Working alone, Jimi arrived at the Record Plant intent on realizing a more traditional Delta blues arrangement of “Midnight Lightning” than he had previously attempted. Singing and playing live as he sat on a chair, Jimi utilized a finger picking style he rarely incorporated on his recordings. The song’s slow beat was accented, in the tradition of such blues men as Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker, by the steady tapping of his foot on the floor.

One of his favorite blues themes, Jimi would later make several attempts to complete a group version with Cox and Mitchell that summer at Electric Lady. Sadly, his untimely death in September 1970 came before “Midnight Lightning” and many other scintillating works in progress could be completed.

Hendrix began this session joined by an unidentified drummer [likely Steve Angel] and together the two players recorded a quick rendition of “Bleeding Heart”. This was followed by three takes of “Midnight Lightning.” Bassist Billy Cox joined the session and s the tandem ran through four takes of “Bleeding Heart,” the later of which was flagged as the master and later transferred to Jimi’s own Electric Lady Studios where additional guitar and a new drum part were overdubbed by Jimi and Mitch Mitchell. Although Jimi never fully completed “Bleeding Heart” prior to his death, it has since been issued as part of First Rays Of The New Rising Sun (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1997).