Electric Ladyland

33⅓ Main Series #8

by John M. Perry

Electric Ladyland is one of the greatest guitar albums ever made. During the recording process, Jimi Hendrix at last had time and creative freedom to pursue the sounds he was looking for. In this remarkable and entertaining book, John Perry gets to the heart of Hendrix's unique talent - guiding the reader through each song on the album, writing vividly about Hendrix's live performances, and talking to several of Hendrix's peers and contemporaries.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Musicals, Biography

142 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2004

Reviews

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have You Ever Been... to Electric Ladyland? - 33 1/3 #8
A review of the original Continuum paperback edition (March 31, 2004) now published by Bloomsbury Academic.

So my love Catherina and me
decide to take our last walk
through the noise to the sea
not to die but to be re-born
away from a life so battered and torn...
forever... - excerpt from "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" by Jimi Hendrix.

I was actually rather shocked when I read reviews of Nisi Shawl's recent short story 2043... a Merman I Should Turn to Be (Amazon Original Stories: Black Stars #3, August 2021) and not a single review mentioned that the title and the story were obviously inspired by the Jimi Hendrix song on the Electric Ladyland album from 1968. Was Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) already forgotten by the current generation?

Shy, gentle spoken and self-effacing in interviews, Hendrix was such a showman and virtuoso on stage that he left an indelible impression on my generation. Filmed performances such as the American breakthrough at Monterey Pop in 1967 and the concluding set at the Woodstock Festival 1969 cemented him as an iconic figure of early rock music.

This 3rd and final studio album released in his lifetime provides at least some idea of where the future would have taken him. It stretches far afield from his early roots of rhythm & blues and into the space age and science fiction visions which were fueled by his increasing experimentation with electronics and the possibilities of the electric guitar. This eventually led him to building his own custom designed recording studio Electric Lady in New York City where his final sessions were held which continue to be released posthumously.


Jimi Hendrix's originally planned front cover for the Electric Ladyland album, not used until the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition in 2018. Photograph by Linda McCartney. Image sourced from Discogs. Read the story behind the original cover at the Jimi Hendrix website.


The setting for the above photograph was the Alice in Wonderland statue in New York City's Central Park. Image sourced from Wikipedia by Andrés Nieto Porras from Palma de Mallorca, España - Alicia en el país de las maravillas, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

John Perry provides an excellent overview of the career of Jimi Hendrix in this early entry in the 33 1/3 series which helped set the benchmark for the future volumes to come. There is life history combined with career history, a detailed song-by-song analysis of the works on the album with some elements of musicological knowledge (but not enough to be off-putting to non-experts), some behind the scenes info about album demos and session outtakes, and a conclusion about the album's historical significance to recorded music.

If I don't meet you no more in this world
Then I, I'll meet ya on the next one
And don't be late
Don't be late. - excerpt from "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix

Soundtrack
Listen to the complete original Electric Ladyland (1968) album via a YouTube playlist which begins here or on Spotify here.
Listen to the complete extended Electric Ladyland: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2018) album via a YouTube playlist which begins here or on Spotify here.

Trivia and Links

An outtake photo from the 1967 Central Park NYC photo session. Image sourced from Linda McCartney Photography.

Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland was published as part of the initial group of Continuum 33 1/3 series of books surveying significant record albums, primarily in the rock and pop genres. The series is now published by Bloomsbury Academic. The GR Listopia for the 33 1/3 series is incomplete with only 38 books listed as of September 2024. For an up-to-date list see Bloomsbury Publishing with 198 books listed for the Main Series as of September 2024. The Main Series does not include the 33 1/3 books in the Global series which focuses on music from the regions of Europe, Oceania, Japan, Brazil, South Asia and Africa. You can search through those at the World Music listing here.

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some decent personal accounts of seeing early Jimi live, and I respected his theory that Jimi might've been played-out by the time of his death; but most of the track by track analysis was a snoozefest for me (except for All Along the Watchtower), probably because most of it is written in guitar-geek-speak. Can't say the book enhanced my understanding of the album, or even encouraged me to give it a listen, but then again I don't need any encouragement to listen to Hendrix.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very decent account of Hendrix's last completed album.

