''Midnight Lightning'' is a posthumous compilation album by American
rock
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guitarist
Jimi Hendrix.
It was released in November 1975 by
Reprise Records in the US and
Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
in the UK.
It was the second to be produced by
Alan Douglas and
Tony Bongiovi
Anthony C. Bongiovi (born September 7, 1947) is an American record producer and recording engineer. He is the cousin of musician Jon Bon Jovi.
Career
Bongiovi has produced records by Gloria Gaynor, Talking Heads, Aerosmith ('' Classics Live''), ...
and contains demo-type recordings that were overdubbed with musicians who had never played with Hendrix. Despite including reworkings of the popular live songs "Hear My Train" and "
Machine Gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
", the album was not as well received as its predecessor, peaking at numbers 43 in the US
and 46 in the UK.
Background
Douglas continued the controversial methods he had adopted on ''
Crash Landing
An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...
'' and brought in many of the same
session musicians to overdub parts of songs.
The only original recording (apart from those by Hendrix) was Mitchell's drumming on "
Hear My Train".
In response to the previous outcry from fans and critics, Douglas did not claim co-writer credit for any songs on ''Midnight Lightning''. After Experience Hendrix secured the rights to Hendrix's recordings in 1997, original versions of the tracks have been released on further albums and boxsets.
Critical reception
In ''
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),
Robert Christgau regarded ''Midnight Lightning'' as an improvement by Douglas over ''Crash Landing'' because of highlight instrumentals such as "Trash Man", overdubbed guitar from Jeff Mironov and Lance Quinn, and "the blues playing — as opposed to singing or writing".
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's Joe Viglione later said the enduring quality of Hendrix's music was retained in spite of Douglas's "doctoring and musicians jamming with his art after the fact."
Track listing
Personnel
*
Jimi Hendrixguitars, vocals
*
Mitch Mitchell
John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...
drums on "Hear My Train"
Added in 1975
*Jeff Mironov – guitar on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8
*Lance Quinn – guitar on tracks 2, 4, 6 and 7
*
Allan Schwartzberg
Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B.J. Thomas, Linda Rondstadt, Stan Get ...
– drums on tracks 1, 2, 4–8, percussion on tracks 3 and 4
*
Bob Babbitt – bass guitar
*
Jimmy Maelen
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* ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma
* ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...
– percussion on tracks 2 and 8
*Maeretha Stewart – backing vocals on tracks 2, 4 and 7
*Barbara Massey – backing vocals on tracks 2, 4 and 7
*Vivian Cherry – backing vocals on tracks 2, 4 and 7
*
Buddy Lucas – harmonica on track 7
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1975 albums
Jimi Hendrix albums
Albums produced by Alan Douglas (record producer)
Albums published posthumously
Reprise Records albums