Did you see Jimi Hendrix in concert? Did you meet Jimi Hendrix or have the opportunity to interview him or have some other unique, first-person encounter with Jimi Hendrix? If so, Experience Hendrix wants to hear from you.
Did you see Jimi Hendrix in concert? Did you meet Jimi Hendrix or have the opportunity to interview him or have some other unique, first-person encounter with Jimi Hendrix? If so, Experience Hendrix wants to hear from you.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience reportedly prepare recordings for Radio Luxembourg’s Ready Steady Radio! program at Tiles in London. The session never airs.
1967 Events Greater London January January 17 London Radio Appearance Radio Luxembourg Ready Steady Radio! Tiles United Kingdom
After a sound check, the Experience jam with Buddy Miles, Harvey Brooks and David Crosby at the Shrine Auditorium. They play a show at the Shrine later that night, accompanied by Soft Machine, Blue Cheer and The Electric Flag. The set is comprised of: “Are You Experienced?” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Up From The Skies,” “Red House,” “Wild Thing,” and “Purple Haze.” Peter Tork attends the show and afterward hosts a party at his home in Laurel Canyon. The Jimi Hendrix Experience perform at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on February 10, 1968. Photo: Chuck Boyd / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
1968 Buddy Miles David Crosb Events February February 10 Harvey Brooks Shrine Auditorium
The band plays at the Center Arena, supported by Soft Machine. Afterwards, Hendrix returns to his father’s home to spend the evening with family and friends, while Mitch and Noel spend the night at the Olympic Hotel.
1968 Center Arena Events february 12 Mitch Noel olympic hotel Soft Machine
The Experience fly to Los Angeles for a performance at the Ackerman Ballroom at the University of California, Los Angeles. According to Redding, during the performance, the crowd rushes the stage. Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and Noel Redding are photographed backstage prior to their February 13, 1968 performance at the Ackerman Ballroom at UCLA. Photo: Chuck Boyd / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
1968 Ackerman Ballroom California crowd rush the stage Events February 13 Los Angeles performance the experience University of California
The Experience perform at Regis College in Denver, Colorado. Soft Machine opens. Meanwhile, in London, Les Perrin accepts Hendrix’s Disc & Music Echo award for “Top World Musician.” The ceremony takes place at the “Valentine’s Night Ball” at the Empire Rooms on Tottenham Court Road.
1968 ceremony Colorado Denver Empire Rooms Events February February 14 les perrin accepts hendrix disc lond music echo award performance Regis College Soft Machine top world musician Tottenham Court Road Valentine’s Night Ball
February 15, 1968 Soft Machine, The Moving Sidewalks, and Neal Ford and the Fanatics open for The Experience at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas.
1968 Events February February 15 municipal auditorium Neal Ford san antonio Soft Machine texas the Fanatics The Moving Sidewalks
The Experience, along with Soft Machine, The Moving Sidewalks, and The Chessmen, play the State Fair Music Hall in Dallas, Texas. The set includes: “Are You Experienced?” “Fire,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Tax Free,” “Foxey Lady,” “Hey Joe,” “Spanish Castle Magic,” “Red House,” and “Purple Haze.”
1968 Are You Experienced dallas Events February February 16 Fire Foxey Lady hey joe Purple Haze Red House Soft Machine spanish castle magic state fair music hall tax free texas the chessmen The Moving Sidewalks The Wind Cries Mary
The Experience, Soft Machine, The Moving Sidewalks, and Neal Ford & the Fanatics perform at Will Rogers Auditorium in Fort Worth, Texas. The Experience play: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Fire,” “Catfish Blues,” “Foxey Lady,” “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze,” and “Wild Thing.” Later, Hendrix jams backstage with Billy Gibbons, guitarist for The Moving Sidewalks, and trades guitars with him. Gibbons gives Hendrix a left-handed 1957 Stratocaster and Hendrix gives Gibbons a pink Strat. (Gibbons, who later joined ZZ Top, reportedly still owns the pink guitar.)
