You’re probably aware that Jimi Hendrix’s second album was called Electric Ladyland and also that a famous recording studio called Electric Ladyland Studios exists in New York City’s Greenwich Village.
A new documentary, Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, tells the story of the connection between the two: In 1968, Hendrix commissioned the studio with specifications specifically for his recording process.
The place, formerly a nightclub on West 8th Street, had much less auspicious beginnings.
The studio’s two-year production process was tumultuous and plagued by stops and starts. The investors continually ran out of money, sometimes needing to ask the owner of Max’s Kansas City, or Hendrix himself for additional funds to make payroll, sometimes requiring Hendrix to play shows just to make money to pay the crew.
Then, in 1970, the studio finally opened, and Hendrix recorded there for a few weeks, with construction still underway. Those sessions produced the first of Hendrix’s Tupac-like run of posthumous works, including such songs as “Angel” and “Freedom,” although most of Hendrix’s more well-known work was on the albums before that.
By the end of that year, Hendrix was dead. But despite some uncertainty, the studio survived him, and remains a going concern today.
The documentary, directed by John McDermott and produced by Hendrix’s sister Janie Hendrix, focuses mainly on that short period, featuring some people involved with its creation as talking heads. Aside from Steve Winwood and a few side musicians, most of those interviewed aren’t exactly famous, but the stories are still outstanding.
I would probably watch another documentary just about the studio’s history and all the people who cycled there over the years, in the tradition of 2021’s Under the Volcano or 2013’s Muscle Shoals. It has a narrower vision, but it is still fascinating.
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision will open Friday at New York’s Quad Cinema, just a few blocks from the studio, with a wider release coming later to various cities throughout the late summer and early fall. There is also a tie-in box set release of tracks recorded by Hendrix during those sessions in 1970.
