musically, that were to occur until his untimely death in 1970. The commercial success of the album and the confidence that Jimi must have gained from reviews which called him things like “an absolute master” allowed Jimi to make smooth transitions to whatever he felt like experimenting with or changing. The importance in Are You Experienced? lies in the fact that it was successful, and that the Jimi Hendrix that everyone heard on that album would be acceptable whether he was playing straight-forward blues, playing “Stone Free” or covering “Hey Joe.” Are You Experienced? represents the starting point from which Jimi Hendrix would take his new style of music and make himself into one of the most influential musical figures of his time. The true arrival of Jimi Hendrix occurred with the release of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s second studio effort, Axis: Bold As Love. With this album, production costs were estimated at ten thousand pounds, allowing Jimi the valuable studio time he needed in order to more completely master his craft. Approximately three thousand of those pounds were spent production costs of the album sleeve, which picture Jimi and his bandmates in and surrounded by Indian imagery, to which Jimi responded: “The three of us had nothing to do with that Axis cover. When I first saw the that design I thought, ‘It’s great, they have an Indian painting about us, but maybe we should have an American Indian’” (Fairchild, “Axis: Bold As Love” 5). Axis: Bold As Love marks a more obvious return to Hendrix’ Native American heritage. Where Are You Experienced? was more intent on reaching the mass market, Axis’s purpose was as much for Hendrix himself as it was for his audiences. When asked about the difference between the two albums, Hendrix said: “The changes in music between the two records are for you to decide. We’re just pl...