1968 billy gibbons Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window Catfish Blues Events February February 17 Fire Fort Worth Foxey Lady guitarist hey joe left-handed 1957 stratocaster Neal Ford performance pink guitar pink strat Purple Haze sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band Soft Machine texas the experience the Fanatics The Moving Sidewalks The Wind Cries Mary trades guitar Wild Thing Will Rogers Auditorium
The Experience, supported by Soft Machine, The Moving Sidewalks, and Neal Ford & the Fanatics, play the Music Hall in Houston, Texas. Jimi Hendrix is photographed on stage during The Experience’s February 18, 1968 performance at the Music Hall in Houston, Texas. Photo: William Warner / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
1968 Events February February 18 houston music hall Neal Ford Soft Machine texas the experience the Fanatics The Moving Sidewalks
The Experience plays two shows at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia.
1968 Electric Factory performance Events February February 21 Pennsylvania philadelphia the experience two shows
The band plays the Masonic Temple in Detroit, along with Soft Machine, MC5, and The Rationals.
Detroit Events Masonic Temple mc5 Michigan Soft Machine the rationals
The Experience fly to Toronto, Canada, where they play at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) Coliseum Arena with Soft Machine, The Paupers, and Eire Apparent. Performed are: “Hey Joe,” “Foxey Lady,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Spanish Castle Magic,” “Purple Haze,” “Red House,” and “Wild Thing.” The Jimi Hendrix Experience are photographed in concert at the CNE Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 24, 1968. Photo: © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
Canada Canadian National Exhibition CNE Coliseum Arena Eire Apparent Events Foxey Lady hawkes join the band hey joe Purple Haze Red House robbie robertson Soft Machine spanish castle magic the experience the hawkes The Paupers The Wind Cries Mary Toronto Wild Thing
The Experience fly to Chicago, where they play two shows at the Chicago Civic Opera House with Soft Machine. The set includes: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Fire,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Foxey Lady,” “I Don’t Live Today,” “Hey Joe,” “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” “Manic Depression,” “Like A Rolling Stone,” and “Purple Haze.”
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window chicago chicago civic opera house Events Fire Foxey Lady hey joe i don't live today Illinois like a rolling stone manic depression Purple Haze sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band Soft Machine the experience The Wind Cries Mary
Accompanied by Soft Machine and Mark Boyle’s Sense Laboratory, The Experience play two shows at The Factory in Madison, Wisconsin.
Events february 27 fugs Madison mark boyle's sense laboratory Soft Machine the experience the factory Wisconsin
The Experience and Soft Machine play two shows at The Scene Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1968 Events february 28 Milwaukee Soft Machine the experience the scene club Wisconsin
The Experience again play two shows with Soft Machine at The Scene Club.
Events Milwaukee Soft Machine the club scene the experience Wisconsin
In the afternoon, The Experience attends an autograph signing at The Groove Company, a record store in Hollywood, California. That evening, Big Brother & The Holding Company and The Chambers Brothers at a spectacular show at the famed Hollywood Bowl support The Experience. Their performance includes “Are You Experienced?” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” “Red House, “Foxey Lady,” “Fire,” “Hey Joe,” “Sunshine Of Your Love,” “I Don’t Live Today,” “Little Wing,” “Star Spangled Banner,” and “Purple Haze.” The Experience take part in a press conference where Mitch Mitchell is later interviewed by Judy Sims for the September 29 edition of Disc & Music Echo. The Jimi Hendrix Experience are photographed in concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California on September 14, 1968. Photo: Chuck Boyd / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC Jimi Hendrix is photographed during afternoon rehearsal sessions at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California on September 14, 1968. Photo: Chuck Boyd / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
autograph signing California Events Hollywood the experience The Groove Company
Mitch Mitchell joins John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahall, Marianne Faithfull and several others for the Rolling Stones’ “Rock & Roll Circus” at the BBC’s Wembley Studios in London. Mitchell joins The Dirty Mac on their performance of “Yer Blues.”
