The Authentic PPX Studio Recordings

This page is a Web-page version of a message sent by Ken Voss to the Hey Joe mailing list, Volume 19991119.  It was originally published in Voodoo Child #43 Summer, 1997. It's put here with Ken Voss's permission.

In 1997, SPV Records in Germany released six volumes titled The Authentic PPX Studio Recordings. Now, here in 1999, Nippon Crown of Japan is offering that same set a 6CD box set as Jimi Hendrix: The Complete PPX Recordings (CRCL-4729-34).

During two studio sessions in 1965 and 1967, plus a live set at George's Club in Hackensack, New Jersey, Jimi Hendrix recorded tracks with Curtis Knight. Under contract to, and under the direction of producer Ed Chalpin, these studio sessions at PPX Studios in New York became infamous. Not only for being one of the earliest known studio sessions featuring Hendrix as a lead performer, but for the legal embattlement the sessions created.

The tapes have been released on various album combinations over three dozen times, as Chalpin continuously licenses them to record companies throughout the world. "As long as there are record companies who want to distribute this material in their market, I will license it to them accordingly," Chalpin once indicated, noting that each of those companies is only supposed to distribute the product in the country they are licensed.

But, according to CBH, the Knight material has never before been officially licensed on compact disc. That is, until now. Of course, we can document numerous pseudo-legitimate releases with some of the Hendrix- Knight material included, but certainly, this is the most comprehensive compilation of such material to date.

Chalpin has licensed the tapes to CBH Records in Germany. Engineers Kalle Trapp and Rainer Hansel went in and recut, re-edited and remastered the material into a six volume set. Some songs have been remixed, some mixed down to only include Jimi's guitar and vocals. Others have been completely re-edited, cut and spliced in such a way that choruses are repeated, verses are re-arranged, and guitar parts are extended. "Butchered," say some; "creative" argue others. Either way, we do get some new material. We get plenty of old material that's been cleaned up and made more presentable and listenable. And, we get the doctored tracks, which will always get challenged in the Hendrix circles.

Hopes ran high when news came of the official German release of The Authentic PPX Studio Recordings that maybe this time we'd have these Hendrix-Knight sessions presented in a sympathetic context with perhaps some detailed liner notes and new information to shed light on these sessions. Dream on!

Let's start with the liner notes, claiming these recordings are available for the first time on CD. Well, what about Historic Hendrix and Prologue, amongst others, which have been around for ages. The liner notes by Gitti Gulden may as well have been written by Chalpin himself as yet again we have a very rose-tinted version of events where he appears to be the innocent part who has been badly done to over the years.

The most interested part is the line-up details which lists: "Drums: Johnny Star. All other instruments played by Jimi Hendrix. Lead Vocals: Curtis Knight. Additional Vocals: Jimi Hendrix." Johnny Star's name has only appeared in historical references previously as a suggested engineer. Noted session drummer Bernard Purdie has made claim he was involved with some of these sessions. And, as far as Jimi playing all instruments on all the tracks, there's enough historical evidence to discount this statement as total rubbish. Even the photos included in some of the booklets show additional musicians in the studio.

In the original SPV releases, each disc comes with an eight page booklet. Graphic continuity brings this six volume set into a unified perspective. The six covers feature different photos from the Gered Mankowitz photo archives. Each inside cover features two different rare (some never before published) photos of Hendrix during the Curtis Knight period and sessions. On the Nippon Crown box set, the SPV covers are re-used on the individual discs. Each disc comes in a cardboard slipsleeve. A 16-page booklet, encapsulating the same pictures and text that appeared in the SPV releases, is included. The six discs are then encased in a thin cardboard "box", another Mankowitz shot used on the metallic-ink four-color cover.

Most of the material has been previously released on numerous titles, the German Astan and Babylon labels providing in vinyl versions the prominent portion of the material presented here.

The first in the set of releases, a look at the track timings on this disc (total 30:25), would make you feel already like you're getting ripped off even if this was previously unheard music. Well, just wait until you actually look at the music.

A cursory glance at the track listings would fool you into believing that these are basically remastered versions of the original Capitol release, although you couldn't be any more wrong.

The title track "Get That Feeling" is incomplete, giving just about half of the complete 10:10 track. Also, the intro countdown is missing. The mix has also been changed giving a virtually mono image and, as we shall see, other tracks have had the same treatment.

"How Would You Feel" is the same stereo version as on The Eternal Fire of Jimi Hendrix, while "Hush Now" fades early. From here on, things heat up as engineers Trapp and Hansel sharpen their meat cleaver, I mean tape splicing blades, for "all new" remixes.

