British writer Sean Egan examines in close detail one of the most important rock & roll albums of the 1960s in his well-researched study, JIMI HENDRIX AND THE MAKING OF ARE YOU EXPERIENCED. The Jimi Hendrix Experience's first album, ARE YOU EXPERIENCED, was recorded in multiple sessions between the punishing British club dates that were the band's bread and butter. Almost all the album's songs were composed in the studio, which gave the musicians the freedom to experiment with sounds and effects impossible to reproduce in a live setting. Though lacking in specific technical information, Egan's revealing interviews with many of Hendrix's close friends and associates uncover significant minor details, like the complaints received by the studio from its neighbors when the band was recording "Purple Haze," and Hendrix's habit of increasing his volume by adding to his already awe-inspiring number of speaker cabinets. In addition to his own perceptive contributions, Egan also gathers the opinions of fellow Hendrix authorities like Charles Shaar Murray and Dave Marsh, and supplies a track-by-track critique of the album.
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