Axis: Bold as Love

Recording

Following the completion of Are You Experienced at the end of April 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience continued their schedule of regular recording sessions, returning to Olympic Studios in London on May 4 to begin composing material for a follow-up LP. With Chas Chandler returning as producer and Eddie Kramer returning as engineer, along with George Chkiantz as second engineer, the band started the session by working on a Noel Redding original that he had written about hippies, titled "She's So Fine". It featured background vocals by Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell; Redding later recalled that Hendrix was enthusiastic to record the song because it was written in A with an open G chord that he enjoyed playing. They achieved a working master on the 23rd take, on which Redding overdubbed his lead vocal. The band also made initial recordings of what would become "If 6 Was 9", using the working titles of "Section A" and "Section B" to identify its two distinct segments. During a session the following day, Hendrix and Mitchell improved "Section B", now titled "Symphony of Experience", by re-recording most of their guitar and drum parts. A reduction mix prepared by Kramer made room for additional overdubs, including Hendrix's lead vocal, backing vocals, and a percussion effect created by Chandler, Hendrix, and guests Graham Nash and Gary Leeds stamping their feet on a drum riser. As an additional oddity, Hendrix played a recorder on the track, achieving what they considered a satisfactory sound despite his complete lack of formal training with the instrument. Also recorded during these sessions was the experimental track "EXP". In the span of two days, the group recorded basic tracks for seven compositions, though only three were included on the album.

On May 9, the Experience reconvened at Olympic with Chandler, Kramer and Chkiantz. Hendrix had been curious about a harpsichord that was stored in the facility's Studio A, so on this day he sat at the instrument and began writing "Burning of the Midnight Lamp", a song that became the fourth UK single for the Experience. Hendrix attempted four takes before stopping for the day, producing a rough demo that was approximately a minute and a half in length. On May 10, the band performed their latest single, "The Wind Cries Mary", on the BBC television program Top of the Pops.

After a month-long break from the studio while playing gigs in Europe, the Experience returned to Olympic on June 5. They devoted the session to a new Hendrix song titled "Cat Talking to Me", recording 17 takes before deciding that the second was the superior version, to which they added guitar and percussion overdubs after Kramer prepared a reduction mix. It was later included on the posthumous album West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (2010).

Music and lyrics

Compared to Are You Experienced, the music on Axis is characterized by music critic Jim DeRogatis as "looser, jazzier, and more expansive."

The lyrics of "Spanish Castle Magic" were inspired by The Spanish Castle, a dance hall in what is now Des Moines, Washington, near Seattle where Hendrix jammed with local rock groups during his high school years. On "Little Wing" Hendrix plays his guitar through a Leslie speaker for the first time (a revolving speaker which creates a wavering effect, typically used with electric organs). According to Colin Larkin, Axis focuses less on guitar playing than Are You Experienced, and more on Hendrix's "gifts as a songwriter". Author Charles Shaar Murray described Axis as "lighter, looser and more melodic" than its predecessor.

Axis: Bold as Love opens with "EXP", which incorporates microphonic and harmonic feedback. It also showcases an experimental stereo panning effect in which sounds emanating from Hendrix's guitar move through the stereo image, revolving around the listener. The piece reflected his growing interest in science fiction and outer space. Author Keith Shadwick described the track as "some of the wildest music Hendrix ever released".

"Wait Until Tomorrow" is a pop song with an R&B guitar riff and Mitchell and Redding singing backing vocals. The fifth track, "Ain't No Telling", is a rock song with a complex structure despite its short length. Hendrix said that "Little Wing" was his impression of the Monterey Pop Festival put into the form of a girl. "If 6 Was 9", the last song on side one, is the album's longest track; some of the percussive effects were created by Gary Leeds (from the Walker Brothers) and Graham Nash stomping their feet.

"You Got Me Floatin'", a rock song opening with a swirling backwards guitar solo, opens the second side of the album. Roy Wood and Trevor Burton from the Move, who toured with Hendrix on a package tour through Britain during winter 1967, supplied backing vocals. According to Wood, he and Burton were in the studio next door while the song was being recorded, and Redding came by and asked them if they would like to sing on it. The following track, "Castles Made of Sand", is a ballad that also includes a backwards guitar solo. "She's So Fine", Redding's sole contribution to the album as a writer, is a quintessentially British pop and rock Who-influenced piece, featuring Redding on lead vocals with assistance from Mitchell. "One Rainy Wish" begins as a ballad waltz, but develops a rock feel during the chorus that is in a different time signature from the verses.

Artwork and packaging

The album cover depicts Hendrix and the Experience as various forms of Vishnu, incorporating a painting of the musicians by Roger Law, from a photo-portrait by Karl Ferris. Melody Maker journalist Nick Jones described the artwork as a "beautiful fold out package" that compensated for the "very poor presentation" of Are You Experienced. Likening the design to the cover image on the Beatles' recent Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he said it showed Hendrix "with a lot of freaky looking Indian cats and gods, sages and one guy with an elephant's trunk for a nose or something!"

