Jimi Hendrix’s Record Collection
One of the most telling things about a musician is his record collection. Years ago, Jas Obrecht worked with Jimi's father Al Hendrix to write a book, and there he talks about Jimi's early listening habits. Below are a few listings formatted for easy lookup on YouTube or Spotify.
In Youth
Elvis Presley: "You Ain’t Nothing but a Hound Dog"
Little Richards: Misc ’45s
B.B. King
Louis Jordan
Muddy Waters: "Rollin’ Stone"
Chuck Berry
Albert King
Obrecht and Al also list a few songs covered by Jimi's first band:
Songs with the Rocking Kings:
Ritchie Valens: "La Bamba"
Boots Randolph: "Yakety Sax"
Bobby Freeman: "Do You Want to Dance"
Danny & The Juniors: "At the Hop"
The Coasters: "Poison Ivy", "Charlie Brown"
Ray Anthony: "Peter Gunn"
Shirley & Lee: "Let the Good Times Roll"
In London
Jas Obrecht and Jimi's London flatmate Kathy Etchingham both contributed to articles describing Jimi's London LP acquisitions:
Albert King: Live Wire/Blues Power
Blind Blake: (1926-30) 'Bootleg Rum Dum Blues'
Charlie Musselwhite: Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite’s South Side Band
Elmore James: The Best of Elmore James, Memorial Album (“Bleeding Heart”)
Guitar Slim and Jelly Belly: Carolina Blues
Howlin’ Wolf: Moanin’ in the Moonlight, The Howlin’ Wolf Album, More Real Folk Blues
Jimmy Reed: The New Jimmy Reed Album
John Lee Hooker: Live at Café Au Go-Go, Drifting Blues (Don’t Turn Me From Your Door),
Junior Wells: It’s My Life Baby (w. Buddy Guy)
Leadbelly: Take This Hammer
Lightnin’ Hopkins: The Roots of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Soul Blues, Lightnin’ Strikes, Something Blue, Earth Blues
Lowell Fulsom - Lowell Fulsom (Arhoolie)
Muddy Waters: Down on Stovall’s Plantation, Electric Mud, The Real Folk Blues (“Mannish Boy”), More Real Folk Blues
Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues Singers (gift from Giorgio Gomelski)
Smokey Smothers: The Driving Blues Of Smokey Smothers (ie Smokey Smothers Sings The Backporch Blues)
Sonny Boy Williamson I: Blues Classics by Sonny Boy Williamson (Arhoolie)
Sonny Boy Williamson II: Down and Out Blues, More Real Folk Blues
VA: American Folk Blues Festival ’66
VA: Blues Classics
VA: Chicago/The Blues/Today!, Vol. 1 (Vanguard/Delmark, w. Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band, J.B. Hutto and His Hawks, Otis Spann’s South Side Piano)
VA: Heavy Heads (w. Muddy Waters, Little Walter, etc)
VA: Original Hits of the Great Blues Singers, Vol. II
VA: The Original American Folk Blues Festival
VA: We Sing the Blues!
Washboard Sam: Blues Classics by Washboard Sam
Anthologies of Elvis, Eddie Cochrane
Benny Spellman: Finger Poppin’ and Stompin’ Feet (w. Allen Toussaint)
Bob Dylan: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1st Dylan owned), Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, Greatest Hits, Nashville Skyline, John Wesley Harding, Bringing It All Back Home
Canned Heat: Canned Heat
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Safe As Milk
Cream: Fresh Cream
Delaney and Bonnie: Home
Dr. John: Babylon
James Brown: Showtime, Ain’t It Funky
Joan Baez: Any Day Now
Joe Cocker: With A Little Help From My Friends
John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Two Virgins (bought for LP art)
John Mayall: Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, Crusade (w. Mick Taylor), A Hard Road (w. Peter Green)
Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison
Little Richard - Vol. 2 (1958)
Love: Da Capo
Otis Redding: The Immortal Otis Redding
Richie Havens: Electric Havens, Mixed Bag
Roy Harper: Sophisticated Beggar
Sam Gopal: Escalator (w Lemmy Kilmister)
Spencer Davis Group: Autumn ’66 (w. Steve Winwood)
The 5th Dimension: Up, Up and Away
The Animals: The Twain Shall Meet
The Band: Music From Big Pink
The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road
The Bee Gees: Bee Gees’ 1st
The Bonzo Dog Band: Doughnuts in Granny’s Greenhouse
The Byrds: Fifth Dimension, Younger Than Yesterday
The Hollies: Sing Dylan
The Rolling Stones: Their Satantic Majesty’s Request, Out Of Our Heads, Big Hits [High Tide and Green Grass]
The Temptations: Puzzle People
Tim Buckley: Goodbye and Hello
Vanilla Fudge: Vanilla Fudge
VA - The Trip (1967 soundtrack w. Electric Flag and Buddy Miles)
Acker Bilk (Mr. Acker Bilk & His Paramount Jazz Band): Mr Acker Bilk’s Lansdowne Folio
Chris Barber and his Jazzband: Mob – The Chris Barber Convention – Hamburg 1968
Clara Ward: Gospel Concert, Hang Your Tears Out to Dry
Django Reinhardt: Europe's Greatest Contribution to Jazz
Jaki Byard: Freedom Together!, Sunshine of My Soul
Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery: The Dynamic Duo
John Coltrane: Coltrane Jazz
Nina Simone: 'Nuff Said
The Charles Lloyd Quartet: Journey Within
The Free Spirits: Out of Sight and Sound (w. Larry Coryell)
The Roland Kirk Quartet: Rip, Rig and Panic
Wes Montgomery: A Day in the Life
Friar Tuck & His Psychedelic Guitar
George Harrison: Wonderwall Music
Pierre Henry: Le Voyage (From The Tibetan Book of the Dead)
Ravi Shankar: Sound of the Sitar, India’s Master Musician, Portrait of a Genius (some gifted by Brian Jones)
Red Krayola: The Parable of Arable Land
Subbulakshimi: The Sounds of Subbulakshimi
The Dream: Get Dreamy (“With all the respect we can give a fellow musician, we wrote “Hey Jimi” as a tribute to you. We hope you like it and enjoy the rest of the LP too. On behalf of the Dream, Terje Rypdal.”)
The Mothers of Invention: Freak Out
Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds
Bach: E. Power Bigg - Bach on the Pedal Harpsichord
Gustav Holst: The Planets
Handel: Messiah (English Chamber Orchestra w Mackerras), Great Choruses from Handels Messiah, The Inspirational Majesty of Favourite Selections from Handels Messiah, Belshazzar
Comedy
Bill Cosby: I Started Out as a Child, Revenge (“Jimi’s absolute favorites”)
Lenny Bruce: Is Out Again
Links:
http://jasobrecht.com/jimi-hendrixs-personal-record-collection
http://www.kathyetchingham.com/jimi-hendrix-record-collection
https://recordmecca.com/news/jimi-hendrixs-record-collection-2
https://thevinylfactory.com/news/jimi-hendrix-record-collection-london/
https://open.spotify.com/album/3gJNEAV0nxiUifEnXG7V4e
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k94nisGiT8
