Jimi Hendrix Performed Live For The Final Time On This Date In 1970

By Scott Bernstein Sep 16, 2017 • 7:34 am PDT

Jimi Hendrix Press Crop

On September 16, 1970 legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix took the stage with old friend Eric Burdon and California funk act War for the end of their set at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. While Hendrix tore it up, his performance is most notable as his last time playing in public since Jimi tragically died just two days later.

Jimi Hendrix sat-in with Eric Burdon & War on “Tobacco Road” and “Mother Earth.” Burdon detailed the evening in his auto-biography Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, “Hendrix made his entrance during the second set. There was a crack in the air. I introduced Jimi to the audience … the typical London jazz crowd tried to show indifference as he took the stage, but a ripple of applause greeted the greatest guitar player in the world.

“The guys in War held their ground as we launched into a triple-time version of ‘Tobacco Road,’” Burdon added. “Having Hendrix onstage made [War guitarist Howard Scott] play better than he ever had before. We slid into ‘Mother Earth,’ a beautiful blues written by Memphis Slim. We ended the set with a burning jam. Jimi was flying. And then it was over.”

Here’s the most complete recording of Eric Burdon & War’s set to surface:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey-t0iQ45LE
  • 00:00 – Gun 3:01
  • 03:01 – Paint It Black medley 15:36
  • 18:37 – Spill The Wine 8:48
  • 27:25 – Mystery Train 5:40
  • 33:05 – Gun 7:39
  • 40:44 – Paint It Black medley 15:35
  • 56:19 – Blues For Memphis Slim (incl.Mother Earth) – with Jimi Hendrix 20:33
  • 1:16:52 Tobacco Road – with Jimi Hendrix 15:37

Skip straight to Jimi guesting on “Tobacco Road”:

On the morning of September 18, 1970 Jimi Hendrix succumbed to an overdose of Vesparax sleeping tablets. As per Tony Brown’s 1997 book Jimi Hendrix: The Final Days, forensic pathologist Professor Robert Donald Teare and coroner Gavin Thurston determined Hendrix choked on his own vomit and died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates. It was later revealed Jimi took 18 times the recommended dosage of Vesparax.

[via Ultimate Classic Rock]

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