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Song Name: Are You Experienced?

Artist: DEVO - cover song

Original Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience, recorded and released in 1967 on the album Are You Experienced?

Appears On: Shout [album], "Are You Experienced?" [single],
Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology, this is the DEVO box [2008 remaster], 50 Years Of De-Evolution (1973-2023) [2023 remaster]

Run Time: 3:08 (album/single version)

Year Recorded: 1984

Year Released: 1984

Writing Credits: James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix

Sung By: Mark

Personnel: DEVO

Trivia / Info:[]

  • One of the last songs added to this album. Although it was engineered by Bob Casale and produced by DEVO, it was the only album track not mixed by Mike Shipley.
  • Mark altered some lyrics and the reverse guitar solo - imitated using the Fairlight CMI - is the chorus melody from the Hendrix science fiction song "3rd Stone from the Sun".[1]

Video:[]

Short Film / Music Video[]

Available on the LaserDisc release of The Complete Truth About De-Evolution and online.

Live Video[]

None
Controversy[]
  • The Hendrix estate chose not to authorize the inclusion of RU Experienced with the DVD issue of the Complete Truth About De-Evolution, so the video does not appear, but the commentary track was still included.[1]
  • Jerry said, Hendrix’s importance could not be overstated and the video included a "wake, not a funeral." It is DEVO’s "irreverent reverence."
  • The cover song was approved by the Hendrix estate. Some critics say it is respectfully close to the original and they had expected the DEVO version would be more far out.
Artistic Authenticity[]
  • For an era-authentic depiction of a liquid light show, original light artists were recruited.
  • Hendrix tribute artist Randy Hansen participated. He is capable of emulating both the look and sound of Hendrix. He toured as the only tribute artist authorized by the Hendrix estate.
  • Jerry said, DEVO intended to do something as artistically groundbreaking visually as Hendrix did with his style and his aural innovations. This led to the production of DEVO’s most lavish video yet.
Restoration[]
Restored for DEVO by Peter Conheim and Cinema Preservation Alliance from original 35mm film elements and with reconstructed effects and then toured around the globe in De-Evolution Is Real: The Restored Films of DEVO.

Additional Info:[]

  • DEVO and the Jimi Hendrix Experience would later appear together on compilations including Steal This Disc (1987) and Steal This Disc III (1991) by Rykodisc.

Spelling / Orthography[]

  • This cover song is titled "ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?"
◦ The title is stylized on single art as "ARE U X-PERIENCED?"
◦ The music video title is "R U EXPERIENCED"

References:[]

  1. "Devo regrets that 'Are U Experienced?' is not included in the program. The current executors of the Jimi Hendrix estate were determined to prove to us the old adage - To seek permission is to seek denial." - The Complete Truth About De-Evolution dvd.

External Links:[]

[album track] https://www.discogs.com/search/?q=Are+You+Experienced+DEVO&type=master&layout=med
[single release] https://www.discogs.com/master/52817-Devo-Are-You-Experienced


DEVO
Mark Mothersbaugh | Gerry Casale | Bob Mothersbaugh
Bob Lewis | Bob Casale | Jim Mothersbaugh | Alan Myers
David Kendrick | Josh Freese
Jeff Friedl | Josh Hager
Record Labels / Publishers
Booji Boy Records | Warner Brothers | Enigma | Devo, Inc. 
Stiff | Virgin | Rykodisk | Infinite Zero | Restless | Discovery | Rhino 
MVD Audio | The Orchard | Superior Viaduct | Futurismo
Production
Brian Eno | Ken Scott | Robert Margouleff | Roy Thomas Baker | DEVO 
The Teddybears | Greg Kurstin | Santi White | John King | John Hill | Mark Nishita 
Official Studio Albums
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978) | Duty Now For The Future (1979) | Freedom of Choice (1980) | New Traditionalists (1981) | oh, no! it's Devo (1982) | Shout (1984) | Total Devo (1988) | SmoothNoodleMaps (1990) | Something for Everybody   (2010)
Other Albums
B Stiff EP (1978) | E-Z Listening Disc (1987) | Now It Can Be Told: DEVO at the Palace (1989) | Hardcore DEVO Vol. 1 74-77 (1990) | Hardcore DEVO Vol. 2 1974-1977 (1991) | DEVO Live: The Mongoloid Years (1992) | DEV-O Live (1999) | Recombo DNA (2000) | Live In Central Park (2004) | DEVO Live 1980 (2005) | New Traditionalists: Live 1981 Seattle (2012) | Something ELSE for Everybody  (2013) | Miracle Witness Hour  (2014) | Live at Max's Kansas City - November 15, 1977  (2014) | Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig  (2014) | Hardcore DEVO Live!  (2015) | Art Devo 1973-1977  (2023)
Filmography
In The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution (1976) | The Men Who Make The Music (1981) | Human Highway (1982) | We're All DEVO (1984) | The Complete Truth About De-Evolution (1993) | DEVO Live (2004) | DEVO Live In The Land Of The Rising Sun (2004) | DEVO Live 1980 (2005) | Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig  (2014) | Hardcore DEVO Live!  (2015)
Related Articles
History | Bootlegs | Booji Boy | Devolution | Influence | The Wipeouters | Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers | Devo 2.0 | Akron, Ohio | Kent, Ohio | Music Videos | Cover Versions | Outfits


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