First Rays of the New Rising Sun

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The guy was damn ingenious with a guitar, but not half as industrious as the folks who've packaged and repackaged his posthumous material. First Rays of the New Rising Sun, however, is an attractive assortment of "spiritual, very earthy" late recordings that surfaced in the '70s via The Cry of Love, Crash Landing, Rainbow Bridge, and War Heroes. Hendrix appeared to be in transition between flamboyant showman and serious musician personas at the time (meaning his work, had he lived, might have been twice as meritorious and half as fun), and that makes many of these tracks all the more interesting. --Steven Stolder

Tracks:

Freedom
Izabella
Night Bird Flying
Angel
Room Full Of Mirrors
Dolly Dagger
Ezy Ryder
Drifting
Beginnings
Stepping Stone
My Friend
Straight Ahead
Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
Earth Blues
Astro Man
In From The Storm
Belly Button Window

Amazon.com

The guy was damn ingenious with a guitar, but not half as industrious as the folks who've packaged and repackaged his posthumous material. First Rays of the New Rising Sun, however, is an attractive assortment of "spiritual, very earthy" late recordings that surfaced in the '70s via The Cry of Love, Crash Landing, Rainbow Bridge, and War Heroes. Hendrix appeared to be in transition between flamboyant showman and serious musician personas at the time (meaning his work, had he lived, might have been twice as meritorious and half as fun), and that makes many of these tracks all the more interesting. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

JIMI'S FINAL ALBUM, FINALLY RELEASED HIS WAY !.......2007-03-20

After guitar god Jimi Hendrix died, he released more albums than he did when he was still alive. Control of Jimi's music fell into the hands of attorneys who saw the opportunity to turn a fast buck, and quickly released this excellant music chopped up into several different albums (Rainbow Bridge, Cry of Love, War Heroes, etc.,etc.). After much litigation and several years, control of Jimi's music was given to Jimi's father and sister. They formed the Experience Hendrix record label and went to work. The first task at hand was to put together First Rays of the New Rising Sun, Jimi's title to the double-album he was putting the finishing touches on when he died. Through interviews with the producer, engineers, and musicians who worked on the project, they finished the album according to Jimi's specifications. The music on the album is sophisticated, energetic, and precise. Hendrix fans will recognize most of these songs. Freedom, Angel, Dolly Dagger, Roomful of Mirrors, Isabella, Hey Baby(New Rising Sun), and the beautiful Drifting are all highlights. Like The Beatles leaving behind the cute mop-top Beatlemania era with Rubber Soul and Revolver, Jimi seemed to be breaking away from the psycadelic wild-man theatrics of his early days, and getting down to the business of creating serious music with a conscious. You will find some of Jimi's best songs, vocals, and guitar playing on the aptly titled First Rays of the New Rising Sun. No Jimi Hendrix fan should be without it.

Cry Of Love.......2007-02-16

Back in the 70's I wore out my vinyl copy of Hendrix's Cry Of Love Album. Songs like, Drifting and My Friend have been floating around in my head for all these years and I had tried to find a copy of CRY Of Love on cd several times with no luck. Well, here it is under a different name and with some additional songs ! These are some of the best cuts Jimi Hendrix ever recorded and the music sounds as good today as it did when I was a kid. Absolutely great stuff.

A must-have. It's as simple as that.......2006-12-20

This is the geniune article, folks: The tapes that Jimi was working on before his untimely death. Seventeen songs, and all but two (Beginnings and Stepping Stone) are must-haves for any serious Hendrix fan. Of course, it's got the lovely, oft-covered ballad Angel, which has quickly become a Hendrix standard and is one of his best songs, perfect lyrics, perfect melody, perfect instrumentation... it's all there. A masterpiece. And it's not even the best song on the disc - I'd go with either the title track or Drifting, a low-key ballad that is one of Hendrix's more underrated. Rockers In From the Storm; Freedom; Izabella and Roomfull of Mirrors are perfectly complimented by the ballads (Night Bird Flying; the aforementioned Angel; Drifting) and the funk songs (Ezy Rider, another favorite; Dolly Dagger). And then there's the hilarious, wah-wah'ed Belly Button Window. Hendrix's last recordings have been repackaged several times, but this is the one to go to - it's probably what Hendrix would've approved of, unlike the Allen Douglass releases. Hendrix's music was taking an interesting turn before his premature death. If you're curious as to how a fourth studio album would've turned out (and really, who isn't?), this should satisfy you.

Wonderful Treasure.......2006-07-17

This is a treasure chest full of early unreleased Jimi. These songs really show the heart and soul of Jimi Hendrix as a thoughtful songwriter. As always, the guitar is wonderful and amazing; but there's something peaceful in even the most scorching of solos on this disc. Enjoy this wonderful collection of songs that illustrates Jimi's command of the blues and how he was able to stay true to it's roots or help it blossom into a rock 'n' roll explosion.