Eric Clapton Events Jethro Tull John Lennon Marianne Faithfull Mitch Mitchell Taj Mahall The Who Yoko Ono
January 9, 1969 Konserthuset Stockholm, Sweden Two Shows with Jethro Tull That afternoon, Jimi grants an interview to Ulla Lundstrom. He also takes part in a press reception attended by writers from Aftonbladet, Expressen, Bildjournalen, and Dagens Nyheter. Prior to his concert, Jimi spoke with Lennart Wretlind and excerpts were later featured as part of the January 12 radio program Pop 68 Special. 1st Show: Killing Floor Spanish Castle Magic Fire Hey Joe Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Red House Sunshine Of Your Love 2nd Show: I Don’t Live Today Spanish Castle Magic Hey Joe Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Sunshine Of Your Love Red House Fire Purple Haze Star Spangled Banner The first of these two performances was videotaped for SVT Swedish Television. “Sunshine Of Your Love” and “Red House” were featured as part of the 2001 video release Experience.
Aftonbladet Bildjournalen Dagens Nyheter Events Expressen Fire hey joe killing floor Konserthuset Stockholm Red House spanish castle magic sunshine of your love Sweden Voodoo Child
Falkoner Centret Denmark Two Shows with Jethro Tull 1st Show: Fire Foxey Lady Tax Free Spanish Castle Magic Red House Sunshine Of Your Love I Don’t Live Today Purple Haze Photo: Mark Johansen / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
Musikhalle Hamburg, Germany Two Shows with Eire Apparent 1st Show: Are You Experienced Johnny B Goode Spanish Castle Magic Hear My Train A Comin’ Fire I Don’t Live Today Red House Sunshine Of Your Love Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Rheinhalle Dusseldorf, Germany Two Shows with Eire Apparent 2nd Show: Spanish Castle Magic Foxey Lady Fire Red House Sunshine Of Your Love Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Purple Haze
Studio Dumont Koln, Germany Two Shows with Eire Apparent Jimi attended an autograph session at Studio Du Monde Book & Record Shop. Part of the event was filmed and later featured as part of the German television program Beat Club. Sporthalle Koln, Germany Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Foxey Lady Red House Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Fire Spanish Castle Magic Hey Joe Sunshine Of Your Love Purple Haze
January 14, 1969 Munsterlandhalle Munster, Germany With Eire Apparent The set list includes. Red House Fire Foxey Lady All Along The Watchtower Hey Joe Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Purple Haze
Meistersingerhalle Nuremburg, Germany Two Shows with Eire Apparent 1st Show: Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) I Don’t Live Today Hey Joe Fire Red House Foxey Lady Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return) The Jimi Hendrix Experience perform on January 16, 1969 at Meistersingerhalle in Nuremburg, Germany. Photo: Greg Smith / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
January 17, 1969 Jarhunderthalle Frankfurt, Germany Two Shows with Eire Apparent 1st Show: Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Fire Red House I Don’t Live Today Spanish Castle Magic Foxey Lady Sunshine Of Your Love Hey Joe Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 2nd Show: Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Fire Red House I Don’t Live Today Little Wing Foxey Lady Hear My Train A Comin’ Sunshine Of Your Love Hey Joe Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Eire Apparent Events Frankfurt Germany Jarhunderthalle shows
Liederhalle Stuttgart, Germany Two Shows 1st Show: Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Foxey Lady Red House Sunshine Of Your Love Star Spangled Banner Purple Haze 2nd Show: Fire Spanish Castle Magic Red House Foxey Lady I Don’t Live Today Hey Joe Star Spangled Banner Purple Haze Sunshine Of Your Love Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Wacken Halle Strasbourg, France Two Shows with Eire Apparent Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Hey Joe Spanish Castle Magic Red House Fire Sunshine Of Your Love Purple Haze Foxey Lady Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Konserthaus Wein, Austria Two Shows with Eire Apparent 1st Show: Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Hey Joe Fire Hear My Train A Comin’ Spanish Castle Magic Foxey Lady Stone Free Purple Haze 2nd Show: Are You Experienced Fire Lover Man Sunshine Of Your Love Spanish Castle Magic Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Sport Palast Berlin, Germany Two Shows with Eire Apparent Fire Hey Joe Spanish Castle Magic Foxey Lady Red House Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Sunshine Of Your Love Purple Haze
February 18, 1969 Royal Albert Hall London, England With Mason, Capaldi, Wood, & Frog, and Soft Machine Tax Free Fire Hear My Train A Comin’ Foxey Lady Red House Sunshine Of Your Love Spanish Castle Magic Star Spangled Banner Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
& Frog and Soft Machine Capaldi England Events London Mason Royal Albert Hall Wood
Royal Albert Hall London, England With Fat Mattress, Van Der Graaf Generator, and Soft Machine Lover Man Stone Free Hear My Train A Comin’ I Don’t Live Today Red House Foxey Lady Sunshine Of Your Love Bleeding Heart Fire Little Wing Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Room Full Of Mirrors Purple Haze Wild Thing Star Spangled Banner One of the greatest Experience concerts, both “Little Wing” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” were featured as part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience box set. Later that evening, Jimi returned to the Speakeasy and jammed with Alan Price, Dave Mason, and Jim Capaldi.
