Fillmore East Concerts

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Lore & Background

Following his August 18, 1969 performance at Woodstock, Hendrix began rehearsing with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox to fulfill a contractual obligation to Capitol Records. To meet this obligation, the trio recorded four sets over two nights at the Fillmore East under sound engineer Wally Heider. The resulting set lists focused heavily on new material rather than old Experience hits. While familiar tracks like "Stone Free" and "Purple Haze" appeared as encores, the core performances featured debuts of compositions such as "Power of Soul," "Machine Gun," and "Ezy Ryder." Buddy Miles contributed originals including "Changes" and the 18-minute jam "We Gotta Live Together," while also singing Howard Tate's hit "Stop." This era saw Hendrix performing early versions of "Message to Love" and "Izabella," songs that wouldn't see official release until the 1990s.

In Their Own Story

The box set assembles all four concerts from New Year's Eve 1969 through New Year's Day 1970, offering a comprehensive look at the Band of Gypsys lineup in action. Experience Hendrix notes that the collection boasts over two dozen tracks never before commercially released or newly remixed. Specific unreleased moments include "Ezy Ryder," "Changes," and "Message to Love" from the December 31 second show, as well as "Lover Man," "Steal Away," "Hey Joe," and "Purple Haze" from the January 1 second show. The release also presents extended versions of songs like "Who Knows" and "Stone Free" from late December, and a full-length take of "We Gotta Live Together." However, the narrative is not without omissions; at least five songs were left off the box set entirely, and some tracks were edited. AllMusic critic Sean Westergaard praised the high sound quality and the band's tight improvisation but criticized the exclusion of the five complete tracks from the second December 31 set and noted that the inclusion of longer versions sometimes "doesn't necessarily make for better listening" compared to the original 1970 edits.

Reader's Guide

Listeners will find 43 songs chronologically sequenced across the five-CD or eight-LP formats, capturing the full scope of the two nights. The band lineup consists of Jimi Hendrix on guitar and vocals (credited as producer under "Heaven Research"), Billy Cox on bass and vocals, and Buddy Miles on drums and vocals. Production duties were shared by Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer, and John McDermott, with mastering by Bernie Grundman and mixing by Chandler Harrod and Eddie Kramer. The set list balances new compositions like "Earth Blues," "Who Knows," and "Bleeding Heart" against blues covers and Experience standards. Fans should note that while the collection is vast, it represents a specific snapshot; it excludes certain tracks performed during the runs and edits others for length, meaning the 18-minute duration of "We Gotta Live Together" in full performance differs from the version included on the set.

Did You Know?

• The box set includes over two dozen tracks that had never been commercially released before.
• Sound engineer Wally Heider supervised the recording, though he did not record Hendrix at Woodstock—that task fell to Eddie Kramer and others.
• At least five songs were left off the final box set release entirely.
• Buddy Miles contributed original compositions including "Changes" and an 18-minute jam titled "We Gotta Live Together."
• The collection features early versions of "Message to Love" and "Izabella," which were not officially released until the 1990s.