I think the worst rock death was Buddy Holly, when the 60s were just dawning and he was 22. He would have danced all over the pre-Beatle years and then been thrilled and re-energised by the exciting uprush of mid-sixties superpop, all those Yardbirds and Beach Boys and Kinks and so forth, and he would have done some really special stuff. You just know it. The second worst rock death surely has to be Hendrix. Second, because although he was a great musician, he’d already showed us in the three completed albums what he could do – what electric music could do, too – and I can only see him doing more of the same (obviously that wouldn't have been bad), but then getting fed up with what blues-based rock became (Led Zep, Black Sabbath) and fleeing into jazz. I could be wrong. I really only love his pretty stuff, which is, really, very gorgeous – Little Wing, The Burning of the Midnight Lamp, The Wind Cries Mary, 1983, May this be Love, One Rainy Wish – that’s about it for me. Okay, I'll take Voodoo Child too.

Electric Ladyland is a double album filled with real poor flimsy songs like Cross Town Traffic, House Burning Down, Little Miss Strange and the title track, none of which you can remember, and a lot of jams like Voodoo Chile (16 minutes!) & Rainy Day Dream Away, but it has this lovely long melodic wonderfully exciting thing called "1983" buried in the middle of all the tedium, which is worth instantly spotifying if you don’t know it, it’s full of silly effects and sillier lyrics (“right this way smiles a mermaid”) but I don’t mind about that. Best thing he ever did.

I was very surprised to find that the initial reviews in 1968/beginning of 69 were fairly hostile – “mixed up and muddled”…”the sort of jam you’d hear in any club”. Even more surprised to read Robert Christgau’s first impression of seeing Hendrix at the Monterey festival :

“He was terrible… Hendrix is a psychedelic Uncle Tom…Hendrix’s act can be seen as a consistently vulgar parody of rock theatrics but I don’t feel I have to like it. Anyway he can’t sing”

Turns out that after getting instant praise and adulation in Britain & Europe, when JH returned to the USA the critics didn’t see what all the fuss was about. They wised up later, of course.

[Boz Reacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, this one's actually good, lots of nuts-and-bolts recording/guitar stuff. Author does not attempt to suffocate the reader with a lot of crap about actually being there - just sprinkles enough crap in there to fertilize some credibility. I got a little exasperated when Perry argues that Hendrix had likely burned up all his inspiration by the time he died - as if inspiration was a non-renewable resource. Mostly good stuff, you just ultimately cannot help these British guys as they try to understand American music. God bless 'em, they'll never stop trying.

[Lee Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this at the Strand while walking around super-hungover in the rain. Glad to have it in my pocket the next morning at the American Writing Programs book fair in NYC -- for some reason, it gave me hope, like a talisman against academic press books titled "Indian Summer" with pictures of bubbly streams and wheat and silos on the cover. This little book is worth reading if you, like me, were a white suburban youth who thought you'd one day grow up to be a black guitarist who very much resembled Jimi Hendrix. Enjoyable tidbits in here about how Keith Richards' girlfriend gave him a Strat, a fancy hotel room, and suckled him etc when he was no one, about how Jimi and Mick Jagger constantly stole each other's lovers, about how Dylan was familiar with Jimi from the Greenwich Village scene. An easy enjoyable read that made me go back and listen to Electric Ladyland a few times, which I suggest you do whether or not you read this book. My fave part was relistening to "House Burning Down" from the perspective of riots burning ghettos at the time -- how even when Jimi tries to write a topical song, by the third verse he can't constrain his sci-fi instinct: "a giant boat from space lands with eerie grace" . . .

[Leah W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another 33 1/3 book down! I'm in the process of catching up on any titles in the first 20 I didn't have/haven't read.

This is one of the straight non-fiction descriptions of an album, the making of the album, and the environment just before and after the making of the album (see also: Exile on Main Street). Its structure strongly resembles a lab report; to wit, the Table of Contents:

Introduction
1. Instrumentation
2. Chronology
3. Live
4. The Cover
5. Track by Track
6. Reviews
7. Aftermath

The structure may seem a bit dry, but the straightforward telling works well for an album made during fairly tumultuous times.

