DELUXE JIMI HENDRIX 'ELECTRIC LADYLAND' CD/DVD SET COMING NEXT MONTH

Coming on December 9th will be the Jimi Hendrix DVD At Last... The Beginning: The Making Of Electric Ladyland and the companion CD Electric Ladyland Collector's Edition, which is sold separately and packaged with a DVD. The set commemorates Hendrix's third and final album with the Experience -- the late Noel Redding and recently deceased Mitch Mitchell -- and was the last studio set released during his lifetime.


The Making Of Electric Ladyland, was originally broadcast on VH1 as part of the Classic Albums series, but the new edition includes about 40 additional minutes featuring friends and musicians who contributed to the legendary album's sessions. Among those featured in the documentary are Redding, Mitchell, former Animals bassist and Hendrix manager Chas Chandler, Band Of Gypsies drummer Buddy Miles, Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady, and Traffic's Steve Winwood and Dave Mason as well as others who participated in the Electric Ladyland sessions that took place at London's Olympic studios and New York City's Record Plant.


One of the highlights on The Making Of Electric Ladyland features Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer, who breaks down Hendrix's work track by track and discusses his recording and production techniques in depth.


Kramer explained what it was like manning the boards for Hendrix during the Electric Ladyland sessions: "In the heat of battle, when you're in the studio and you're running tape and you know we're up to take 20 -- by the time we finish, take 27 -- who knew that take 21 or take 22 was gonna be a gem that you'd find 30 years later as being just absolutely phenomenal as an illustration of how Jimi was able to bring the band up to a certain level and have expectations from them beyond what a normal human being would want, you know?"


Electric Ladyland was released on October 16th, 1968 as a double album, and featured such Hendrix classics as "Crosstown Traffic," "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)," his definitive cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)," among others. The album hit Number One on the Billboard album charts a month after its release and went on to hold the top spot for two weeks.