Anyone who is familiar with rock music knows that Jimi Hendrix was arguably one of the greatest guitar players who has ever lived. Gaining popularity in the late 1960’s, Hendrix redefined guitar playing and inspired countless musicians around the world. We are all familiar with his well known songs like “Purple Haze”, “Hey Joe”, and his “All Along The Watchtower” cover, however before there was the Jimi Hendrix Experience and those songs, he was briefly involved with a lesser known band. Well after many years, a rare recording featuring Hendrix has surfaced and we can now hear that song for the first time.
Before Hendrix established himself and his name, he was involved with a band known as Curtis Knight & The Squires. Unlike his later work, he was not the focal point of this band, rather just their guitar player. This release follows an extremely long legal battle that was ongoing since 1965. Hendrix apparently signed a contract to appear on the album, but things got mucked up and the record was never put out.
The album, titled “You Can’t Use My Name” features a total of fourteen songs, including the single that was just recently released known as “Station Break”. Other songs include the song “How Would You Feel” which is a song based off of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”. The tracks are historically important as they are the first songs that a label has credited Hendrix as a song arranger. For fans of both Hendrix and music alike, it’s always great to see these rare recording meet the light of day. The full album will be released on March 24th and many fans are looking to get their hands on a copy. In the meantime, check out the song “Station Break” here:
Photo from Rolling Stone
