1971 concert film Jimi Plays Berkeley.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
All About Jazz[3]
AllMusic[4]
Blender[5]
Q[6]
Tom Hull – on the WebA−[7]
Uncut[8]

Rob Fawcett of BBC Music called Live at Berkeley "the strongest newly-released Hendrix material in a long time".[9] Robert Christgau cited "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" and "I Don't Live Today" as highlights and deemed it "the Cox-Mitchell band at its most documentable" in his consumer guide for The Village Voice.[10] In his review for Blender, he said Cox was a significant improvement over Noel Redding in a group that was Hendrix's best.[5] Uncut magazine was less enthusiastic and felt "there are still better versions of these tracks elsewhere."[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Introduction"1:47
2."Pass It On (Straight Ahead)"6:58
3."Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)"6:07
4."Lover Man"2:59
5."Stone Free"4:08
6."Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts)4:49
7."I Don't Live Today"5:26
8."Machine Gun"11:22
9."Foxy Lady"6:30
10."The Star Spangled Banner" (Francis Scott Key, John Stafford Smith)2:45
11."Purple Haze"3:48
12."Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"10:49
Total length:67:28

Personnel

Musicians

Production

References

  1. ^ a b c Shapiro, Harry; Glebbeek, Cesar (1990). Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy (1st ed.). New York City: St. Martin's Press. pp. 422–426. ISBN 978-0-312-05861-6.
  2. ^ Gordon, Keith A. "Jimi Hendrix Experience - Live At Berkeley (2012)". About.com. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  3. ^ Collette, Doug (November 10, 2012). "Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live atBerkeley". All About Jazz. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  4. ^ Westergaard, Sean. "Live at Berkeley: 2nd Show - Jimi Hendrix". AllMusic. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (December 2005). "Back Catalogue: Jimi Hendrix". Blender. New York. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  6. ^ "Review". Q. No. December. New York City. 2003. p. 153.
  7. ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Grade List: Jimi Hendrix". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Live At Berkeley". Uncut. London (December). 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  9. ^ Fawcett, Rob (2002). "BBC - Music - Review of Jimi Hendrix - Jimi Plays Berkeley". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert (2005). "Consumer Guide: Christians and Heathens". The Village Voice. No. November 1. New York. Retrieved February 20, 2015.

External links

Jimi Hendrix
Authority control databases
Categories