For the song, see Bold as Love.

Axis: Bold as Love is the second album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on December 1st, 1967 in the United Kingdom, and January 15th, 1968, in the United States.

The album had a much less hard rock feel than Are You Experienced, and featured much more mellow compositions, as well as blues-phenomenon "Little Wing" and a song without Hendrix on vocals; "She's So Fine". Much of the focus during recording was on studio techniques, including the first recorded phasing effect on the title track, and various other effects and techniques.

These techniques and effects, along with the amount of guitar and backing vocal overdubbing, meant that many of the songs could not be performed live. Only "Little Wing" and "Spanish Castle Magic" ever made it into any sort of regular setlist. Despite this, a number of songs from the album have been covered live (as well as recorded in the studio), namely "One Rainy Wish" by Brian May, "Wait Until Tomorrow" by John Mayer, and "Little Miss Lover" and "Castles Made of Sand" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. "Bold as Love" has since been covered by artists such as Joan Osborne, The Pretenders, Phish, and previously mentioned John Mayer.

The Experience released only one single from Bold as Love: "Up From the Skies", backed with "One Rainy Wish", saw release - in North America only - on March 16th, 1968. "Little Wing" was released posthumously in 1998.

Contents show]

History Edit

Recording Edit

Recording for Axis began at Olympic Sound Studios on May 4th, 1967, when the first songs to be completed were "If 6 Was 9" and "She's So Fine". The next day saw the inclusion of "EXP", which was then followed by five months worth of gigs, including The Experience's performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival.

The band returned to London and recorded "Little Miss Lover" on October 1st, followed by "You Got Me Floatin'" two days later. After a few weeks, the band were under pressure from management and record labels (namely Track Records) to complete and release the album before the end of the year, and so "Little Wing" was finished on October 25th, "Wait Until Tomorrow" and "Ain't No Telling" were recorded on the 26th, "Spanish Castle Magic" saw completion on the 27th, "Castles Made of Sand" was finalised on the 28th, and the album was finished on October 29th with the recording of the final three songs: "Up From the Skies", "One Rainy Wish" and "Bold as Love".

Near the end of recording and mixing, it was discovered that Hendrix had left the LP's master tapes of side one in the backseat of a London taxi. This meant that, with the release deadline looming, producer Chandler and engineer Kramer were forced to remix much of the tracks again. It was then found that they could not match the lost mix for "If 6 Was 9", but they were in luck as bassist Noel Redding was found to have his own copy. Said copy was extremely wrinkled, and had to actually be ironed out in order for it to be fit for use. Subsequent to release, Hendrix claimed that the first mixes were much better, and given more time, the album could have sounded a lot higher quality than it eventually did.

Original releases Edit

Reissues Edit

Remasters and CD releases Edit

Track listing Edit

All songs were written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted. CD releases feature all thirteen tracks on one disc.

Side A Edit

Side B Edit

Personnel Edit

Band members Edit

Guest musicians Edit

Studio personnel Edit

Remastered versions Edit

Release details Edit

Country

Date

Format

Record label

Catalogue

number Sources

Australia 1967 Vinyl Polydor 612003 [1] Brazil 1969 Vinyl Polydor LPG624.024 [2][3] Canada 1968 Cassette Columbia M5-6281 [4] 1979 Vinyl Reprise 6281 [5] Europe 1997 Vinyl MCA MCA11607 [6] France 1967 Vinyl Barclay 0820167 [7][8] 1969 Vinyl Barclay 820.167 [9] 1970 Vinyl Polydor 2489149 [10][11] Germany 1967 Vinyl Polydor 2459391 [12][13] 1968 Vinyl Polydor 239000 [14] Greece 1970 Vinyl Polydor 2489 149 [15] Israel 1969 Vinyl Polydor 184110 [16][17] Japan 1967 Vinyl Polydor SLPM 1398 [18] 1979 Vinyl Polydor MPA7005 [19][20] 1980 Vinyl Polydor MPX4008 [21] 1997 CD MCA MVCE-24028 [22] 2000 CD MCA UICY-9008 [23] 2005 CD Universal UICY-95033 [24] 2006 CD Universal UICY-93141 [25] 2007 Vinyl Universal UIJY-9007 [26] 2008 CD Universal UICY-90758 [27] Netherlands 1969 Vinyl Polydor 2486 029 [28][29][30] New Zealand 1967 Vinyl Polydor LPHM 612003 [31] South Africa 1967 Vinyl Polydor SLPHM 184709 [32] South Korea 1968 Vinyl First FL-1610 [33] 1968 Vinyl First FL-S-1610 [34] United Kingdom December 1st, 1967 Vinyl Track 613003 [35][36] 1967 Vinyl Polydor SPELP 03 [37] 1993 Vinyl Polydor 847243-1 [38] 1993 CD Polydor 847243-2 [39] 2007 CD Universal UICY-93141 [40]

Gallery of artwork Edit