Also, this book covers a great deal more of the musical production and guitar tunings used than any other 33 1/3 I've read (at least that I can recall). I am very glad I at least have a little bit of guitar experience, so this came across as at least vaguely interesting. If you're a music fan who has no interest whatsoever in the process of playing music, all talk of E7#9 chords and whatnot might be dull.

[Glynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though an enjoyable and generally well written book, benefiting enormously from the author's knowledge of guitar playing and musical theory, it does however suffer from a few annoying problems.

The book's structure is a little muddled and confusing, leaping from subject to subject without building a coherent narrative, and there are some annoying, simple errors, too. For example Vox guitar amplifiers are described as "American" (they're very British, and famously used by lots of "British invasion" bands like the Beatles, and it surprises me that an author who seems to be a professional guitarist could make this mistake).

Still, overall, a fun, quick read for anyone with even a passing interest in Hendrix.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent little book is a detailed appreciation of a classic LP. Hendrix fans can learn a lot about the making of the album song-for-song as well as a great deal of the history of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the milieu in which the album was produced. Any rock fan will be pleased with this read.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ask anyone who has the faintest clue about Sixties rock gods the usual and final discussion comes down to who was the best; the two iconic Brits, Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck, or the legendary Jimi Hendrix? I'm no expert in what constitutes amazing guitar playing from a technical standpoint, however I would definitely lean towards Hendrix. An innovative player, his on stage and on record fireworks capture the attention and will keep it there as he buzz saws, chews, echoes and strums through blues, rock, proto-heavy metal, pop and psychedelia. 'Electric Ladyland' is his most (in)famous albums, and whilst I'm not as huge a fan of it as author John Perry, the guitarist and this release is reviewed comprehensively in this book, part of the 33 1/3 series of album monographs.

Jimi Hendrix's 'Electric Ladyland' follows the format of other books in the series, with a review of the recording artist's career, a discussion of the history of the album's recording, a track by track analysis and critique, some surveying of contemporary critical responses, and a consideration fo the album as part of the musician's and rock's ouevre and legacy. Perry does all of this effectively and informatively, helping the reader to both develop new understandings of the album, as well as put the work and Hendrix into some kind of music historical and cultural context. Whether you're a dead set fan of Jimi and the album, or a neophyte coming to grips with the guitarist for the first time, this is a very solid supporting text for listening to his magnum opus.

One of the best things about this book, whilst also being a potential hindrance, is that Perry understands the technical aspects of what Hendrix does on 'Electric Ladyland', and brings insights into the innovative and challenging aspects of his playing. Fir example, in his analysis of the track '1983...a Merman I Shall Be' the author says:

"The first part (0:06-0:19) is a simple melody stated over a lovely major to minor chord sequence (A to A minor 7: D to D minor 7) played by a solo guitar accompanied by various effects."

That Perry comprehends what is going on in Hendrix music and explains it with the skill of a fellow guitarist adds great authenticity to what he has written. The reader can trust what he is saying because Perry can play (though obviously not in any way similar to Hendrix). The paradox is, unless one is also like Perry, i.e. a musician/guitarist, his writing about chords etc will mean very little.

Perry is also to be commended fro bringing both an historical understanding of what Hendrix's career and recordings entailed, as well as having experienced the rock god's playing in person. There are some very useful notes on how Hendrix was subjected to a combination of recording company chicanery whilst also having to deal with the structural racism of the US (the latter establishing much of the former), and when Perry speaks to having seen Hendrix play near the beginning of his successful days in the UK, and near the end of his life before his far too early death, the reader is asked to consider that Perry 'gets' Jimi. Authenticity and expertise are conveyed throughout Jimi Hendrix's 'Electric Ladyland'.

There's lots to like about this book, such as comments about how some of Hendrix's work is evoked in pop culture parodies such as The Rutles and Spinal Tap, or the pages spent on examining the cover art. The naked women that form a bevy of rather nonplussed 'beauties' around Jimi on the cover of 'Electric Ladyland' is an important part of the cultural legacy of the work and the artist, and Perry is under no allusions as to how unappealing it is. Anecdotes about how the likes of Pete Townsend and Etic Clapton 'dealt' with the emergence of Hendrix, or Hendrix's relationships with women, his band mates and his manager Chas Chandler, also add to the quality of this book.