Hendrix expressed dismay at the choice of cover art. He stated that the cover would have been more appropriate had it highlighted his Native American heritage. The painted image of the Experience was then superimposed on top of a copy of a mass-produced religious poster. Hendrix commented: "The three of us have nothing to do with what's on the Axis cover." Unlike the previous album's cover art, both the UK and US editions featured the same image.

Some Hindus have since expressed anger over the use of religious images for the album's artwork. The Malaysian government's Home Ministry instituted a ban on the album's art in response to complaints.

Release and reception

Track released Axis: Bold as Love in the UK on December 1, 1967, where it peaked at number five and spent 16 weeks on the charts. In February 1968, it charted at number three in the United States. The album was also well received by music critics, who praised its mixture of hard rock, rhythm and blues, and jazz.

In his preview of the album for Rolling Stone, Nick Jones described it as "at times shatteringly beautiful" and highlighted "Spanish Castle Magic".

Reviewing Axis in the same publication, Jim Miller hailed it as "the refinement of white noise into psychedelia ... the finest voodoo album that any rock group has produced to date". Q magazine wrote in a retrospective review that the album "dazzles as the Experience creates a genre probably short-lived because nobody else could play it". AllMusic's Cub Koda considered it a demonstration of Hendrix's "remarkable growth and depth" as a songwriter, utilizing Curtis Mayfield-like soul guitar work, "Dylanesque lyrical imagery, and Fuzz Face hyperactivity to produce yet another side to his grand psychedelic musical vision". According to author Peter Doggett, the record "heralded a new subtlety in Hendrix's work", while BBC Music's Chris Jones said it is distinguished from his other Hendrix albums as his "coming-of-age-in-songwriting album ... his peak in crafting pop rock perfection".

Some critics have found Axis: Bold as Love to be the least memorable of the Experience's three studio releases. According to Richie Unterberger, it was the least impressive from the Experience, while Kris Needs called the record a "transitional, but often overlooked, masterpiece". Reviewing Hendrix's back catalogue in 2005 for Blender, Robert Christgau acknowledged the adequate production and guitar quality on the album, and praised the fluidity of Mitchell's drumming; he criticised, however, the music's "spaced-out lightness", and the brevity of some tracks: "half the songs are forgettable as songs if fine as recordings."

In 2000, it was voted number 147 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. Rolling Stone ranked Axis: Bold as Love number 92 on its 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It also received the top spot on their list of the 40 greatest stoner albums in 2013. Guitarist magazine named the album number 7 on their list of "the most influential guitar albums of all time". In 2015, Consequence of Sound described the album as a "compelling psychedelic masterpiece". The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

The original UK Track and US Reprise albums did not list running times for the songs. Instead, they are taken from the Reprise monaural promotional album. All songs written by Jimi Hendrix, except "She's So Fine" by Noel Redding.

Personnel

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Jimi Hendrix – vocals, electric guitar, piano, recorder, glockenspiel on "Little Wing", harpsichord on "Bold as Love", voice of Mr. Paul Caruso on "EXP"

Noel Redding – bass guitars (four- and eight-string bass), backing vocals, foot stomping on "If 6 Was 9", lead vocals on "She's So Fine"

Mitch Mitchell – drums, backing vocals, interviewer on "EXP"

Additional personnel

Gary Leeds – foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9"

Graham Nash – foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9", backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"

Trevor Burton – backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"

Roy Wood – backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"

Production

Chas Chandler – producer, foot stomping on "If 6 Was 9"

Eddie Kramer – chief engineer

George Chkiantz, Andy Johns and Terry Brown – engineers

Cover art – David King, Roger Law, painted heads based on a Karl Ferris group portrait (front)

Donald Silverstein – photography (UK inner portrait)

Notes and references

Footnotes

Citations

Sources

Aledort, Andy (1996). Jimi Hendrix: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of his Guitar Styles and Techniques. Hal Leonard. ISBN 0-7935-3659-6.

Black, Johnny (1999). Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Experience. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1-56025-240-5.

Cross, Charles R. (2005). Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix. Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-8841-2.

Doggett, Peter (2004). Jimi Hendrix: The Complete Guide to his Music. Omnibus. ISBN 978-1-84449-424-8.

George-Warren, Holly, ed. (2001). The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (2005 revised and updated ed.). Fireside. ISBN 978-0-7432-9201-6.

Guitar World (December 2011). "Jimi Hendrix's 100 Greatest Performances". Guitar World. 32 (12).

Heatley, Michael (2009). Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects that Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-3639-7.

Hendrix, Janie L.; McDermott, John (2007). Jimi Hendrix: An Illustrated Experience. Atria. ISBN 978-0-7432-9769-1.

Larkin, Colin (1998). Virgin All-time Top 1000 Albums. Virgin. ISBN 978-0-7535-0258-7.

Levy, Joe, ed. (2005). Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (First Paperback ed.). Wenner Books. ISBN 978-1-932958-61-4.