Are You Experienced?

First released in May 1967, Are You Experienced became a hit in the U.K., with 3 singles hitting the Top 10 charts. This led to a rush to release the album in the U.S., however the typical artist available in the U.K. couldn't achieve the psychedelic aesthetic Jimi Hendrix was striving for on the cover of the album. Hendrix describe the U.K. album cover as making him look like a '"fairy", so manager Chas Chandler called upon U.K. photographer Karl Ferris , known as the "innovator of psychedelic photography" to design this wonderful album art. With complete support from Hendrix, Ferris applied his own 'infrared technique", meant to look as though the art is capturing auras, as well as a fisheye effect. Ferris commissioned a friend for 20 pounds to design the unique lettering. Hendrix fell in love with the cover and this album went on to be regarded as "one of the greatest debuts in the history of rock music".