Eire Apparent (a pun on their Irish heritage) hailed from Northern Ireland, and launched the careers of both Henry McCullough and Ernie Graham, but their main claim to fame is getting Hendrix to act as producer and play guitar on their sole album 'Sunrise' in 1968. The link is that both artists were managed by ex-Animals bassist Chas Chandler, and at one point both were signed to Track Records, for whom Eire Apparent recorded one single. Following this the band were sent to tour America, firstly with The Animals, and then later with Soft Machine and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and while in Los Angeles they recorded songs for their debut album 'Sunrise', with Hendrix producing and playing on the record. 'Sunrise' went the way of a lot of albums of the late 60's, selling a moderate number at the time, but being re-discovered in the 80's as a 'lost classic', and original copies now go for large sums, helped quite a bit by the Hendrix connection.
Also is 1968, Roger McGough and Mike McGear were members of hit Liverpool art/rock/poetry band The Scaffold, and fancied doing a duo album of their own stuff. They roped in Mike's brother Paul McCartney to produce it, and between them they managed to engage the services of Hendrix to provide guitar on two of the more song-orientated tracks, both of them mid-to-late 60's pop/psyche offerings.
At the end of the tour, on which Eire Apparent supported Hendrix and The Soft Machine, The Experience gave Robert Wyatt access to their recording studios after hours, so that he could record some demos, and Hendrix added guitar to one of them, 'Slow Walkin' Talk'.
In 1969, The Last Poet's member Lighting Rod was perfecting one of the earliest example of rapping, and wanted to record his outlandish tale of the prostitute 'Doriella Du Fontaine', so persuaded Buddy Miles and Hendrix to improvise in the studio with him. They recorded a basic 8 minute take which was eventually released as a 12" single in 1984, together with an edited four minute instrumental version of the track.
In 1970, Hendrix provided guitar on one song from Stephen Stills' debut solo album. The pair had known each other for years, and there's an hour-long jam session of the two of them in Stills' basement in 1968 available on Youtube, and during the sessions for the album the pair also recorded a jam called 'White Nigger', which Stills later turned into 'High And Dry' for his Manassas project. This was actually a re-acquaintance of the two in a recording studio, as the previous year Hendrix had invited Stills to a session at New York’s Record Plant, and it was there that Stills performed the Joni Mitchell song 'Woodstock' for the first time, a year before it would appear on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's album ‘Déjà vu’. Stills and Hendrix then recorded a version of the song, along with a take on Stills' '$20 Fine', both with Stills on vocals.
Also in 1970, Hendrix was invited by Love's Arthur Lee to contribute to his band's album 'False Start'. Hendrix returned to Olympic Studios, the recording facility where he'd recorded 'Are You Experienced' and 'Axis: Bold As Love', and he and percussionist Remi Kabaka joined Love in recording 'The Everlasting First'. The three musicians recorded sixteen takes before a basic track met Lee's approval, and they also taped two takes of Hendrix's own 'Ezy Rider', before they took part in an extended instrumental jam session, later titled 'Loon', before departing. This album doesn't aim to include everything that Hendrix was involved in outside The Experience or Band Of Gypsys, but it's more of an overview of his collaborations, so I've picked just two songs from Eire Apparent's album, on which his guitar-playing is particularly up-front, along with the two 'McGough & McGear' songs, three with Stephen Stills, the Robert Wyatt demo, and the recording with Love. The Timothy Leary recording is nice to hear once, but doesn't really warrant repeated plays, so if you want to hear it you can do so here. I haven't included the Love versions of 'Ezy Rider', as Hendrix sings on them and so they just sound like normal Hendrix out-takes, and 'Loon' is just a ten-minute jam, and I've also omitted '$20 Dollar Fine' which is available on the 'Both Sides Of The Sky' album. If you like the two Eire Apparent tracks then do check out their album as it really is excellent stuff.
Track listing
01 The Clown (from 'Sunrise' by Eire Apparent 1968)
02 Mr. Guy Fawkes (from 'Sunrise' by Eire Apparent 1968)
03 So Much (from 'McGough & McGear' by McGough & McGear 1968)
04 Ex Art Student (from 'McGough & McGear' by McGough & McGear 1968)
05 Doriella Du Fontaine (by Lightning Rod 1969)
06 Old Times Good Times (from 'Stephen Stills' by Stephen Stills 1970)
07 White Nigger ('Stephen Stills' out-take 1970)
08 Woodstock (out-take with Stephen Stills 1969)
09 Slow Walkin' Talk (from ''68' by Robert Wyatt 1968)
10 The Everlasting First (from 'False Start' by Love 1970)
Now that this has turned into a series, I've updated the artwork on this post to match the others, although I've left the original cover in the file. If you want this cover then just right-click and save it from the post.