Spectrum, Philadelphia With Fat Mattress Set List: Fire Red House Foxey Lady I Don’t Live Today Hear My Train A Comin’ Stone Free Star Spangled Banner Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Jimi Hendrix leads The Experience through a rousing performance at the Philadelphia Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 12, 1969. Photo: Chris Jones / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
Events Fat Mattress Fire Foxey Lady hear my train a comin' i don't live today philadelphia Purple Haze Red House Spectrum Star Spangled Banner Stone Free Voodoo Child
Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, Tennessee [Two Shows] With Fat Mattress Set List: [Second Show] Fire I Don’t Live Today Hear My Train A Comin’ Sunshine Of Your Love Stone Free Foxey Lady Star Spangled Banner Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Burdened with an exhaustive schedule of personal appearances, the tense relationship between Hendrix and bassist Noel Redding further deteriorated. Frustrated, Hendrix reached out to old friend Billy Cox, with whom he had served in the US Army and performed on the famed R&B ‘chitlin’ circuit’ prior to leaving for New York. The bassist reunited with Hendrix backstage at this Experience concert in Memphis. “We met when the Experience played in Memphis,” Cox explains. “He told me that he wanted me to be his bass player. He said that things weren’t in the order the way he wanted them and would I come as a friend and help him out. He said he’d take care of me and everything would be okay and so I gladly accepted. I went back to Nashville, closed my publishing company, dropped everything else and left for New York.” Three days after the backstage meeting in Memphis, Cox joined Hendrix at the Record Plant recording studio in New York.
Ellis Auditorium Events Fat Mattress Memphis Noel Redding Tennessee
Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan With Fat Mattress, Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys Set List: [partial] Fire Spanish Castle Magic Foxey Lady I Don’t Live Today Sunshine Of Your Love Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Red House
Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys Cobo Hall Detroit Events Fat Mattress Michigan
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada With Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys Set List: Fire Hear My Train A Comin’ Spanish Castle Magic Red House Foxey Lady Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return) The Experience fly to Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario and arrive at 9:30 a.m.. While checking through Canada Customs, one of the bags Hendrix offers to be searched contains what is believed to be an illicit substance. Hendrix is arrested and taken to Police Headquarters in downtown Toronto. He is later released on a $10,000 cash bail and required at a court appearance on May 5. After his release, The Experience book into the Four Seasons Hotel and then head directly to Maple Leaf Gardens where they prepare for an evening performance. Jimi opened his show with greeting, “We want you to forget about today, about yesterday, and about tomorrow. Tonight we’re gonna create a whole new world,” The guitarist then launched into an incendiary rendition of “Fire.” Ritchie Yorke, who reviewed the performance for the May 4 issue of The Globe And Mail, was moved to write, “his guitar became the voice of the Rave New World. It screamed, hissed, and shrieked with the ferocity of a thousand dentist drills plunged into a single tooth.” The evening’s performance also featured a superb version of “Spanish Castle Magic”, complete with touches of both “Third Stone From The Sun” and “Little Miss Lover” interwoven within the song’s extended instrumental break. Jimi also performed a rare, fascinating early live version of “Room Full Of Mirrors”.
