You're mistaken. This is the first version. Mitch had left Jimi after the Harlem gig and went back to England in September 1969. Buddy Miles and Jimi hooked up and Jimi needed to pay back Ed Chalpin for breach of contract. So he did the quickest thing - a live album. Jimi, Buddy and Billy Cox worked all of November and December rehearsing for the New Years Eve and New Years Day performances at Bill Graham's Fillmore East. They did the gig, debuting Machine Gun on New Year's Eve and a follow-up the next night. The Band of Gypsies played half of one gig a month later then broke up. Jimi called Mitch back to New York and Jimi, Mitch and Billy began the Cry of Love tour in March - with Machine Gun as the centrepiece. And while this version is a showstopper - Mitch did the right thing and didn't try to play like Buddy. He did it his way, and on many nights (I can think of the Berkeley concert) The Cry of Love band's versoin was just as incredible.
After getting embarrassed by Bigsarge on Hendrix trivia in another thread a few days ago, I haven't put down my Hendrix biographies! LOL.
For those that are new to Hendrix, note that in this clip he doesn't move around much - no dancing, no wild gestures etc. That's how he played the whole set (in those days, bands did two shows a night). They didn't do any of the usual Experience songs like "Hey Joe" or "Purple Haze". Bill Graham at the end of the first set charged at Jimi and fucked him off for not giving the people what they wanted - the "show". In the music industry, nobody messed with Bill Graham. He was "connected" if you know what I mean and could make or break a career.
After this the second set of New Years Eve, Jimi walked off having not danced at all and Graham laid into him again. Meanwhile, the audience were near riot because they'd just seen that "Machine Gun" and wanted more.
Jimi walks back out and takes Buddy and Billy through 15 minutes of the old favorites, complete with all the guitar god tricks: between the legs, behind the head, behind the back, one handed solos, wiggiling his tongue at the girlies, squat down and act as if you're fucking - EVERYTHING. All in time (but not necessarily in key, due to the primitive equipment)
Jimi ends the encore, walks off the stage drenched in sweat and walks up to Bill Graham and says: "Happy now muthafucka?"
I agree with Vernon Reid of Living Color - this is the ultimate in Hendrix solos. In the early 90s Vernon had a letter writing campaign against guitarist Steve Vai who had written in some guitar magazine that Jimi didn't have a race and wasn't race conscious.
Vernon went on the tip of Machine Gun speaking directly to The Brothers and putting their feelings on wax and that he wouldn't expect Steve Vai to understand.
"I pick up my axe and fight you like a farmer - but your bullets keep knocking me down"
