The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Recordings for "Pop North",
(recorded at) BBC Broadcasting House, Great Portland Place, London.1967.01.30
(broadcast on)BBC “Pop North” for BBC Light Programme. 1967.02.09

01. Hey Joe (3:51)
02. Rock Me Baby (1:43)

BBC radio broadcast> reel to reel> Wav

From me to you! Well from The Johnny Kidd fan club to you!

Here we have the first known recordings from the Jimi Hendrix Experience for BBC radio. To be exact, nearly two of the three track reportedly recorded from this session. What a joy it is to hear this session for the first time [it brought me quivers down the back bone and left me shaking all over!] as it has been lost to us since it was broadcast. That the JHE were no strangers to the BBC at this time is a known fact but all previous visits had been for Top Of The Pops Recording sessions.

Often we overlook the wonderful research done by some people in the early days of Hendrix collecting, here we owe a debt of gratitude to Caesar Glebbeek who first reported this session way back in Univibes #7, that’s late 1992!

Of the three songs recorded that day, Hey Joe (3:40), Rock Me Baby (2:40) and Foxy Lady (3:20) it is the latter that has still to turn up. From the two tracks we have, Rock Me Baby is cut short. The recording stops dead and it appears the reel to reel tape simply ran out. This would also explain the missing Foxy Lady from our found source.

The band’s debut Radio appearance was for the BBC Light Programme, a show called “Pop North” and was broadcast between 13:00 and 14:00 hours on the 9th February 1967.

The process for these broadcast from the BBC was not quite so straight forward and things are a little confusing due to a cancelled contract, re date schedule in this instance.

The JHE recording session took place on the 30th January 1967 at Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London. The three songs would have been supplied to the BBC Manchester Studio [Playhouse Theatre] for playback to a live audience and introduced at that session by Ray Moore. This on the 7th February 1967. It is this recording of the show that was then aired on the 9th February 1967.

See here for a little more detail and some pictures of that studio.

http://www.orbem.co.uk/bh32/bh32_sb.htm

It’s amazing what can be found on reel to reel tapes at car boot sales!

Fenders Fingers and Friends.

Those friends being those great guys at The Johnny Kidd fan club, SteveE and of course our torrentor Jonsattic.