Historic Debut Concert of Band of Gypsys Released in its Entirety for First Time Ever / Featuring 8 Tracks Never Heard Before 

Experience Hendrix L.L.C. and Legacy Recordings present Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69, fully documenting the debut performance of Jimi Hendrix's short-lived but eternally influential Band of Gypsys. The group played four historic concerts at the Fillmore East in New York City – two on New Year's Eve 1969, and two on New Year's Day 1970. Never before has the first of these sets been available in its entirety. The vast majority of the performances have never seen the light of day in any configuration.

Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 was produced by Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott, the same team who have overseen all of Jimi Hendrix's audio and audio visual releases by Experience Hendrix L.L.C. since 1995. Kramer served Jimi Hendrix as his primary recording engineer throughout his lifetime and newly mixed Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 from the original 1" 8 track master tapes. The album was mastered by Grammy Award winner Bernie Grundman and is available here as a 180g 2LP-set.

The revolutionary impact Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox, and Buddy Miles had upon the boundaries and definitions of rock, R&B, and funk can be traced to four concerts over the course of two evenings on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 documents the first of the group's four legendary Fillmore East concerts. This set presents an assortment of fresh, exciting new songs such as "Earth Blues," "Ezy Ryder," "Stepping Stone," "Burning Desire," and "Machine Gun" – none of which had ever before been issued on disc. Moreover, nearly all of the group's material had never been performed before an audience. "We decided that we couldn't do any songs that had already been released," explains Cox. "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."

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 "Power Of Soul" and "Hear My Train A Comin.'" Jimi generously extended center stage to Miles, providing a showcase for "Changes" and a charged rendition of the Howard Tate R&B hit "Stop". Former Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke, who authored this collection's liner notes, describes "Stop" as being something akin to "a psychedelic power-trio Temptations." Hendrix's scalding version of Elmore James' "Bleeding Heart" is the set's only other cover, underscoring the new band's emphasis on the blues.

"Machine Gun" stands as one of Hendrix's finest and most influential compositions. Hendrix pushed Delta blues into places its pioneers could not have imagined, fusing his extraordinary instrumental skills within his passionate expression of man's inhumanity to his fellow man. "Machine Gun" endures as a classic amongst the already classic-drenched Jimi Hendrix canon. Fricke notes of this version, the first that Hendrix and company had ever played in concert, "...Here it is, after 46 years, another revelation – a stunning essay in pain, rage and determined survival, fully formed in its initial outing."

Long sought after by the guitarist's worldwide following, Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 presents the complete performance in its original sequence.

Features:
• 180g 2LP-set
• Historic December 31, 1969 debut concert of Band of Gypsys released in its entirety for first time ever
• Complete performance in its original sequence
• Featuring 8 tracks never heard before 
• Mastered by Grammy Award winner Bernie Grundman
• Newly mixed from the original 1" 8 track master tapes by Jimi Hendrix's primary recording engineer Eddie Kramer