Jimi Hendrix shares his love of the blues with a stunning cover of Muddy Waters' 'Mannish Boy', released to the public for the first time as part of a new posthumous compilation of his archival recordings which will be entitled 'Both Sides of the Sky'. 

Jimi Hendrix at Handel House Museum in LondonJimi Hendrix at Handel House Museum in London

The track was recorded at the Record Plant in New York on April 22th 1969; a momentous date which saw the first ever studio collaboration of his Band Of Gypsys. With Jimi on vocals and guitar, Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, it's the first single released from his latest album 'Both Sides of the Sky'.

The album is the third in a trilogy of releases, after 2010's 'Valleys of Neptune' and 2013's 'People, Hell and Angels', all making use of previously unreleased material in the Jimi Hendrix archives. All material was recorded between January 1968 and February 1970, and also included collaborators the likes of Stephen Stills, Johnny Winter and Lonnie Youngblood.

Perhaps the most enjoyable feature of these songs is the playful and relaxed attitude Jimi brought to the music, such as singing his guitar line like he does in 'Mannish Boy'. 

'He'd do something really silly and stupid and everybody would be cracking up', audio engineer Eddie Kramer told Rolling Stone. 'He wanted to keep it light. He'd also do it to change it up a bit and inevitably those lines would work themselves into songs, and that's Jimi's sly humor.'

As for whether or not we can expect much more posthumous outputs in the future, it's unlikely by producer John McDermott isn't ruling it out. 'With Jimi, there is always hope that there is a cache of tapes somewhere out there that would really be great', he said.

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'Both Sides of the Sky' will be released on March 9th 2018.