Episode 156 is here — and it’s a big one! We’re celebrating 3 years of Rock Roulette with a trip into the timeless magic of Jimi Hendrix’s The Cry of Love. From soaring riffs to soul-stirring grooves, we’re honoring our milestone with one of rock’s greatest. Thank you to everyone who’s spun the wheel with us over the years — here’s to many more spins, surprises, and killer tunes!

The Cry of Love is the first posthumous album of music by the American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Recorded primarily in 1970, it features new material that Hendrix was working on for his planned fourth studio album before his death later that year. While most of the songs were included on proposed track listings by Hendrix, the final selection was made by recording engineer Eddie Kramer and drummer Mitch Mitchell, with input from manager Michael Jeffery. Hendrix, Kramer, and Mitchell are credited as the album’s producers, with Jeffery as the executive producer.

Released on March 5, 1971, six months after his death on September 18, 1970, by Reprise Records in the United States and Track Records in the United Kingdom, The Cry of Love was successful on the record charts in both countries and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1998. Critics responded favorably to the album, viewing it as an impressive tribute to Hendrix.

The Cry of Love featured songs Hendrix had been working on at the time of his death and was the first attempt at presenting his planned first studio recording since the breakup of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Cry of Love is composed mostly of songs which Hendrix recorded in 1970 at his new Electric Lady Studios in New York City with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox.

About half of the album’s ten songs were nearly completed with mixes prepared by Hendrix. The balance were in varying stages of development and were mixed (and some overdubbed with new parts) after his death. Two songs originally planned for The Cry of Love, “Dolly Dagger” and “Room Full of Mirrors”, were instead held for the next planned Hendrix release, Rainbow Bridge; they were replaced by “Straight Ahead” and “My Friend”.

The album credits Hendrix as a producer, as well as long-time recording engineer Eddie Kramer and Mitchell, who prepared the final mixes and track selection, with input from manager Michael Jeffery.

Seven of the songs on The Cry of Love were later included on Voodoo Soup, the 1995 attempt by producer Alan Douglas to present Hendrix’s planned album. In 1997, all were included on First Rays of the New Rising Sun, along with seven other songs, in Kramer’s most realized effort to complete Hendrix’s last studio album.

The Jimi Hendrix Band
Jimi Hendrix – lead vocals, guitars; piano on “Freedom”; backing vocals on “In From the Storm”; production, mixing on “Freedom,” “Ezy Rider,” Nightbird Flying,” “Astro Man,” and “Belly Button Window”
Billy Cox – bass guitar all tracks except “My Friend” and “Belly Button Window”
Mitch Mitchell – drums all tracks except “Ezy Ryder,” “My Friend,” and “Belly Button Window”; posthumous production and mixing on “Angel”

Production
Michael Jeffery – executive production
Eddie Kramer – posthumous production, engineering all tracks except on “Ezy Rider” and “My Friend”; mixing on all tracks
Jack Abrams – engineering on “Ezy Rider” (1969)
Bob Hughes – engineering on “Ezy Rider” (1970)

Layout
Nancy Reiner – cover art work
Victor Kahn-Sunshine – photography, graphic design

Additional Musicians
Juma Sultan – percussion on “Freedom” and “Astro Man”
The Ghetto Fighters a.k.a. Arthur and Albert Allen – backing vocals on “Freedom”
Buzzy Linhart – vibraphone on “Drifting”
Buddy Miles – drums on “Ezy Rider”
Billy Armstrong – percussion on “Ezy Rider”
Steve Winwood, Chris Wood – backing vocals on “Ezy Rider”
Kenny Pine – twelve-string guitar on “My Friend”
Stephen Stills – piano on “My Friend” (uncredited)
Noel Redding – bass guitar on “My Friend”
Jimmy Mayes – drums on “My Friend”
Paul Caruso a.k.a. Gers – harmonica on “My Friend”
Emeretta Marks – backing vocals on “In From the Storm

Intro Music/Wheel Spin Music by LiteSaturation from Pixabay