This two-disc collection draws on four monumental sets that Jimi Hendrix performed with the Band of Gypsys (bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles) at New York's Fillmore East on December 31st, 1969, and January 1st, 1970. Gripped by drug abuse, beset by contractual problems, leading a new, post-Experience trio, burying the Sixties, ushering in a new decade and a year that he would not survive, Hendrix channeled all his turmoil into these jaw-dropping performances.

Five songs on Live appear in different versions on Band of Gypsys (1970). But with Hendrix, who reinvented his playing at every moment, more is always better. In the case of a mere human, for example, two renditions of "Machine Gun" — running a total of more than twenty-five minutes — might be excessive. Such a critique here, however, would be like complaining about having to travel to Saturn twice. Fevered, introspective, instinctively ambitious and emotionally devastating, this is Hendrix onstage and on fire — which is to say, it's improvisational music as great as any that rock & roll has ever produced.

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."