Legacy and Sony Music will bring both Jimi Plays Berkeley and Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child to Blu-ray next month. Taken together, the two features help document the life and work of this seminal rock-and-roll icon.
From Legacy's official synopses:
Jimi Plays Berkeley -
"An historic documentary film chronicling the two concerts Jimi Hendrix performed at the Berkeley Community Theatre on Saturday, May 30, 1970, Jimi Plays Berkeley captures the cultural milieu surrounding one of the finest Hendrix performances ever lensed."
Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child -
"An autobiographical journey told in the legendary musician's own words as read by Parliament-Funkadelic's Bootsy Collins, the film incorporates interviews with Hendrix, coupled with the artist's letters, writings and recordings to provide new insight into one of the most enduring icons of popular culture. The documentary features some of Jimi's greatest performances as well as rare and never before seen footage and photos including - for the first time ever - examples from the Hendrix family archive of the late guitarist's personal drawings, postcards home to his father, song drafts, sketches, and lyrics."
The Jimi Plays Berkeley Blu-ray presents the film in a digitally restored transfer taken from the original 16mm negative; this new version contains over fifteen minutes of footage not seen in the original documentary, including new "Voodoo Child," "Machine Gun," and "Hear My Train A Comin" performance additions.
The disc also has a 5.1 surround stereo soundtrack mixed by original Jimi Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer as well as the following supplements:
Commentary from recording engineer Abe Jacob
Audio-only presentation of Jimi's complete Berkeley 05/30/1970 second show, which includes:
- "Pass It On (Straight Ahead)"
- "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)"
- "Lover Man"
- "Stone Free"
- "Hey Joe"
- "I Don't Live Today"
- "Machine Gun"
- "Foxy Lady"
- "Star Spangled Banner"
- "Purple Haze"
- "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
Essay from Jimi Hendrix historian John McDermott
The technical and supplementary specifications for Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child are still unknown.
Both Jimi Plays Berkeley and Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child street on July 10th.
Sounds good, at least I hope so. But what the heck does "5.1 surround stereo soundtrack" mean?...
Surround mixed from a stereo-track? Well, in any way, I hope the quality is good, cause I'm interested.
But what the heck does "5.1 surround stereo soundtrack" mean?...