"No Business" is cut at the 2:30 mark, and the first verse and chorus are repeated before the fade out, which is slightly shorter than the original version. So, although the song appears longer, it's technically incomplete.

"Simon Says" is similar to The Eternal Fire mix, though here the drums are more pronounced and central in the mix.

"Gotta Have A New Dress" has the guitar solo edited with part of it repeated.

"Strange Things" is also subjected to a hatchet job with the intro repeated. Also, the vocal line "Strange Things" is doubled up in two places, though here the last "Back to back/They shot one another" verse is missing. Vocals are central in the mix rather than panned to one channel, as they were originally.

Finally, we come to "Welcome Home" which survives intact.

As you can see already, it looks as though the tangled web of the Curtis Knight material continues to be woven into an ever more complex array of mixes and edits.

Just as in Volume 1, looking at the track timing of this disc (31:52) leaves one feeling shortchanged.

In order to feel like we are being offered something new here, the producer's have "extended" the original tracks by repeating certain bars and chorus sections of the songs.

Flashing opens with "Love Love", which is the same edited version as the original although here the mix is different with all the instruments including vocals centralized in mono fashion.

"Daytripper", identical to the original version, although the chorus has been looped and repeated, appearing to add 30-seconds to the track; and again, "mono"-ized.

The same happens on "Gloomy Monday", "Flashing" and "Fool For You Baby", adding more than a minute to each of those tracks through repeating choruses and cutting-and-pasting verses.

"Don't Accuse Me" is next followed by "Hornet's Nest" which, despite having no edits, has a new mix with the bass and organ centralized again, giving a tighter, almost mono stereo image.

"Odd Ball" is remixed in such a way it is actually shortened from the original. Again, with a new mix, this time with reverb added to everything, especially the drums, and there's a slight changed to the stereo positioning of the instruments.

On "Happy Birthday", the track has been edited about 3/4 way through, and an extra section has been spliced on to the end, extending the track nearly 30-seconds. The stereo imaging has also been reversed.

These tracks have been subjected to so many variations, it's difficult to say which represents the definitive version of each song.

For years, we've complained about the constant repackaging of the sessions Hendrix played with Curtis Knight in 1965 and 1967. Never did we realize there was actually more material. Here we get three new songs, with others offering new versions or different mixes of previously released material. Love it or not, the sessions with Curtis Knight were the first to truly show the emergence of Jimi Hendrix as a guitar player to take note of. It was the first sessions we really heard Jimi come to the forefront - his vocals, his licks, his independence.

The disc opens with a new version of "UFO" featuring Hendrix playing a Hagstrom bass backing Knight during their 7/67 recording session. Sounding more like a demo, featuring guitar and vocal only, it's different then the alternate vocal mix that first emerged on commercial vinyl releases such as Birth Of Success.

"You Don't Want Me" serves up a new mix. Curtis Knight's vocals have been removed from this mix, which is alleged that Jimi plays all the instruments.

"Better Times Ahead" is heard for the first time here, emerging from the 1965 session. Jimi's guitar licks are distinctive, as he provides background vocals to Knight's lead.

"Future Trip" is part of the "Day Tripper" medley from 1967 that originally appeared on Get That Feeling, this being a definitively improved mix.

"Wah Wah" is mistitled, actually "Hush Now" from the 1967 sessions. It appears to be an instrumental try-out which seems to cut off abruptly as if the band broke it off due to a mistake. It also has been spliced and edited, this version having appeared previously on the vinyl release Jimi Hendrix Instrumental (MFP) in England in the late 60s.

"Everybody Knew But Me" is another new song from the 1965 session. Here again, this mix is limited to Knight's vocals and Jimi's guitar.

Listed as "Mercy Lady Day", the next track is really "Love Love" from the 1967 session. This appears to be the mono instrumental mix that originally appeared on the album Second Time Around.

Again to the 1965 session for another new track - "If You Gonna Make A Fool Of Somebody" - again, this mix only giving us a Hendrix guitar and Knight vocal mix.

Two versions of "Ballad Of Jimi", an instrumental version titled "My Best Friend", give us a creative view of the emergence of this song. Both from the 1967 sessions, the first is an instrumental version with overdubs added that first appeared on My Best Friend. The second includes Knight's vocal track that can be originally found on The Great Jimi Hendrix In New York, similar to the Capitol release with a modified introduction, and lyrics sung instead of spoken.

The disc closes with "Get That Feeling", incorrectly titled as "Second Time Around"; this one being an instrumental version from the 1967 session, also found on The Great Jimi Hendrix In New York.

