David Gilmour Reveals He Mixed Sound For Jimi Hendrix At 1970 Festival

One of Jimi Hendrix’s final performances took place at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1970. In a new interview Pink Floyd singer-guitarist David Gilmour has revealed that he was responsible for the sound mix for Hendrix’s set that saw him backed by Mitch Mitchell on drums and Billy Cox on bass.

Gillmour shared the following about the experience with Prog Magazine:

“I helped mix the sound for Hendrix at the Isle of Wight in 1970. Not a lot of people know that. From the side of the stage with WEM Audiomasters with Charlie Watkins.”

“I went down [to the Isle of Wight] to go to it and I was camping in a tent, just being a punter and I went backstage where our main roadie guy, Peter Watts, was trying to deal with all the mayhem, with Charlie Watkins of WEM, and they were very nervous, they were going to have to mix Hendrix’s sound. I did some mixing stuff in those days and they said ‘Help! Help!’ so I did.”

A portion of Hendrix’s set was first released on the 1971 compilation album The First Great Rock Festivals of The Seventies, with the full set issued in 2002 as Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight. Watch a trailer for the concert film of the set: