Despite the title,
Rainbow Bridge was not a soundtrack to
the film of the same name but rather a
compilation of one live song and studio recordings from a number of sources between 1968 and 1970, including some for his planned but unfinished double album
First Rays of the New Rising Sun. "Look Over Yonder" began as "Mr. Bad Luck" while Hendrix was performing in Greenwich Village, New York City, with his group
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in the summer of 1966. The version included on
Rainbow Bridge was recorded by the Experience in 1968. "Room Full of Mirrors" had been performed live by the Experience, with one recording appearing on
Experience (1971). "
Hear My Train A Comin'" is another song that dates back to the Experience. They had attempted several studio recordings, but these were passed over (along with a version with Cox and
Buddy Miles) and a live recording from the first show on May 30, 1970, at the
Berkeley Community Theatre was used instead. An edited version appears in the 1971 concert film
Jimi Plays Berkeley. A new studio recording of "Room Full of Mirrors" and "Earth Blues" are two of the few largely completed studio recordings with Cox and Miles, although Mitchell later overdubbed the drum parts on the latter. Two additional songs, "Izabella" and "Stepping Stone" had been released as a single (listed as "Hendrix Band of Gypsys"), but Hendrix wished to rework them for his proposed fourth album. However, just as "Dolly Dagger" and "Room Full of Mirrors" were withheld from
The Cry of Love, these were pulled from the
Rainbow Bridge track listing in the final stages. Instead they were used to improve the next posthumous release
War Heroes. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is a 1969 solo studio recording by Hendrix. The remainder of the songs were recorded with Mitchell and Cox between June and August 1970: "
Dolly Dagger", "Pali Gap", and "
Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)". The album was the second to be produced by
Eddie Kramer and Mitch Mitchell, with
John Jansen assisting. It was released in October 1971 in the US, and the following month in the UK where it reached numbers 15 and 16 respectively in the album charts. The album also peaked at No. 9 on the U.S.
Best Selling Soul LP's chart. "Dolly Dagger" with "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the B-side was released as a single in the US in October 1971. It appeared at number 74 in the
Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. In 2014, the original
Rainbow Bridge album was reissued in both CD and LP formats. == Critical reception ==