Cat Mother Events Fire Foxey Lady hear my train a comin' Purple Haze Red House spanish castle magic The All Night Newsboys Voodoo Child
War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse, New York With Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys Set List: [partial] Fire I Don’t Live Today Stone Free Foxey Lady The Experience traveled from Toronto to Syracuse, New York. They secured lodging at the Randolph House Hotel before their performance that evening at the Syracuse War Memorial Auditorium.
Events Fire Foxey Lady i don't live today new york Stone Free Syracuse
Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina With Chicago Transit Authority Set List: [partial] Johnny B. Goode Fire Spanish Castle Magic Foxey Lady Red House Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Next on the tour itinerary is Charlotte, North Carolina. The Experience book accommodations at the Red Carpet Inn on 615 E. Morehead Street. Once settled at the hotel, Hendrix is interviewed by Ronnie Parsons and Gary Rice for The Inquisition #3.
Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum Events Experience North Carolina With Chicago Transit Authority
Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia With Fat Mattress, Chicago Transit Authority Set List: [partial] Fire Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) Hear My Train A Comin’ Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Purple Haze Wild Thing The Experience arrived in Charleston, West Virginia and reserved rooms at the Hart O’Town Motor Inn prior to their performance that evening at the Charlotte Civic Centre. Following his performance, Hendrix was interviewed by Ray Brack for a Charleston Gazette article published the following week.
Charleston Charleston Civic Center Chicago Transit Authority Events West Virginia With Fat Mattress
Santa Clara Pop Festival, County Fairground Santa Clara, CA. Set List: Hear My Train A Comin’ Fire Spanish Castle Magic Red House I Don’t Live Today Foxey Lady Purple Haze Voodoo Child (Slight Return) [Includes portions of Sunshine Of Your Love] A spirited set at the Santa Clara Pop Festival. Jimi’s performance is strong, as evidenced by the amateur audience recording made of the group’s afternoon performance. The Jimi Hendrix Experience are photographed on stage during their May 25, 1969 performance at the Northern California Folk-Rock Festival at the County Fairgrounds in Santa Clara, California. Photo: Michael Jang / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
County Fairground Santa Clara Events Santa Clara Pop Festival
Newport Pop Festival, Devonshire Downs, Northridge, Ca. Set List: Stone Free Are You Experienced Stone Free Sunshine Of Your Love Fire Hear My Train A Comin’ Red House Foxey Lady Like A Rolling Stone Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Purple Haze The Jimi Hendrix Experience traveled from Los Angeles by helicopter to Northridge, California where they performed at Devonshire Downs at San Fernando State College. Billed as the Newport Pop Festival, the three day event also featured such artists as Albert King, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, Ike & Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, and Taj Mahal. The Experience topped the bill and were the highest paid performers at the festival. Jimi Hendrix is photographed during The Experience’s June 20, 1969 performance at the Newport ‘69 pop festival at Devonshire Downs in Northridge, California. Photo: Chuck Boyd / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
Devonshire Downs Events Ike & Tina Turner Joe Cocker lbert King Newport Pop Festival Taj Mahal. The Edwin Hawkins Singers
Newport Pop Festival, Devonshire Downs, Northridge, Ca. After a subpar performance with the Experience on Friday evening, Hendrix returned to the festival on Sunday afternoon to jam with Eric Burdon, Buddy Miles, Tracy Nelson, and Mother Earth. Jimi’s enthusiastic participation won over the crowd. The shambling, extended jam session proved to be the highlight of the Sunday slate of Jimi Hendrix is photographed during an afternoon performance / jam on June 22, 1969 at the Newport ‘69 pop festival at DevonshireDowns in Northridge, California. Photo: © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
Buddy Miles Devonshire Downs Eric Burdon Events Mother Earth. Newport Pop Festival Tracy Nelson
Denver Pop Festival, Denver, Co. Set List: Tax Free Hear My Train A Comin’ Fire Spanish Castle Magic Red House Foxey Lady Star Spangled Banner Purple Haze The Experience topped the bill at the 1969 Denver Pop Festival. The festival, staged at Mile High Stadium, boasted a stellar lineup which also included Johnny Winter, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Poco, Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention, Iron Butterfly, Tim Buckley, and Big Mama Thornton. An inspired set by the Experience was marred by a riot following the group’s performance. Police officers began firing tear gas at the audience while Eric Barrett, a roadie for the Experience, rushed the band off stage and into the back of their rented equipment truck. Fans climbed all over the vehicle, nearly buckling the roof before the Barrett and the road crew could whisk the group away. The Denver Pop Festival would prove to be the last performance by the original Jimi Hendrix Experience. Immediately afterwards, Noel Redding elected to leave the group and returned to London. Redding cited Hendrix’s stated desire to expand the group without consulting him as one of the factors influencing his decision.
