First Rays of the New Rising Sun is an approximation of Jimi Hendrix's projected next album, based on recordings in the last months of his life, mostly in 1970. It was only in 1997 that Hendrix's family regained control of Jimi's recorded works and constructed this album (and in the process wiped out the dozens of bogus posthumous albums that had littered his catalog). After release in 1997, First Rays of the New Rising Sun reached #49 in the US and #37 in the UK.
The name of the album, would more likely have been "Strate Ahead" [sic] as that was the last documented title Jimi used in his notes that actually had a track list But this older title has a bearing on at least two songs intended for Strate Ahead - Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) and Izabella. The New Rising Sun concept according to some sources, is related to Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel The Sands of Mars (1951) in which Mars's moon, Phobos, is turned into a new sun in order to heat planet Mars. Lyrics in the song Hey Baby are written about a person coming from the "land of the new rising sun". The song also mentions words "Jupiter sun". Also, "Izabella" refers to "new rising sun". Hendrix had maintained science fiction inspired material in all of his previous studio albums.
