Jimi Hendrix’s longtime engineer, Eddie Kramer, who continues to prepare the late guitar legend’s archival releases, says the audio technology used on the new Beatles song, “Now and Then,” could help bring to life unheard Hendrix recordings as well. On a new episode of The Vinyl Guide podcast, Kramer revealed that he had some specific recordings in mind that could be restored with the same technology.
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“There are tapes that I would love to get my hands on with [my Hendrix archive collaborators] John [McDermott] and Janie [Hendrix] and say, ‘Hey, maybe we can do X, or Y!’” he noted.
Technology Used on “Now and Then” Is Not AI
Kramer also was quick to point out that using the term “AI” for the process of cleanly bringing out vocals from a poor-sounding tape wasn’t accurate.
“When one uses the phrase ‘AI,’ it’s really very advanced digital manipulation,” he explained. “And now the technology has become so evolved that here’s a cassette tape of John [Lennon], playing piano, and now they were able to isolate the voice.”
Kramer added, “We’ve always had something similar—maybe not quite as good—but … as the technology has expanded, now we’re really able to become quite clever about the quality that remains thereafter.”
Alluding again to the technology used on Lennon’s vocals in “Now and Then,” Kramer reiterated, “I’m sure if we found another tape [where] Jimi’s voice is buried, I know I could use something similar—which I’ve done before—but now it’s going to be on a much higher level.”
On Rumored Hendrix Performance with Morrison, Joplin
Also during the interview, Kramer was asked if he knew whether a recording existed of a rumored New York City club performance featuring Hendrix, The Doors’ Jim Morrison, and possibly Janis Joplin.
“That’s possible,” said Kramer, then asked the interviewer if the performance may have taken place at a Greenwich Village club that later was converted into Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios.
He added, “[If] somebody has got a cassette somewhere, tell them to contact me and we’ll fix it.”
New Archival Hendrix Concert Album
The podcast also featured Kramer discussing the latest archival Hendrix concert album, Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967, which was released last month.
The concert captured Hendrix and his group serving as The Mamas & the Papas’ opening act at the famous Los Angeles venue.
Kramer said that the recording of the show was taken from a tape that was of surprisingly excellent quality.
“Some guy had a tape machine and was running it off the console,” he explained, “and whoever was doing the front-of-house put it together and the stereo out of the board fed into the machine.”
Kramer He noted that it didn’t need to much work to prepare for release after running it through the software he uses to convert analog recordings to digital.
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967 is available now on multiple formats.
You can listen to the full podcast at TheVinylGuide.com, as well as via major streaming services.
