Smash hits

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Smash hits
Compilation album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Publication
(s)

UK, Europe: April 1968, USA: July 1969

Label (s) Track (UK), Reprise (US),
later: MCA

Format (s)

LP

Genre (s)

Psychedelic rock

Title (number)

12

running time

44 min 31 s

occupation

production

Chas Chandler (UK); Chas Chandler, Jimi Hendrix (US)

chronology
Axis: Bold as Love
(1967) 		Smash hits Electric Ladyland
(1968)

Smash Hits is a greatest hits album from the Jimi Hendrix Experience . It was released in mono in the UK in 1968 and in stereo in the US in 1969 .

background

Smash Hits was released four months after the band's last release while they were working on the successor Electric Ladyland . It includes the first four UK singles Hey Joe, Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary and Burning of the Midnight Lamp . In addition to the corresponding B-sides, four other songs from the first album Are You Experienced were used. This is the first album release of Burning of the Midnight Lamp on Smash Hits , almost half a year before Electric Ladyland .

The different title composition of the USA version results from the not so successful single releases of z. B. Purple Haze or Foxy Lady , so that Reprise Records saw a release of a best-of compilation as too early. Due to the rumors of separation that later came true, especially about Noel Redding , and the lack of prospect of another studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the record company decided on a compilation under the title Smash Hits , which also contains titles not previously released in the USA . That's why Smash Hits was brought to Electric Ladyland on the market there. However, neither version contains titles from Axis: Bold as Love . The recording on Red House is not identical to the one on Are You Experienced . The album included a fold-out poster showing Hendrix, Mitchell and Redding in cowboy outfits each sitting on horseback.

Track list

UK version

  1. Purple Haze - 2:52
  2. Fire - 2:45
  3. The Wind Cries Mary - 3:20
  4. Can You See Me - 2:33
  5. 51st Anniversary - 3:16
  6. Hey Joe (Roberts) - 3:30
  7. Stone Free - 3:36
  8. The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice - 4:21
  9. Manic Depression - 3:42
  10. Highway Chile - 3:32
  11. Burning of the Midnight Lamp - 3:39
  12. Foxy Lady - 3:18

US version

  1. Purple Haze - 2:52
  2. Fire - 2:45
  3. The Wind Cries Mary - 3:20
  4. Can You See Me - 2:33
  5. Hey Joe (Roberts) - 3:30
  6. All Along the Watchtower (Dylan) - 4:00
  7. Stone Free - 3:36
  8. Crosstown Traffic - 2:19 am
  9. Manic Depression - 3:42
  10. Remember - 2:48
  11. Red House - 3:50
  12. Foxey Lady - 3:19

Chart successes

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Smash hits
  DE 19th 09/15/1968 (12 weeks)
  US 6th 08/02/1969 (35 weeks)
  UK 4th 04/27/1968 (25 weeks)

Smash Hits reached number 4 on the British charts, number 19 on the German charts and number 6 on the American Billboard 200 . The RIAA awarded the album gold in October 1969, platinum in October 1983 and double platinum in October 1986.

reception

  • Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote on Allmusic that Smash Hits would remain one of Hendrix's best greatest hits compilations. Mainly it contains the big hits that everyone would know and it is the strength of the album to bring together all the famous songs here. In the evaluation it received four and a half stars out of five.
  • Sputnikmusic said Smash Hits was a great compilation that featured some of Hendrix's best songs. But the lesser known songs like 51st Anniversary or Remember are also great. Mitchell's innovative drumming was also highlighted in Fire . The album received four out of five points in the rating.
  • In a brief review of the re-release of the CD in 2002, Rolling Stone wrote that the album contained all of the songs that are still played on classic rock radio stations. It was rated four out of five stars.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Photos of the album at discogs.com
  2. ↑ Charts DE Charts UK Charts US
  3. ↑ Jimi Hendrix Experience at chartarchive.org
  4. ↑ Smash Hits at officialcharts.de
  5. ↑ Chart placement at chartsurfer.de
  6. ↑ Chart placement at allmusic.com
  7. ↑ Awards at riaa.com
  8. ↑ Smash hits at allmusic.com
  9. ↑ Review at sputnikmusic.com
  10. ↑ Smash Hits at rollingstone.com