"Hendrix amusingly introduces it in a posh English accent as "a blarst from the parst"
Artists who have the power to make you wish you'd been born into a different era are very few and far between. But I find it almost impossible to listen to a really well-mastered Hendrix live recording without wishing I'd been among the flare-clad, flyaway-collared assemblage flicking a peace sign in the general direction of the stage.
And the audio cassette version of The Jimi Hendrix Concerts is as well-mastered as they come. As the title suggests, the programme is not a single gig. The tape compiles highlights from performances in New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Berkeley and good old Londinium.
Upon its release in the 'eighties, The Jimi Hendrix Concerts would have brought the diehard fan considerable duplication from other media. But its value is in the intelligence of the selection, and fidelity of the sound. If you didn't own any Hendrix, this would have been a perfect place to start.
The album was released on vinyl in '82, but interestingly, the cassette didn't materialise until seven years later, alongside the compact disc. So this is a 1989 pre-record, on high quality ferro-based media, in the type of off-white casing which was very much coming to the end of its tenure as the 1990s loomed.
You get a quality of sound that wouldn't have been feasible from a ferric tape a decade earlier. Brilliant balance of frequencies, and a crisp top end that's vital for someone like Hendrix, whose intricate articulation really needs to be heard in all its detailed glory.
The colourful front cover was a highly noted abstraction by Jean Messagier, which had been on display at a Paris exhibition in winter 1982, shortly before the release of the vinyl album.
Released by Castle Communications, the cassette carries the ID code CCSMC 235. And if you enjoy reading inlay blurb, this one has some Grade A trivia regarding the events featured on the tape - penned by Bruce Pates.
The musical highlights? It's all highlight, and that's kind of the point. But the version of Stone Free, from London's Albert Hall, 24 Feb '69, is suitably jaw-dropping. And I'm not just saying that because I'm English. Or because Hendrix amusingly introduces it in a posh English accent as "a blarst from the parst". There's some amazing combined rhythm/lead guitar playing with the rest of the band remaining reverently silent.
None of the other "guitar gods" of the 1960s ever managed to master that rapid, high-def rhythm-and-lead-at-the-same-time Hendrix Strat sound. It was an induplicable trademark for Hendrix, and to the chagrin of Clapton and others I'm sure, one of many.
So, fifty years and a day after the shock death of the electric guitar world's greatest influencer, another piece of his memorabilia hits the Web. As cool today as he was back then. Genius doesn't date.