People, Hell and Angels is a posthumous compilation album by the American rock musician Jimi Hendrix. The fourth release under the Experience Hendrix deal with Legacy Recordings, it contains twelve previously unreleased recordings of tracks he was working on for the planned follow-up to Electric Ladyland. It was released on March 5, 2013.
Background The tracks featured on People, Hell and Angels are previously unreleased recordings of songs that Jimi Hendrix and fellow band members (mainly the Band of Gypsys lineup featuring Billy Cox and Buddy Miles) were working on as the follow-up to Electric Ladyland, tentatively titled First Rays of the New Rising Sun. The majority of the recordings are drawn from sessions in 1968 and 1969 at the Record Plant Studios in New York, with a few inclusions from Hendrix's brief residencies at Sound Centre, the Hit Factory, and his own Electric Lady Studios.
Critical reception
People, Hell and Angels received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 74, based on 18 reviews. In Rolling Stone, David Fricke said Hendrix "plays at an elevated level in every setting" on the album, while The Wire called the recordings "among the best of Hendrix's late work". Patrick Humphries from BBC Music wrote that it "offers a tantalising glimpse of how Hendrix's genius might have progressed". AllMusic's Sean Westergaard was less enthusiastic and said the album "certainly isn't the place to start your Hendrix collection, but collectors will surely want to hear this". Writing for MSN Music, Robert Christgau called it a quality collection of leftovers highlighted by the songs "Somewhere" and "Let Me Move You", in which Hendrix comps behind saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood.
Track listing
Notes
Hey Gypsy Boy is a demo recording of Hey Baby (New Rising Sun). The studio version was previously released on Rainbow Bridge.
Recording details TrackLocation(s) and Recording date(s)Track 1 December 19, 1969, at Record Plant StudiosTrack 2 March 13, 1968, at the Sound CentreTrack 3 May 21, 1969, at Record Plant StudiosTrack 4 May 21, 1969, at Record Plant StudiosTrack 5 March 18, 1969, at Record Plant StudiosTrack 6 August 28, 1969, at the Hit FactoryTrack 7 August 28, 1969, at the Hit FactoryTrack 8 April 24, 1969 at Record Plant StudiosTrack 9 June 11, 1968, at Record Plant StudiosTrack 10 March 18, 1969, at Record Plant StudiosTrack 11 June 1969, at Fame StudiosAugust 1970 at Electric Lady Studios (overdubs)Track 12 May 21, 1969, at Record Plant StudiosTrack 13 January 23, 1970, at Record Plant Studios
Personnel
Primary musicians Jimi Hendrix – guitars, vocals, (bass guitar on track 9) Billy Cox – bass guitar (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6–8, 13) Buddy Miles – drums (tracks 1–4, 10, 12, 13) Mitch Mitchell – drums (tracks 6, 7, 9) Juma Sultan – congas (tracks 3, 4, 6, 7, 12)
Additional musicians Larry Lee – rhythm guitar (tracks 6, 7) Jerry Velez – congas (tracks 6, 7) Stephen Stills – bass guitar (track 2) Lonnie Youngblood – vocal & saxophone (track 5) Rocky Isaac – drums (track 8) Al Marks – percussion (track 8) Albert Allen – vocal (track 11) James Booker – piano (track 11) Gerry Sacktriangle & mime vocal (track 6)
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2013) Peak position Irish Albums (IRMA) 70
Year-end charts Chart (2013) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 152 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 200 US Billboard 200 160 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) 41
References