So, is Jimi Hendrix's 'Electric Ladyland' worth reading? Yes, most certainly, though I'd think you'd have to be a fan of Hendrix and/or sixties rock to have an initial 'in'. There is a knowing to Perry's work that makes one feel like we are in the hands of someone who knows what the fuck he's talking about. If only Perry hadn't been so keen to show off his technical understanding, possibly alienating those of us who think chords are a style of jeans.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me longer to finish this book than some of the others in the 33 1/3 series and I suspect why is that I was never a big fan of Hendrix or this album, which I had heard much of before listening to it for this book. While I don’t dispute that Hendrix was a talent, his music is about the opposite of what I look for when listening: loose, unstructured, raw. A perfect blend of electrified blues sent through a filter of late 60s tune-in or drop-out.

Like other books in this series, Perry does a nice job of exposing some of the history behind both the artist and the album, illustrating how these things that seem to be disjointed are actually the deliberate products of someone trying to achieve their vision, damn the torpedoes about the messiness along the way.

[pianogal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the historical portion of this. However, all the song construction and music theory drove me nuts. Partially b/c some of it was wrong. If you detune your guitar a half step, so you play in E, but it sounds in E flat, then if you play your guitar in C sharp, it will sound in C, not D. D is up a half step, not down. This kinda bugged me for the rest of the book.

Good album, but not my favorite Hendrix record.

[Ryan Splenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid and technical overview of Jimi’s final studio album. John Perry sets the book up nicely by setting the scene going into production of the record and then skillfully breaking down each track on the double LP. I’m not a Hendrix guru, so I appreciated the extra context Perry provided along the way, as well as his explanations of various guitar techniques (especially the discussion on feedback).

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Hendrix and I never get tired of listening to Hendrix but for me, this had way much too technical guitar-speak. It was cool to know Perry had seen him and I appreciated that personal connection, as I did his humour but a lot of the book went right over my head. On the other hand, I listened to Electric Ladyland about five times through and that's never bad. Love you Jimi!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never listened to this entire album before and enjoyed having Perry guide me through it. I appreciated his personal experiences watching Hendrix and his music theory and recording knowledge while describing the tracks. There were a few minor errors though: tuning down from C# is C not D.
Enjoyable read and a new appreciation not just of this album but of Hendrix, as well.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but it came through. I loved the author’s analysis of each song on this double album. I also love that he (John Perry) is a guitarist, so he gives some “insider” analysis. Perry is a fan but not a mouth-breather, so that’s good.

[Douglas Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

At last....a 33 1/3 volume that talks about the music and isn't a biography of a sensitive adolescent (if you've read others in this series you'll know what I mean 😉).

[James Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like this series a lot. Anything that makes you think differently about a song you’ve heard a million times is good. It even made me want to listen a million and one times more.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it doesn't need to include all the chord changes in the track-by-track chapter. I'm a guitar player, and I could really care less about him playing in C#

[Robert C Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good audio book free on Spotify.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I have said elsewhere, Continuum Publishing has a wonderful thing going with its 33 1/3 series of minibooks, each one a small treatise of sorts regarding one of the legendary rock/pop albums of the past 45 years. I had previously enjoyed Sean Nelson's book on Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark" (number 40 in the series, which series is now nudging toward the 100 mark), and decided to give number 8, John Perry's book on Jimi Hendrix' third album, "Electric Ladyland," a try. In a recent issue of "Mojo" magazine, this album was not only selected as one of the Top 40 psychedelic records of all time, but received the exalted No. 1 spot. ("Sgt. Pepper's," by the way, came in at No. 5.) A longtime personal favorite of mine, Hendrix' most ambitious recording has been blowing aging hippies' minds ever since its release in the autumn of 1968. Perry's book, to its credit, not only gives us a capsule biography of Hendrix, but recounts the author's experiences seeing him live in England (the lucky so-and-so!) and gives us a track-by-track analysis of all 16 songs on the record. Perry writes well, and his love and enthusiasm for his subject are both obvious and contagious.

