In Jimi Hendrix’s final year, he was in the midst of a transformation—one of many of his prolific, albeit short career. He kicked off the year with my all-time favorite live performance, Band of Gypsys live at the Fillmore East. That show gave a preview of what was next to come in Jimi’s evolution as a musician.
Among some of the new material that Jimi shared in 1970 was one of his best and most underrated songs, “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun.)” The moody tune is literally a new rising sun for Jimi and marks a new era. About halfway through the performance, Jimi puts down the guitar and walks off stage to let Mitch Mitchell punish the drums. The extended drum solo sounds like a freight train coming down the tracks.
This show at the Forum was the first show of his last tour. Unfortunately this is the best existing recording of the show. Fortunately we have a recording.
Thanks to the JimiHendrixVEVO channel for an official release of this bootleg.
