Still, Jimi Hendrix’s “South Saturn Delta
The retrospective covers all the eras of his short but prolific career, from 1967 to 1970. Some of these tracks have been issued as part of other sets and albums, but the best cuts here are the previously unreleased ones. And the highlight of those is “Here He Comes (Lover Man).” The charging track has what he calls on tape “a long beginning” that is a complex, incredible piece of guitar work. The rest of the song is great as well, with Hendrix just going nuts on solos and even doing some vocal scatting, but the intro is repeat-worthy all of its own.
The rest of the album is Hendrix being Hendrix: if you haven’t heard him, this isn’t exactly the place to start, but it’ll work. It’s all good material, even if it isn’t his best (these are, again, B-sides and cast-offs). For fans, I’m gonna go ahead and say you need this, if only for the ripping version of “Here He Comes (Lover Man).” —Stephen Carradini
This article appears in May 11-17, 2011.