A series of six discs from the PPX sessions, this is actually a welcome new addition to the Hendrix collection. New vintage photos adorn the disc's jacket.

This session captures Curtis Knight & The Squires, featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar, live at George's Club 20 in Hackensack, New Jersey on December 26, 1965.

Over the years, over 30 songs have been released allegedly from this night's sessions. As they've been released over the years, some have been in mono while some in stereo, suggesting they are not from the same session. Over the years, we've also been offered up a variety of mixes of the same material.

On this disc, it appears the tapes used were at some time enhanced with additional bass, rhythm and drum parts, along with some audience response, were overdubbed creating a stereo mix. Here, we're served up with 10 of those tracks.

We start out with "Driving South", with Curtis acknowledging Jimi's songwriting credit. In the past, versions of this song have run over seven-minutes, although this appears to be a complete version via faster mastering, this take held down to 6:10.

The set continues with "Ain't That Peculiar", "I'll Be Doggone", "Sweet Little Angel", "Bright Lights, Big City" and an incomplete version of "Get Out Of My Life Woman".

An instrumental version of "Last Night", with crowd added in a post-edit, edits out the introductions by Knight and Hendrix that appeared on early vinyl issues.

Then on to "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch" and an incomplete version of "What'd I Say".

The disc closes out with an overdubbed take of "Shotgun", this five-minute version appearing to be an original stereo version never before released on vinyl or disc.

The disc closes out with what historians have called the "Outro Theme", with Knight introducing the band.

To reiterate, these are not the untouched, original club recording sessions (which Knight recalls were made on an old Wollensak reel-to-reel machine), but later doctored with the addition of extra bass, rhythm and drum parts. Certainly, not what we feel of credible representation to the Hendrix archives.

Continuing the series, Something On Your Mind mixes live material from the December 26, 1965 George's Club 20 gig with the studio sessions from 1965 and 1967.

Frustratingly, producers here go out of their way to retitle tracks, making the buyer at first feel like he may be discovering some new material, only to find these retread tracks. However, on the bright side, there is some new material here.

In what appears to be tracks being released for the first time, we go back to George's for "I Feel Good" (also called "I Got You"), "Left Alone" (also called "Bleeding Heart"), "Hard Night" and "Something On Your Mind".

With more than 30 songs credited to that performance date, it's shocking to find "new" tracks at this point in time.

The disc opens with the long version of "California Night" from George's. Just as on Volume 3 of the set, the producers appear to have used the tapes that had the bass, rhythm and drum overdubbed at a later time to accentuate the sound. The track originally appeared on What'd I Say (MFP).

Also included from the live side is "I'm A Man", the Bo Diddley classic which showcases Jimi's vocals for one of the first times on record. This is the alternate stereo mix that appeared on Birth Of Success (MFP).

Also live, "I Should've Quit You" (also called "Killin' Floor") is the original mono version that appeared on Mr. Pitiful (Astan).

"Level" is a stereo studio mix of a track also called "Hornet's Nest"/"Hush Now" on some previously album releases.

"Knock Yourself Out" is an alternate studio mix of the B-side of the single "Hush Now", the editing and splicing done here extending the track to nearly six- minutes. The disc closes out with a nearly five-minute studio instrumental improvisation.

The disc closes with a track simply titled "Instrumental". From the 7/67 studio session, it's actually been previously released as "Odd Ball", although this particular version is much longer than any previously available - running an extra 1:22 at the beginning and :22 at the end. Previous versions had been faded out.

Just as in Volume 5, this disc mixes live and studio material, and renames tracks.

The disc opens with "On The Killing Floor" also called "I Should've Quit You" from the live session, serving up an alternate mix of the track that appeared on Volume 5.

"Money" and "You Got Me Running" are also live, these versions including the reverb, bass and drum overdubs, originally appearing on the vinyl In The Beginning (Ember).

"Mr. Pitiful" and "Satisfaction" are stereo live tracks, once again inferring the tape either is not from George's or has been doctored, originally appearing on In The Beginning (Everest). The latter appears to be a more complete track then those previously released, running over one-minute longer then any version previously available.

"Nobody Loves Me" (alaso called "California Nights") is a newly remixed live track, appearing to be an unedited version of "California Nights" from Volume 5.

From the studio vaults comes "Love" (alaso called "Love Love"), this version a slightly incomplete alternate mix that first appeared on The Eternal Fire Of Jimi Hendrix.

"Torture Me Honey" (also called "Hornet's Nest") and "Sleepy Fate" (also called "No Business") have been previously released on vinyl, although appear under new names here.