Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun:The Filmore East First Show 12-31-1969 (2016) Hi Res

As the '60s came to a close, Jimi Hendrix pushed the boundaries of funk, rock and R&B with a brand new group, Band of Gypsys. Together with bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles, Hendrix unveiled stunning, newly written material across four shows at the legendary Fillmore East in New York City. Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 marks the first time Band of Gypsys' first show has ever been released in its entirety, newly mixed by Eddie Kramer from the original 1' eight-track masters.

Here’s how Billy Cox described their debut The Fillmore East appearance and subsequent January 1, 1970 show (which made up theBand Of Gypsys LP) at the now-defunct concert hall:

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. We had two shows New Year’s Eve and two shows New Year’s 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 who had been with the Electric Flag and Wilson Pickett, and I was the new kid on the block.

After the gigs were finished, Jimi was quite relieved. We felt the concerts went well. I might add that in previous gigs with the Experience he had used a fuzz face [tone control pedal] and a Wah-Wah pedal, then at Woodstock he used a fuzz face, Wah-Wah pedal and Uni-Vibe, but at the Fillmore East he used a fuzz face, Wah-Wah pedal, Uni-Vibe and Octavia and it was incredible. In fact you could hear all of it kicking in on “Machine Gun.” It was incredible. There were people in the audience with their mouths open.

Rolling Stone contributor David Fricke wrote the liner notes for the new live album which features the complete December 31, 1969 early performance in its original order.