I must admit that I, a fan of "Electric Ladyland" since its release 43 years ago (there are times when I honestly believe it to be the most imaginative, mind-blowing and orgasmic record ever made), learned an awful lot from Perry's work. Apparently a musician himself (he tells us that he "played the Trentishoe festival" in 1973, and has been involved in all kinds of studio work, but leaves his exact musical niche quite vague), Perry has a keen ear for detail, and points out facets of the music that this listener had never noticed before (such as Hendrix' piano accents at the 0:30 mark of "Crosstown Traffic"). I must also confess that much of what Perry discusses is a bit over my head. As a person who does NOT read musical notations or play an instrument, I found his numerous discussions of fingering technique, pentatonic scales and various chords a bit perplexing. Honestly, what is a NONmusician to make of this sentence: "The main sequence, in the key of A major, steps through C# minor 7, Bmin7, F# min7--and their respective relative majors"? These instances of musical technobabble aside, Perry's book should certainly please all fans of Jimi and his third great work. It has given me a deeper appreciation of this beloved piece of music, which I would not have thought possible after four-plus decades, even as it demystifies some of the legends surrounding its creation. It is certainly a worthwhile purchase for all fans (although, at $14.95 for a small 132-page book, an overpriced one, as are all the 33 1/3 volumes).

Having said this, I must also add that the book comes with a number of problems. Like "Court and Spark," this volume has its fair share of typos and faulty punctuation; a good copy editor really needs to be brought in for this series! Perry is often guilty of bad grammar, too, as when he writes "there's hardly a band from that era who weren't robbed blind," instead of "that wasn't." He also gets his facts wrong on occasion. For example, he tells us that he first saw Hendrix play at the Locarno club in Bristol on February 9, 1967, on a Monday night. Well, Hendrix did indeed play at the club on that date...except that that date was a Thursday. He talks about London's Marquee club on Wardour Street, but as far as I can make out, the Marquee was on Oxford Street; the Flamingo club was on Wardour. Perry mentions that on the song "Gypsy Eyes," the bass enters at the 0:28 mark; that should be 0:35. I could also have done without his gratuitous put-down of Grand Funk Railroad, a group that I feel has been needlessly maligned by critics who are largely unfamiliar with the band's 13 very solid studio albums. (Indeed, even Hendrix was a fan of Mark Farner; as the story goes, at a GFR concert at Madison Square Garden, Jimi was heard to have exclaimed, "Man, that guy can PLAY!") Quibbles aside, however, I am indebted to Perry for his loving, clear-eyed and (for the most part) lucid piece of work.

I would like to add one personal anecdote regarding "Electric Ladyland." During the last days of Tower Records, when I purchased the CD to replace my superworn vinyl, the young cashier girl asked me, "Who's Jimi Hendrix?" When I told her that he was a very popular guitarist in the '60s and had even played at the original Woodstock, she blithely asked, "What's Woodstock?" I just sighed, picked up my precious CD and walked out....

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, as usual. It gives a great back story into the world of pre-70s rock n roll, not to mention the production of the great album. I could have done without a lot of the discussion on feedback sorts, etc, but every book has its faults.

[Jamison Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strong 33 1/3. Stays mostly focused on this one period in Jimi's life, but does refer to his path getting there. Nice spots of actual music theory when discussing specific musical passages.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative book - I learnt a lot of new things about Hendrix so I guess that makes the book a good one.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a good one. it was basically two parts. part one: hendrix history and the world around him at the time of this album. part two: a breakdown of the album.

[Bill Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very analytical look at "Electric Ladyland" with some great insight into Jimi Hendrix's recording technique. If you love Hendrix you'll find this rewarding.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

First title I have read in the 33 1/3 series. Somewhat revealing but not enough focus or depth for me on the creation of the album.

[Kevin Duvall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty boring if you aren't into reading about what chord progressions were used in each song and other technical aspects of guitar playing.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great explanation of the impact Jimi had on Swinging London as he merged on the scene. The coverage of the album itself was quite insightful.

[Chuck Clenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating in so many ways: the music. The life of Jimi, the mystique.

[Arf Ortiyef · Rating 3 out of 5]

do you want to read guitar shit? if not don't read this wank-fan's account.