Experience Hendrix L.L.C./Legacy RecordingsA new box set gathers together four historic sets that Jimi Hendrix and his backing group Band of Gypsys played at the Fillmore East in New York City on New Year’s Eve 1969 and New Year’s Day 1970. It’ll be released November 22 as a five-CD package and digitally.
An eight-LP vinyl collection with the same tracks will follow on December 13.
Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts captures Hendrix’s first live performances with Band of Gypsys, whose lineup included bassist Billy Cox and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles. The box set features Jimi and his group’s four entire Fillmore East sets — two each on December 31, 1969, and January 1, 1970 — with the songs sequenced in the order of their performance.
The box set boasts a total of 43 performances, two dozen of which are either previously unreleased commercially or have been newly pressed and newly remixed.
Six songs from the January 1 sets were previously featured on the 1970 Band of Gypsys live album, while several others from the Fillmore East shows have appeared on other releases.
The physical versions of Songs for Groovy Children come packaged with a 40-page booklet containing rare photos and essays. Fans who pre-order the box set’s digital edition will receive a free instant download of a previously unreleased performance of “Message to Love,” from the second New Year’s Eve set. You also can check out the track at Hendrix’s official YouTube channel.
Jimi and Band of Gypsys played a variety of then-unreleased tunes at the Fillmore East shows, as well as such well-known songs as “Fire,” “Stone Free,” “Foxey Lady,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” “Hey Joe” and “Purple Haze.”
Here the full track list for the box set’s five-CD edition:
Disc One: 12/31/69 1st Set
“Power of Soul”
“Lover Man”
“Hear My Train a Comin'”
“Changes”
“Izabella”
“Machine Gun”
“Stop”
“Ezy Ryder”
“Bleeding Heart”
“Earth Blues”
“Burning Desire”
Disc Two: 12/31/69 2nd Set
“Auld Lang Syne”%
“Who Knows”%
“Fire”
“Ezy Ryder”*
“Machine Gun”%
“Stone Free”
“Changes”*
“Message to Love”*
“Stop”*
“Foxey Lady”
Disc Three: 1/1/70 1st Set
“Who Knows”
“Machine Gun”
“Changes”+
“Power of Soul”%
“Stepping Stone”%
“Foxey Lady”+
“Stop”%
“Earth Blues”+
“Burning Desire”%
Disc Four: 1/1/70 2nd Set, Part 1
“Stone Free”%
“Power of Soul”#
“Changes”#
“Message to Love”#
“Machine Gun”%
“Lover Man”*
“Steal Away”*
“Earth Blues”%
Disc Five: 1/1/70 2nd Set, Part 2
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”%
“We Gotta Live Together”#
“Wild Thing”%
“Hey Joe”*
“Purple Haze”*
* = previously unreleased
+ = first time on CD/LP/streaming (previously only available as part of concert film)
# = longer, unedited versions of previously released material, and newly remixed
% = back in print on CD/LP for the first time in a decade, and newly remixed
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