JIMI HENDRIX & CURTIS KNIGHT/STRANGE THINGS HA 8369 (-68) UK MONO

It would be impossible even for the most fanatic Hendrix completist to keep track of or collect all separate issues with pre-fame recordings. The records may have differing copywrites, labels or sleeve designs, but most of them sharing about the same tracks. As a fan it is important to know origins and history, even if musical and audiophile qualities are rather low, and with this huge panoply one have to choose. The earliest I've seen so far are the US 1967/68 Captitol issues "Get That Feeling" (ST/T 2856) and "Flashing" (ST 2894), the German/Scandinavian 1968 "Soul" on Telefunken (PPX 1) and two 1968 UK ones on London - "Get That Feeling" (SH/HA 8349) and this. All those were released on major labels with high quality sleeves, have surprisingly good audio and above all they're not posthumous but were contemporary with "Axis" and "Electric Ladyland". Both UK built on the US Capitol issues with interrelating track choices. Not sure if Capitol used separate mono mixes for GTF or if that was a fold, or if this is true mono or not, still the audio here is amazing - loud and clear with big bass giving an authentic front row feeling. It couldn't improve the performance, but the sound and total package makes it one of the better choices. Favorite tracks - "Love Love" and "Simon Says". First had label as shown here and laminated cover. (JHÄ*)