The Reprise American and Canadian Compilation Release
Although word of the Hendrix phenomenon spread to the US, he was not seen in America (and no records were released) until the summer of 1967, when, at Paul McCartney's insistence, the Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival, held in Monterey California on June 18, 1967. The performance, which Hendrix climaxed by burning his guitar, was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker for the documentary Monterey Pop. It was only after this show-stealing performance that his American and Canadian label, Reprise Records, prepared the album for release, but with some significant changes. The cover and the art on the album changed. The UK cover, which featured a picture of the band on a black background, was abandoned, and a more psychedelic design was devised by photographer designer Karl Ferris (whose group portraits appeared on all three of the band's US album covers).
Secondly, and more crucially, "Red House", "Can You See Me" and "Remember" were all removed in order to make way for the three UK hit singles: "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary", with the running order being shuffled in the process. This time the running order was selected by Hendrix himself, but "Red House" was excluded from the album against his wishes. He was told that the US did "not like the blues". The spelling of the song "Foxy Lady" was also changed to "Foxey Lady" on the US and Canadian releases. This selection of tracks was also remixed into stereo. In August, the US version of Are You Experienced saw issue in both the original mono mix and the new stereo mix and became a strong and enduring seller. When the album was finally released in August 1967, three months after its European release, the new line-up proved hugely influential, with the album peaking at #5 and remaining on Billboard's album chart for two years.
Read more about this topic: Are You Experienced? (song)
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