Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys first Fillmore East show to be released in its entirety
The momentous first concert by Jimi Hendrix’s short-lived Band of Gypsys is being released in its unabridged 75-minute entirety for the first time ever.
As the title suggests, ‘Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69’ was recorded on New Year’s Eve 1969 and boasts material from the first of four shows the band played at the legendary New York venue over two consecutive days.
Produced by Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott, and mastered by Grammy Award winner Bernie Grundman, the album is released on CD, double vinyl and digital formats on 30th September 2016 via Legacy Recordings.
Reflecting upon the historic Fillmore East shows, Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox said: “We decided that we couldn’t do any songs that had already been released. We wanted to give them something different. So we went at the project in a joyous, creative posture and ultimately developed the repertoire of the Band of Gypsys.”
He added: “We had two shows New Years Eve and two shows New Years Day. We didn’t know what to expect from the audience and the audience didn’t know what to expect from us, but from the time we hit that first note, they were in awe.
“You had Jimi Hendrix, a drummer (Buddy Miles) who had been with the Electric Flag and Wilson Pickett, and I was the new kid on the block.”
The full track-listing is as follows:
1. Power Of Soul
2. Lover Man
3. Hear My Train A Comin’
4. Changes
5. Izabella
6. Machine Gun
7. Stop
8. Ezy Ryder
9. Bleeding Heart
10. Earth Blues
11. Burning Desire