Denver Denver Pop Festival Events Experience Noel Redding pop festival Set List
Woodstock Music & Art Festival, Bethel, New York Set List: Message To Love Hear My Train A Comin’ Spanish Castle Magic, Red House Mastermind [Larry Lee] Lover Man Foxey Lady Jam Back At The House Izabella Gypsy Woman [Larry Lee] Fire Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Star Spangled Banner Purple Haze Woodstock Improvisation Villanova Junction Blues Hey Joe Beginning in July 1969, Jimi relocated to Shokan, a quiet upstate New York village near Woodstock for the balance of the summer. Here Hendrix was accorded sufficient time to relax and refine his new musical direction. In time, the rustic summer retreat served to rejuvenate his creative spirit. “Jimi was taking a kind of vacation out in the country, trying to get his act together,” explains Eddie Kramer. “It was all part of his developmental process, wood shedding if you want to call it that. With Billy Cox in tow, Jimi revisited his Tennessee roots once more, reaching back to guitarist Larry Lee, another old friend and veteran of the chitlin’ circuit. Where Cox had been actively involved in various music projects prior to heeding Jimi’s call, Lee had just returned from a stint in Vietnam. Also invited to Hendrix’s vacation retreat were percussionists Jerry Velez and Juma Sultan. Hendrix met Velez at Steve Paul’s Scene Club prior to the break up of the Experience. “I had just finished jamming with The McCoys,” explains Velez. “When I walked over to my table, Jimi and his entourage were sitting behind me. A little later, I joined the band on stage again for a few more tunes. When I came back to sit down, he leaned over and said, ‘Listen, I’m recording this jam over at the studio tonight. We’ll be starting around four, after this thing ends tonight. Do you want to come down and jam?’ I said sure. I went over that night and jammed with Jimi and Buddy Miles, and we seemed to hit it off.” Juma Sultan was actively involved with the Aboriginal Music Society in Woodstock, New York, and was a highly respected percussionist who would performed regularly at the Tinker Street Cinema. Both were received well during their jam’s back at the house and were invited to join Hendrix’s expanded ensemble, Gypsy Sun and Rainbows. In the weeks prior to the Woodstock festival, Jimi jammed at his rented home, as well as the Tinker Street Cinema in downtown Woodstock. Making its first and only official public appearance, Hendrix’s expanded ensemble Gypsy Sun and Rainbows performs at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival in Bethel, New York. Hendrix takes to the Woodstock stage on Monday morning with the support of Mitch Mitchell (drums), Billy Cox (bass & backing vocals), Larry Lee (rhythm guitar), Juma Sultan (percussion), and Jerry Velez (percussion). His extended set includes his magnificent rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner”. At some point after his performance, Hendrix authors “500,000 Halos” which he describes as an ‘unfinished sketch of (the) Woodstock Festival.’ Jimi Hendrix and his new ensemble group, Gypsy Sun & Rainbows, headline the Woodstock Art & Music Fair on Monday, August 18, 1969. Photo: Allan Koss / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
Fillmore East, New York Two Shows Prior to their two concerts later that evening, Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys held an afternoon sound check and rehearsal at the Fillmore East. Later that evening, before a sold out crowd of 2,639, Hendrix rang in the New Year and new decade with two unforgettable performances. The evening’s festivities opened with a spirited set by the Voices Of East Harlem, an enthusiastic young gospel ensemble. With the anticipation of the sold out Fillmore audience heightened to fever pitch, Hendrix led his trio through a scintillating, seventy-five minute opening performance. None of the eleven songs presented had yet to grace an Experience album. In the place of signature songs like “Purple Haze” and “All Along The Watchtower” were confident renditions of “Izabella” and “Hear