It's hard to believe, but Jimi Hendrix, one of the most influential guitar players of all time, only released three albums of studio material plus one live album in his lifetime.  Since then, of course, at least a dozen times that many albums have been released, mostly bootlegs of live recordings and unfinished odds and ends.  Hendrix himself called it:  "It's funny how people love the dead.  Once you're dead, you're made for life."

This week brings us Valleys of Neptune, the first officially released Hendrix studio album in forty years, featuring twelve tracks recorded mostly between February and May of 1969, including new arrangements of signature Hendrix songs "Fire" and "Stone Free" and a studio version of live favorite, "Sunshine of Your Love."

The I.W.H. for this week will feature many tracks from the album plus a short feature on pre-fame Hendrix recordings with The Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard and Jayne Mansfield(!), among others.  Also cover versions of Hendrix songs by artists as diverse as The Cure, The Pretenders, Nigel Kennedy, Angelique Kidjo, The Bobs, Gil Evans (arranger for many classic Miles Davis albums) and of course Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Wave your freak flag high on Tuesday 3/9/10  8-10PM    REBROADCAST Friday midnight after P5K.