A posthumous album from Jimi Hendrix titled ‘Both Sides of the Sky’ is set to be released in March 2018 on Sony Legacy. The recording is the concluding section of an archival trilogy dedicated to the rock legend, after 2010’s ‘Valleys of Neptune’ and 2013’s ‘People, Hell and Angels’. Both Sides of the Sky will also feature artists such as Billy Cox, Jonny Winter, Stephen Still and Lonnie Youngblood, as well as include a copy of ‘Woodstock’ by Joni Mitchell. 10 unreleased songs will be heard for the first time in this record- news which has made fans elated at the prospect of listening to the artist’s original recordings. ‘Lover Man’, ‘Power of Soul’, ‘Cherokee Mist’ and ‘Georgia Blues’ are examples of some of these tracks. Hendrix died at only 27 years of age, so there were numerous works that were yet to be officially disseminated to the public.
Hendrix is most commonly associated with the psychedelic field, but his music was often a blend of hard rock, blues and R&B. Pioneers like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Muddy Waters and B.B King have been cited as some of the young Hendrix’s early inspirations. Leon Hendrix, Jimi’s younger brother, said that the music originated from his own inspiration and imagination. He said “It’s in the wind. I was there when Jimi was a boy, and he’d play with a broom, his first guitar. And Pa would come home and see the straw and shit from the broom on the floor, because Jimi’d been doing acrobatics with his broom-guitar, and Jimi’d get a whuppin’”.
Jimi Hendrix’s legacy is immense and has frequently been ranked as one of the greatest musicians of all time. He was not only a superb guitar player and instrumentalist but his technical capacity and his creative abilities will continue to influence musicians from across all genres for a long time. Hopefully, Both Sides of the Sky will serve to further Hendrix’s reach and help support his family monetarily in the process.
Wriiten By: Yohannes Lowe
He discovered the gem when he was 12 years old and still has it now, claiming it to be why he fell in love with music. He likes to play disc golf when he's not writing about music. He is a one-of-a-kind individual who is always the first to bust out his air guitar on the dance-floor.