My Train A Comin’”. At midnight, Kip Cohen, the venue’s master of ceremonies, rang in the new year and decade buffeted by Guy Lombardo’s “Auld Lang Syne”. Never one to be upstaged, Jimi and company greeted the joyous house with their own inspired reading of the holiday staple. For Amalie Rothschild, the Fillmore East’s house photographer, the experience was an unforgettable one. “Then there was the countdown at midnight. It was the countdown that was a real scream. We’re talking about the end of the Sixties. December 31, 1969 turning into January 1, 1970–.A new decade. This was significant. After all, we were living through it and we knew that the Sixties were the Sixties. We had this big countdown on the [Joshua White] light show screen with this big clock 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…and everybody is yelling together. Then the light show screen pulls up and everybody is on stage–all the crew and the musicians. Hendrix, who is now on stage, launches into this amazing rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and I filmed it [excerpts of Rothschild’s color film footage can be seen in the VHS/DVD Band Of Gypsys]. This was history in the making. You could not miss this. His performance was just so inspired. It was just terrific and I can’t find the words to describe it.” The recordings which make up both Band Of Gypsys and its two disc sequel Live At The Fillmore East certainly bear out Rothschild’s remembrances. Jimi’s celebrated work with the Band Of Gypsys stands among his most impressive and lasting achievements. After the show, Ian Dove of Record Mirror interviewed Jimi Hendrix for the January 10, 1970 edition of the British paper. Later that night, Hendrix retreated to The Café Caliph (previously known as The Café Au Go Go) in Greenwich Village where he joined The James Cotton Blues Band on stage for a jam.
Band of Gypsys Events Fillmore East hear my train a comin' Izabella Voices Of East Harlem
Ungano’s New York, N.Y. Joined by Elvin Bishop, Buddy Miles and others, Hendrix took part in a jam session at Ungano’s nightclub (210 West 70th Street, New York City). Sacha Reins, a writer for French entertainment magazine Best (Issue 39) who just happened to be in the club during the event, later wrote about the evening. “It is beginning to get quite late, and I tell myself that I have to go. I look to the door and get a big shock. Jimi is there with a black guitar in his hand. Buddy Miles follows him. He shakes the hand of the boss, and I hear him asking if he doesn’t mind them playing a bit. The three telephone booths near the entrance are immediately occupied. We all want to tell a friend that nice things are about to happen. Less than an hour later the club is full. Jimi is onstage and Buddy is looking for a drum stool big enough to support his enormous weight. “A very young guitar player who has been playing for half an hour wants to leave. He doesn’t want to play anymore. Jimi stops him and asks him if they can play together. They try out a rather quick number and Jimi intentionally stays in the background. He waits until the young guitarist regains his confidence. Then he takes his turn. He plays short phrases with long silence intermissions during which one only hears the strong and regular pulsations of Buddy Miles. The silences become shorter and shorter. The phrases are less and less chopped up; they become enchained, stupefying. Jimi had found his groove and under his fingers the strings tell us strange stories that we don’t fully comprehend.”
Billed as the “Winter Festival For Peace,” Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) and Sid Bernstein, event producers, announced that their services would be donated and that all proceeds of the event will go to the Vietnam Moratorium effort. The five-hour festival slated from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. will feature Harry Belafonte; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Dave Brubeck; Richie Havens; Mother Earth; Peter, Paul & Mary; The Rascals; The Cast of Hair; Judy Collins, and Jimi Hendrix & his Band Of Gypsys.
