Another day, another taste of a young Jimi Hendrix. The last few weeks have graced us with two timeless cuts, featuring the Purple patriarch at work as lead guitarist in Curtis Knight's hard-nosed r&b ensemble The Squires. Those cuts came to us from the forthcoming collection of early Jimi (or James as he was then known) contributions to the group entitled You Can’t Use My Name: Curtis Knight & The Squires (Featuring Jimi Hendrix). While the recordings were a product of an embattled relationship and exploitive contract he had signed with Ed Chalpin's PPX Recordings (compensating him just a dollar and 1% royalty on the records he was looking to cut with Knight) they certainly offer a rare glimpse at a spry Hendrix, ripping his trademark purply blues. Today's cut "Gloomy Monday" comes from the latter part of their sessions (1967 to be exact) where Jimi's influence and patented six-string strut were finally coming front and center. You Can’t Use My Name: Curtis Knight & The Squires (Featuring Jimi Hendrix) arrives March 24th with preorders being taken today for vinyl via Amazon. Listen as Jimi Hendrix gets loose on "Gloomy Monday," just before he broke out and took over the world.
