The recordings Jimi Hendrix made in the U.S. before moving to Swinging London and joining the pantheon of ’60s guitar gods have been subject to litigation, bad remixes and shoddy releases. With You Can’t Use My Name, Hendrix’s 1965-’66 sessions with R&B singer Curtis Knight finally receive an authorized release that shows how the songs were intended to be heard. The guitar playing is superb and gives evidence that Hendrix was on his way to the distortion-shaping sounds for which he is remembered. He is in the forefront on the instrumentals, but is clearly a talented sideman on tracks with Knight behind the microphone.