Jimi's Version.......2006-05-13

"In 1994, Hendrix's own handwritten track selection for First Ray surfaced and was reprinted in the french magazine Folk & Rock (November 1994). Surprisingly it was never used when attempts were made to complete the unfinished project in the years that followed. Hendrix only completed a song list for three sides of the double LP, and wasn't sure where to place the track "Night Bird Flying". With a darker-colored pen, he seemed to indicate that it should be the second song on side A. Hendrix's track selection for First Ray of the New Rising Sun was:

Side A: Dolly Dagger, Night Bird Flying, Room Full of Mirrors, Belly Button Window, Freedom.

Side B: Easy Rider, Astro Man, Drifting, Straight Ahead.

Side C: Drifter's Escape, Comin' Down Hard On Me, Beginnings, Cherokee Mist, Angel."

The above and any other quotes in this post are taken from the book, "Black Gold the Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix" by Steven Roby.

The album is refered to above as First Ray instead of First Rays because Jimi at first was going to call it First Ray of the New Rising Sun. Another quote from Black Gold:

"Billy Cox worked on the unfinished album, and recalled the time when Hendrix asked him about the correct wording: "He asked me, 'Is it the first ray, or the rays?' I said, 'I don't know. He said, 'What do you see when you get up in the morning? When you look over the horizon do you see one ray or rays?' I said, 'I'd have to check that out.'

Hendrix would seem to have had a cover for the album in mind too...another quote:

"There is also evidence that Hendrix may have had a cover in mind for the release. On September 17th, 1970, he sketched out various faces to form the shape of a cross, with his own face in the middle. The right arm of the cross had faces of white people, including J.F.K. and Hitler and two women and a baby. On the left arm of the cross was Martin Luther King, Jr., a black woman with a crown, an African woman, and a baby. On the bottom shaft, Crazy Horse, Geronimo, Cochise, two women and a baby represented Native Americans. Above Hendrix's head, the top shaft of the cross showed Buddha, Genghis Khan, a Japanese woman, and a Chinese baby, representing the Asian Peoples."

I like this CD and gave it 4/5 stars. But knowing that there are existing track listings by Hendrix out there I tend to wish they had tried to stay closer to the song orders he had chosen (Of course Jimi might have made many changes to those song orders before the album was completed).

Since these days most people can make their own CDs I would probably arrange a version (for my own listening pleasure) to look something like this:

Dolly Dagger
Night Bird Flying
Room Full of Mirrors
Belly Button Window
Freedom
Easy Rider
Astro Man
Drifting
Straight Ahead
Drifter's Escape (Can be found on the CD South Saturn Delta)
Comin' Down Hard On Me (Can be found on the Hendrix box set)
Beginnings
Here He Comes (Lover Man) (Can be found on South Saturn Delta)
Angel
Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
Stepping Stone
Izabella
Earth Blues
In From The Storm

Approximate CD time = 79 minutes

Since the only version of Cherokee Mist I have heard is on the Box Set and has simliar patterns to that of In From The Storm I left it off. I left off My Friend since it was a leftover track from 1968. For those who are into having an instrumental open the album there is a spacey guitar instrumental called The New Rising Sun on the now deleted Hendrix CD compilation Voodoo Soup...I just wasn't sure how to fit it in due to space limitations. Pali Gap is also a track that could have been on the album as it was recorded during the same time period. Of course everyone's version of this album would probably be different (including Jimi's).

I could go on and on about this but I guess the bottom line is I like the music on this album very much I just wish it could have somehow stayed closer to Jimi's vision...

Average customer rating:

First Rays of the New Rising Sun
Jimi Hendrix
Manufacturer: Umvd Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Guitar Gods | Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Classic Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000056QD3
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Tracks:

Freedom
Izabella
Night Bird Flying
Angel
Room Full of Mirrors
Dolly Dagger
Ezy Ryder
Drifting
Beginnings
Stepping Stone
My Friend
Straight Ahead
Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
Earth Blues
Astro Man
In From the Storm
Belly Button Window

Album Description

Japanese reissue of the guitar legend's 1997 album, packaged in a limited edition gatefold sleeve for the first pressing . 2000 release.

Album Details

Japanese version featuring a limited LP style sleeve cover.

Average customer rating:

The Genius of Chris Harford's 'Be Headed'

Be Headed
Chris Harford & the First Rays of the New Rising Sun
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Comet
Looking Out for Number 6

ASIN: B000008GDU
Release Date: 1992-09-15

Tracks:

Raise the Roof
Unsaid Things
Swinging Bridge
You Know Me the Best
Living End
My Little Sadness
Road With You
Blanket of Snow
Take Me (For All I'm Worth)
Your Brains
If You Forget Me
Sing, Breathe and Be Merry

Customer Reviews:

The Genius of Chris Harford's 'Be Headed'.......2004-09-25

Since it was released in 1992, 'Be Headed' has become one of my all-time favorite albums. It should have been a major commercial success for Chris Harford and made him another superstar of the music industry. However major label big business politics came into play and that never happened. Do yourself a favor and search out a copy of this CD. Then, check out Chris' website for more of his music. He is still making some of the most intelligent, creative music in the universe. Thank you Chris Harford for this music!

Average customer rating:

First Rays of the New Rising Sun

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000F6YPPA
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Music Review:

Music Review

Music Review