Today it’s May 12, 2017, and today marks 50 years of Reprise Records releasing an album that became an instant classic and made Jimi Hendrix a star almost overnight.
(U.K. album cover)
According to many, including artists themselves, “Are You Experienced” is the album that changed the direction rock was taking. It’s not as suddenly a bunch of new artists emerged playing the kind of music Hendrix was doing, since by the time “AYE” was released other musicians were taking similar paths (among them, ex-Yardbirds alumns Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page), but the cultural and commercial success opened the door for blues rock and hard rock artists that would be hit artists just two years after.
Even if it predates and establishes hard rock, it is firmly established as an acid rock/psychedelic rock staple. The story is well known: Hendrix was a R&B session guitarist (he famously played with the Isley Brothers) struggling to succeed when The Animals original bass player Chas Chandler took him from New York to England in order to make a band around him that allowed to showcase his guitar mastery. After some rough months Hendrix finally got to release three singles, “Hey Joe” (a cover that found early success with the band The Leaves and was written by folk/country artist Billy Roberts), “Purple Haze” and “The Wind Cries Mary” –that had “Highway Chile” as a B-Side-, all three hits on the British charts but wouldn’t appear on the English edition of “Are You Experienced”.
Even without those songs (that did appear on the U.S. version of the album replacing “Red House”, “Can You See Me” and “Remember”), AYE is a wonderful, unique piece. Hendrix had won a reputation back in England, with high-profile artists like Clapton, Pete Townsend and Paul McCartney counting as fans, and that was the key for Hendrix for being introduced to American audiences by playing his famous Monterey Pop gig (he was a McCartney recommendation). What followed was the album being released on August 16, becoming a hit.
(U.S. album cover)
We need to understand, the time was perfect for new FM rock stations. That was the time when radio started to play albums, what would be known as “album oriented rock” (AOR) radio in the 70’s. They found “Are You Experienced” perfect for playing, and that’s part of the reason the album is highly regarded and remembered. But even then, here’s where you can find classics like “Manic Depression”, “Fire” and “Third Rock from the Sun”. Add to it the forementioned singles… and you have one of the best debut albums in rock history.
Yes, “Purple Haze”, “Hey Joe” and “The Wind Cries Mary” weren’t intended to be on the album, it was a decision made at Reprise Records when “Are You Experienced” was released in America, but it just made a better album.
Hendrix would go and enjoy an exciting but short career. In just three years, he opened gates, became the person that is regarded as the best rock guitarist of all-time and achieve the kind of career bands would kill for.
And all that started exactly 50 years ago.