New Jimi Hendrix Documentary Focuses on Historic Atlanta Pop Concert

Jimi Hendrix. Photo: Scanpix

The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s July 4th, 1970 performance at the Atlanta Pop Festival will be the subject of a new documentary and live album. Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church, a film about the guitar god’s Atlanta Pop set and the circumstances surrounding it, will premiere on Showtime on September 4th. The DVD/Blu-Ray release of the documentary will follow on October 30th with bonus content not shown in the televised version.

The documentary will feature interviews with band members Billy Cox and the late Mitch Mitchell as well as Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, Kirk Hammett, organizer Alex Cooley and more. The Atlanta International Pop Festival also marked the largest American audience Hendrix ever performed in front of, as an estimated 300,000 people witnessed the rock great play in Byron, Georgia, 100 miles south of Atlanta.

The recording spans much of Hendrix’s catalog, from Are You Experienced‘s “Foxy Lady” and “Red House ” to posthumously released tracks like “Straight Ahead” and “Room Full of Mirrors.” Since the concert took place on July 4th, Hendrix naturally delivered another stunning rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church will be preceded August 28th by Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival, featuring Hendrix’s July 4th, 1970 16-song set. That live album will be released via Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings as a 2-CD or 2-LP vinyl set. The first 5,000 vinyl copies will be numbered individually.

Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival Track List

Disc 1

1. “Fire”
2. “Lover Man”
3. “Spanish Castle Magic”
4. “Red House”
5. “Room Full Of Mirrors”
6. “Hear My Train A Comin’”
7. “Message To Love”

Disc 2

1. “All Along The Watchtower”
2. “Freedom”
3. “Foxy Lady”
4. “Purple Haze”
5. “Hey Joe”
6. “Voodoo Child (Slight Return) ”
7. “Stone Free”
8. “Star Spangled Banner”
9. “Straight Ahead”