Under the watchful eye of manager, Michael Jeffery Rolling Stone’s John Burks was invited to Jeffery’s office on West 37th Street in New York to interview Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding (who was recently brought in from England). Jeffery clearly wanted to present the original Jimi Hendrix Experience as a united group and that the disastrous Madison Square Garden performance by Hendrix with the Band Of Gypsys was a single, isolated episode. Rolling Stone was at the forefront of the counter cultural press and Jeffrey desperately wanted to the benefit of positive coverage for his artist.

In his interview, Burks made several attempts to pin Hendrix down on his present musical course, but Hendrix offered no definitive explanation or plan. Rather than lay out a comprehensive plan for the Experience, Hendrix alluded to possible future jamming and recording with Cox and Miles. The guitarist also described the recent Madison Square Garden performance as ‘the end of a big fairy tale’.

Juggy Sound, New York
Studio Recording

Record Plant, New York
Studio Recording

On this evening, Hendrix traveled to the Record Plant after mixing sessions at Juggy Sound had concluded. Upon his arrival, an informal jam session with Buddy Miles ensued. Two instrumental attempts at “Blue Suede Shoes” were put to tape. Later, Hendrix put forward an early version of what would become to “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun).” Singing live and supported only by drums and percussion, Hendrix wove gorgeous touches of Spanish flamenco styling within the arrangement. An impish stab at Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues”—a favorite of the guitarist’s when he was a teenager in Seattle—was followed by a funky original work reminiscent of “Day Tripper.”

Soon thereafter Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell arrived. Buddy Miles departed and work began on “Freedom”. This recording, issued on The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set, is dramatically different than the version now included as part of First Rays Of The New Rising Sun. Most notably, Jimi devised an inventive, extended introduction and, in contrast to his efforts the previous summer with Gypsys Sun & Rainbows, skillfully integrated the percussion effort of Juma Sultan.