Willard's Wormholes

The Voodoo Chile Sessions
Live In The Studio, May 2-3, 1968

Raw session tapes of Jimi Hendrix, Steve Winwood, Jack Casady and Mitch Mitchell live at The Record Plant in NYC performing “Voodoo Chile.” Good sound, though… you’ll need to be prepared for what it’s like to be a fly on the wall in the studio. The first five minutes is engineer Eddie Kramer getting the mic levels and set ups prepared, as the band was already well underway. Later, there are disproportionate levels for some of the studio chatter, along with Kramer punching some of the instruments in and out. But in between all the chaos, you’ll hear some amazing and historic jams that formed the basis for two central tracks from Hendrix’s last studio album, Electric Ladyland. For the following night’s recording of “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return),” it’s Jimi and the original Experience (Mitchell & Noel Redding) learning the new song in the studio as tapes rolled. Listen below to “Voodoo Chile 2,” which includes a few false starts, Hendrix breaking a string and Winwood, Casady & (the incredible) Mitchell continuing to jam until Jimi was ready to go again. Great stuff.

Voodoo Chile 1 (12:32)
Voodoo Chile 2 (9:37)
Voodoo Chile 3 (2:34)
Voodoo Chile 4 (15:30)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 1 (1:27)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 2 (4:16)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 3 (1:37)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 4 (0:39)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 5 (1:34)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 6 (2:07)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 7 (3:59)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 8 (1:30)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 9 (6:08)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 10 (2:39)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 11 (1:07)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 12 (5:27)