Rainbow Bridge (album)

Rainbow Bridge (subtitled Original Motion Picture Sound Track) is a posthumous album by the American musician Jimi Hendrix. It was released in October 1971 through Reprise Records, and was produced by Mitch Mitchell, Eddie Kramer, and John Jansen, with Hendrix receiving a production credit as well. The album was the second released after Hendrix's death to consist primarily of previously unreleased studio material, much of which was intended for a potential fourth studio album.

Despite being labeled as a soundtrack, the album is generally regarded as a compilation. While tracks included do appear as incidental music within the Rainbow Bridge film, the album does not include music from Hendrix's Maui performance which comprised his appearance in the movie. Five of the album's tracks–"Dolly Dagger", "Earth Blues", "Room Full of Mirrors", "Hear My Train A Comin" and "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)"—were potential inclusions for Hendrix's fourth album. The majority of the album sees Hendrix backed by Billy Cox on bass and Mitchell on drums.

Upon release, Rainbow Bridge was met with positive reviews by critics and was a commercial success. The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200, while "Dolly Dagger", the album's only single, reached number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Hendrix's last charting single. Critics praised both Hendrix's playing along with the quality of songwriting, and the record continues to be regarded as one of the best of the guitarist's posthumous releases. The album was reissued by Experience Hendrix in 2014 on both vinyl and CD (the album's first official appearance on the latter format), while the material included has appeared on various other releases since, including First Rays of the New Rising Sun and South Saturn Delta (both 1997).

Background

Despite the title, Rainbow Bridge was not a soundtrack to the film of the same name but rather a compilation of one live song and studio recordings from a number of sources between 1968 and 1970, including some for his planned but unfinished double album First Rays of the New Rising Sun. "Look Over Yonder" began as "Mr. Bad Luck" while Hendrix was performing in Greenwich Village, New York City, with his group Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in the summer of 1966. The version included on Rainbow Bridge was recorded by the Experience in 1968. "Room Full of Mirrors" had been performed live by the Experience, with one recording appearing on Experience (1971). "Hear My Train A Comin'" is another song that dates back to the Experience. They had attempted several studio recordings, but these were passed over (along with a version with Cox and Buddy Miles) and a live recording from the first show on May 30, 1970, at the Berkeley Community Theatre was used instead. An edited version appears in the 1971 concert film Jimi Plays Berkeley.

A new studio recording of "Room Full of Mirrors" and "Earth Blues" are two of the few largely completed studio recordings with Cox and Miles, although Mitchell later overdubbed the drum parts on the latter. Two additional songs, "Izabella" and "Stepping Stone" had been released as a single (listed as "Hendrix Band of Gypsys"), but Hendrix wished to rework them for his proposed fourth album. However, just as "Dolly Dagger" and "Room Full of Mirrors" were withheld from The Cry of Love, these were pulled from the Rainbow Bridge track listing in the final stages. Instead they were used to improve the next posthumous release War Heroes. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is a 1969 solo studio recording by Hendrix. The remainder of the songs were recorded with Mitchell and Cox between June and August 1970: "Dolly Dagger", "Pali Gap", and "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)".

The album was the second to be produced by Eddie Kramer and Mitch Mitchell, with John Jansen assisting. It was released in October 1971 in the US, and the following month in the UK where it reached numbers 15 and 16 respectively in the album charts. The album also peaked at No. 9 on the U.S. Best Selling Soul LP's chart. "Dolly Dagger" with "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the B-side was released as a single in the US in October 1971. It appeared at number 74 in the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. In 2014, the original Rainbow Bridge album was reissued in both CD and LP formats.

Critical reception

According to AllMusic's Sean Westergaard, "when Rainbow Bridge was originally released, it was actually among the best of the posthumous Hendrix releases... a mix of excellent, finished studio tracks and a couple of live tracks." In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Tony Glover wrote favorably of the songs on side one, particularly the "really majestic version" of "The Star-Spangled Banner". In ' (1981), Robert Christgau said while The Cry of Love (1971) highlighted Hendrix's abilities as a songwriter, Rainbow Bridge showcased his guitar playing:

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