Hendrix was sufficiently compos mentis, though, to have a dig at the absent Rogers. On playing what the perfectionist, he needed 43 takes to record ‘Gypsy Eyes’ for the Electric Ladyland album and wasn’t entirely happy with the finished product, considers a bum note, he apologises to the crowd before adding: "cowboys are the only ones who play in tune any way." And in Jimi's introduction to 'Foxey Lady' he pretends to dedicate the song to some vixen in the crowd he insists he spent the night with.

The landmark festival came as Hendrix’s career entered a transitional phase. Having split the band he’d found fame with, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, after falling out with bassist Noel Redding, Jimi debuted with a new line-up called Gypsy Sun and Rainbows. This expanded group featured Mitch Mitchell on drums, Billy Cox on bass and backing vocals, Larry Lee on rhythm guitar, although Hendrix presented him to the Woodstock crowd as the "bass player from outer space", Juma Sultan on percussion, and Jerry Velez also on percussion.

During his set Hendrix is forever commending the audience for their patience. Originally scheduled to close the concert on the Sunday evening, Jimi and band didn’t play until Monday morning. It wasn’t just the late start that kept the fans waiting as when they finally play jams seem to last a week. The influence of Hendrix’s favourite musician, post-modernist jazz innovator Rahsaan Roland Kirk, was beginning to show.

Hendrix would be dead within a year after he choked on his own vomit. It’s best you remember him as he appeared at Woodstock: pink bandana, white kaftan, flared blue jeans and white guitar. The true icon of an era committed to peace and love.
(5/5)

Release Date: 19 September 2005

Live at Woodstock