Are You Experienced at 50: 16 facts about Jimi Hendrix's groundbreaking debut

It's long been considered one of the greatest debut albums of all time — and this week the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced marks its 50th anniversary.

Even though it was Hendrix's very first album, it includes some of rock music's most iconic songs: "Fire," "Foxy Lady," "Manic Depression," and the title track "Are You Experienced?" among them.

Writer and archivist Rueben Jackson of the Smithsonian Institution even likened it to James Joyce's Ulysses.

The album was first released May 12, 1967 — and while you probably know most of the songs, you may not know the album's backstory. So to mark the anniversary, we've gathered 16 fascinating facts.

1. All that sound comes from just 3 people

The sound of the album is enormous, but the group was just a trio: Jimi Hendrix on vocals and guitar; Noel Redding on bass and backing vocals; and Mitch Mitchell on drums and backing vocals.

2. The band was rejected by a top label

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was rejected by Decca Records. Instead, they signed with Track, a newer label launched by former managers of the Who — Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.

3. Some of the biggest hits weren't on the original U.K. edition

The original U.K. release didn't include some of the album's biggest hits, including "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary." They were added for the U.S. edition, which came out Aug. 23 the same year, and the songs "Red House," "Can You See Me" and "Remember" were removed.

4. The band's album cover attire came with the help of a fan

The cover was shot at Kew Gardens in London by fashion photographer Karl Ferris. Redding and Mitchell bought clothes for the shoot at King's Road boutiques; Hendrix wore clothes from his wardrobe, including a psychedelic jacket featuring two large eyes that was given to him by a fan.

5. The album took months to record

Are You Experienced was recorded in multiple sessions over five months, from October 1966 to April 1967, at three London locations: De Lane Lea Studios, CBS, and Olympic. But it didn't take so long because of a painstaking recording process. Quite the opposite: the reason the recording took so long was that the band was squeezing short recording sessions in between gigs. All told, the whole thing took just 10 days and, thanks to manager Chas Chandler's constant rushing to save money, it cost just £1,500.

6. Their manager made sure it was all about Jimi

​Manager and former Animals bassist Chas Chandler minimized the creative input by Redding and Mitchell. "I wasn't concerned that Mitch or Noel might feel that they weren't having enough—or any—say," he says in the book Ultimate Hendrix: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Live Concerts and Sessions. "I had been touring and recording in a band for years, and I'd seen everything end as a compromise. Nobody ended up doing what they really wanted to do. I was not going to let that happen with Jimi."

7. Hendrix was told to turn it down

Hendrix liked to play loud — so loud, in fact, that it was causing things in the studio to rattle and shake. "Jimi threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let him play guitar loud enough," says Chandler. "He was playing a Marshall twin stack, and it was so loud in the studio that we were picking up various rattles and noises." Hendrix reportedly threatened to leave, so Chandler set his immigration papers and passport on the mixing console. But instead of leaving, Hendrix went back to recording. "It was so loud you couldn't stand in the studio," remembered engineer Mike Ross of a different session in Jimi Hendrix and the making of Are You Experienced. "I'd never heard anything like it in my life."

8. There were 2 mixes: mono and stereo

Although the album was first released in the U.K., the stereo version wasn't released there until the early '70s. In the U.S., both mixes were offered from the get-go. This was reportedly because stereo radio had already been introduced in America, and most music fans had a stereo record player. In the U.K., few had stereo record players and there were no stereo radio stations. There are several differences between the two mixes, including a drumroll on "May This be Love" that's not included in the stereo mix, and the sound of Hendrix turning a page of lyrics that's not audible in the mono mix. Ross says that no more than 30 minutes was put into mixing any of the songs.

9. The distortion was deliberate

The second single was "Purple Haze," which took four hours of studio time — a long stretch relative to other tracks. The session marks the band's first experimentation with guitar effects, including the Octavia, an octave-doubling effect pedal. When Track sent the master tapes of the song to Reprise for remastering, written on the box was "Deliberate distortion. Do not correct."

10. 'The Wind Cries Mary' was recorded in 1 take

One of the most memorable songs, "The Wind Cries Mary," was recorded in a single take with no rehearsals, then Hendrix added several guitar overdubs. Chandler estimates they spent a total of 20 minutes on the song. "There was 20 minutes left before the clock stopped on the studio time. He'd written the song just the night before, and I said why don't we just demo it down?" remembers Chandler. The song became one of Hendrix's most enduring hits.

11. Drummer Mitch Mitchell almost got fired

Drummer Mitch Mitchell developed a habit of showing up late for band rehearsals and recording sessions, and on at least one occasion, failed to show up at all. Hendrix and Redding discussed the possibility of replacing Mitchell and even auditioned a friend of Redding's, John Banks, and offered him the gig — but he was so afraid of flying that he turned it down. According to Redding, Chandler ended up docking Mitchell's weekly pay and he was never late again.

12. The album was recorded on a 4-track

Eight-track recording was becoming popular in U.S. studios, but in Britain, four-track was still the norm. Hendrix was frustrated with the limitations of four-track, as he had used eight-track recorders in America; so he would record on four tracks, then engineer Eddie Kramer and Chandler would mix them down to two, then Hendrix would use the remaining two tracks for overdubs and vocals. This was known as reduction mixing.

13. Hendrix liked his privacy

Hendrix wasn't as confident about his singing as he was about his guitar playing, and he didn't like anyone watching him sing when he was recording. As a result, he asked the engineers at Olympic to construct a privacy barrier between him and the control room — which proved problematic for the engineers, who could no longer follow his visual cues. On the vocal tracks, you can often hear very faint guitar, too, because Hendrix felt more comfortable singing along to the guitar.

14. But he also came with a crowd

During the recording process, Hendrix was growing increasingly famous, and he had a habit of indiscriminately telling people where he would be on a given day — which proved problematic for those trying to maintain a productive studio environment. "It was extraordinary. I worked with the Stones. I worked with the Beatles. I worked with Led Zeppelin. I was not as jumpy; it was not as difficult as with Hendrix," remembered Olympic tape operator George Chkiantz. "It was something of an open house. Hendrix was not difficult at all, but I personally would have preferred not to have loads of girls lurking in the woodwork."

15. A top record exec thought the album was brilliant

The final mix of the album was completed on April 25, 1967. Chandler brought the album to Polydor A&R head Horst Schmaltze to have a listen. "As Horst started to put the needle on the record, I broke out in a cold sweat, thinking, 'When he hears this, he's going to order the men in white coats to take me away,'" Chandler later recalled. "Horst played the first side through and didn't say a word. Then he turned the disk over and played the other side. I started thinking about how I was going to talk my way out of this. At the end of the second side, he just sat there. Finally, he said, 'This is brilliant. This is the greatest thing I've ever heard.'"

16. Are You Experienced was an instant critical and commercial success

The album never hit number 1, but it was an immediate commercial success, and within seven months had sold more than a million copies. Are You Experienced stayed on the U.K. charts for 33 weeks — long enough that it was still charting when the band released its sophomore album, Axis: Bold As Love, on Dec. 1, 1967. The album also spent 70 weeks on the American R&B charts.

Now, it's considered one of the most important rock records of all time, and it regularly appears high on best-ever album lists. In 2005, it was also one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in recognition of its cultural significance.

This Friday, take a deep dive into the music of Jimi Hendrix as the legendary debut album, Are You Experienced, turns 50. Join guest host Pete Morey for an hour of songs and stories behind the influential rock record: Friday at 6 p.m.(6:30 NT), on CBC Radio 2 Drive.

​— Jennifer Van Evra, q digital staff