Suffering from exhaustion and the effects of a drink laced with an unknown substance taken before the show, Hendrix failed to execute his musical plans this evening. Having completed just two songs, “Who Knows” and “Earth Blues” the only thing Hendrix could do at that point was drop his guitar and sit down on the stage, meanwhile Miles and Cox continue to roll through the back beats. As Alfred Aronowitz later recalled in his New York Post column, “The crowd has already gotten twice its money’s worth when Jimi Hendrix stopped playing in the middle of his second number, said ‘That’s what happens when Earth ***** with Space, never forget that, that’s what happens.'” … “Jimi got up, put his guitar down and walked offstage.”
“When he came off stage,” explained Alan Douglas “he actually fell off the apron. At first I thought he was hurt, but he wasn’t. I then ran backstage to the dressing room to see if in fact he was okay. There he was sitting playing the guitar and smiling. I don’t know what went through his mind when he was on stage, but the first thing I noticed, it looked like he was having a big rhythm problem. I think he just got fed up.”
Backstage, Jimi meets Johnny Winter. In recounting the meeting Winter explains, “I saw Jimi backstage at the Madison Square Garden concert, the one where he just couldn’t play. When I saw him, it have me chills. It was the most horrible thing I’d ever seen. He came in with this entourage of people, and it was like he was already dead. He just walked in – and even though Jimi and I weren’t the greatest of friends, we always talked, always – and he came in with his head down, sat on the couch alone, and put his head in his hands. He didn’t say a word to anybody, and no one spoke to him. He didn’t move until it was time for the show. He really wanted to do that gig, but he never should have. It wasn’t that it was bad, but his whole thing was inspiration, and there wasn’t any. It was just completely uninspired; finally, right in the middle of a song, he just took his guitar off, sat on the stage – the band was still playing – and told the audience, “I’m sorry, we just can’t get it together.” One of his people said he was sick, and lead him off stage. He was just so unhappy that there was no way that he could play the show. It didn’t have anything to do with the group – he had already died!”
1970 Band of Gypsys Blood Dave Brubeck eter Events Harry Belafonte January 28 Jimi Hendrix Johnny Winte Judy Collins Madison Square Garden Mother Earth. Paul & Mary Peter Yarrow Richie Havens Sid Bernstein Sweat & Tears The Cast of Hair The Rascals Vietnam Moratorium Winter Festival For Peace
Hendrix flies from New York City to Los Angeles, California in preparation for the upcoming US Tour.
A new Jimi Hendrix Experience, featuring Hendrix (guitar), Mitch Mitchell (drums), and Billy Cox (bass) makes its debut at the Los Angeles Forum. The performance also marks the start of what would become that last US Tour by Jimi Hendrix. Supported by The Buddy Miles Express and Ballin’ Jack the sold out-performance (20,000) The Experience’s 85-minute set featured “Spanish Castle Magic,” “Foxey Lady,” “Lover Man,” “Hear My Train A Comin’,” “Message To Love,” “Ezy Ryder,” “Machine Gun,” “Room Full Of Mirrors,” “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun),” “Villanova Junction,” “Freedom,” “Star Spangled Banner,” “Purple Haze,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” Jimi Hendrix performs on stage during The Experience’s first show of their final US Tour, April 25, 1970 at the Los Angeles Forum in Inglewood, California. Photo: Chuck Boyd / © Authentic Hendrix, LLC
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience makes an afternoon appearance at “Cal Expo Outdoors” at the State Fairgrounds in Sacramento, California. Supported by The Buddy Miles Express and Blues Mountain Eagle, the 17,000 fans witnessed a show, just shy of an hour in length consisting of “Lover Man,” “Spanish Castle Magic,” “Freedom,” “Machine Gun,” “Foxey Lady,” “Room Full Of Mirrors,” “Ezy Ryder,” “Purple Haze,” “Star Spangled Banner,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”
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