The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?

Non-numbered copies

Rare mono audiophile LP edition of Are You Experienced! Mind-blowing Hendrix debut!

Mastered from the original monophonic tapes and cut to lacquer by Bernie Grundman

Reissue plated by Gary Salstrom and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings!

Complete original artwork

Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time — rated 30/500!

Regarded as the greatest, most influential debut release from any artist!

Quality Record Pressings is proud and excited to be part of a rare reissue of the mono audiophile LP of Jimi Hendrix's classic Are You Experienced. Brought to you by Experience Hendrix LLC and Legacy Recordings, the reissue and its companion mono reissue of Axis: Bold As Love are part of the celebration honoring what would have been Hendrix's 70th birthday.

Both mono albums are to be released March 5, simultaneous with the release of People, Hell and Angels, also pressed at QRP — an album of 12 previously unreleased studio-recorded Hendrix tunes.

When it was first released in 1967, Are You Experienced turned the music world upside down, as Hendrix showed everyone exactly what it meant to be "experienced." Hendrix synthesized various elements of the cutting edge of 1967 rock into music that sounded both futuristic and rooted in the best traditions of rock, blues, pop, and soul. It was his mind-boggling guitar work, of course, that got most of the ink, charting new sonic territories in feedback, distortion, and sheer volume. It wouldn't have meant much, however, without his excellent material, whether psychedelic frenzy ("Foxey Lady," "Manic Depression," "Purple Haze"), instrumental freak-out jams ("Third Stone from the Sun"), blues ("Hey Joe"), or tender, poetic compositions ("The Wind Cries Mary") that demonstrated the breadth of his songwriting talents. Not to be underestimated were the contributions of drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding, who gave the music a rhythmic pulse that fused parts of rock and improvised jazz.

Remastered and cut to lacquer by Bernie Grundman from the original two-track mix down master tapes, this rare mono version of the LP returns to the original 11-song U.S. track version released in August 1967. Included are the group's first three U.K. singles "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary." The classic U.S. version, with its iconic fish-eye cover, was available in mono for only a brief period after its original release.

For this reissue, Grundman's Los Angeles mastering facility was specially equipped with a Studer tape machine outfitted with a full-track mono head block. In addition, instead of utilizing the tape machine's more contemporary Studer electronics, Grundman refitted the machine with vintage Ampex 350 tube electronics. These technical alterations provided the closest possible approximation of the original 1967 Track Records mono mastering process. Grundman's all-analog mono mastering process helps to present the vitality of the original recordings as accurately as possible. Remarked engineer Eddie Kramer, who with Hendrix and producer Chas Chandler, created the original mono mixes more than 30 years ago:

"The entire cutting amplifier chain is tube and boy, does it sound good," he said. "There is tremendous punch to the sound."

The plating at Quality Record Pressings was done by Gary Salstrom, master plating technician and general manager for QRP. Each of the reissued monos features original artwork and sequencing.

Jimi's thoughts on the recasting of his debut album in the U.S. by Reprise Records, who added "The Wind Cries Mary," "Purple Haze" and "Hey Joe" to the track list, aren't entirely known. But Jimi did vocalize his frustration during later stage performances that "Red House," his superb original blues composition, had been pulled from the U.S. album.

 

 

 

Side 1

1. Purple Haze

2. Manic Depression

3. Hey Joe

4. Love Or Confusion

5. May This Be Love

6. I Don't Live Today

Side 2

1. The Wind Cries Mary

2. Fire

3. Third Stone From The Sun

4. Foxey Lady

5. Are You Experienced

Customer Reviews (3.50 Stars) 4 person(s) rated this product.

Need a Mono Cartridge posted on 09/21/2014 5 Stars Reviewer: Monofan What the other reviews are describing is exactly how a mono LP will sound being played with a stereo cartridge. Some like Axis won't sound as bad but still bad. A worthwhile investment! Otherwise don't even bother listening to these mono classics with a stereo cart. Some of the problems " If you play a mono record with a stereo cartridge you will not achieve the same signal in the two channels due to imperfections such as crosstalk, noise, phase errors, tracking error, antiskating and distortion. This difference between the channels will result in an unstable and partially fuzzy image. A mono switch, to some extent, can improve this."-from Ortofon website.

Sorry, But I have to agree... posted on 05/16/2014 3 Stars Reviewer: mtbtruth After reading some of the "professional" reviews I couldn't purchase this fast enough but I was also disappointed by the sound. I assumed it was VTA related or maybe the fact that I was using a stereo pick-up until I started to see more and more comments like those posted here. While I realize mono can have a different overall sound something is just not right. In most places the sound is muffled with Jimi's vocals in the background while in others the sound is better but still well below expectations. I don't suspect Quality pressings as the culprit as much as I suspect worn out tapes or bad mastering. Maybe a different engineer pressed by AP at 45rpm is in order? We can only hope.

Vinyl Mono version sound. posted on 11/03/2013 3 Stars Reviewer: Henry I also wanted to say that the sound of this Mono Re-Master vinyl sounded very "muffled" and "blurred". Not sure what caused this (the source, remastering, pressing, or vinyl materials, etc), but it is so much that it became slightly difficult to enjoy the good music like this. Nonetheless, I have experienced the same phenomenon from recent remastered mono vinyls of different artists from different labels as well, like JeffBeck from EMI UK, and some from Sundazed. Let's assumed it was due to the recordings, and let's all enjoy the great music and musicians and nevermind the mono recordings quality. This is how I enjoy those reissued mono vinyls.

Disappointed posted on 04/02/2013 3 Stars After buying the British Mono release I was disappointed with the almost 'muffled' feeling of the sound. On the other hand, Axis Mono sounded great. Alas, this is closer to the British release and I can't really recommend it.

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