Original Released on LP Reprise MS 2034 (1971, March 5)When Jimi died, on September 18, 1970, he left behind a lot of unfinished material for his next record; ment to be called The Cry Of Love or The Rising Sun. Actually, he had been putting aside tapes of what he has the most satisfied with for the past years, to this album. After his death, Eddie Kramer and Mitch Mitchell sat down to organize his library of halfly finished tapes, and arrange them into an album. Mitch played a whole lot of things again, and added new stuff where something was missing.
Because of the general excellence of the engineering and production, it's hard to say just how complete the album was before his death, but it is clear that if these tracks were mostly finished and in the can, then the only thing holding up their release must have been Jimi himself. They are that good.The state of the songs ranged from Night Bird Flying and Freedom, wich was almost finished, to Angel and Drifting, that was missing serious amouts of work. After five months, the record was ready for release. "The Cry of Love" was Hendrix' final effort, and it is a beautiful, poignant testimonial, a fitting coda to the career of a man who was clearly the finest electric guitarist to be produced by the Sixties. This record seems more complete than the album Janis left for us, but like Pearl, it too seems strangely foreshortened, a venture caught in the process of becoming and suddenly halted. The fact that "The Cry of Love" is still as good as it is must serve as some sort of reminder as to just how large looms the shadow of its creator.
NOTE: In 1997, this album was re-released under the name "The First Rays Of The New Rising Sun", where the ten tracks were mixed with seven more tracks (!). Sincerely, there are things which I really don't understand at all! Why adulterate something that is perfect? Well, never mind, here you have this Hendrix great last album in its pure and original release.
