4.3: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced (1967)

Deeper Cuts

Parents are good for one or two things. Sometimes, one of them is how they serve as vectors for great music; how to spot it, what to listen for, and how to form your own lifelong love for musical artistry. At a young age, Shannon’s dad helped her hone an appreciation for music by listening to records with her, and particularly ones centered around the guitar. One of the big ones at the time was 1967’s Are You Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience; a formative album for many generations of music fans. The album was representative of a sea change during a very turbulent time of the late 1960s, a time when politics, technology, and musical forms converged seemingly all at once in one big colourful explosion. But how does the Deeper Cuts trio process all this in 2020? Is it fire or just a bunch of purple haze? How do The Wonder Years, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Ken Burns, Les Paul and Mary Ford, and J.R.R Tolkien fit into all of this? Put on your paisley prints and dive in to find out!

You can experience all the albums we’re listening to this season, along with the songs from our COVID Sessions earlier this year, on our Spotify playlist.

(Note for music nerds: we're using the CD version of this album, which adds a couple of tracks not on the original U.S. version of the album)