Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix, released in 2015. It documents his July 4, 1970, performance at the Atlanta International Pop Festival. The festival's audience, subject to a wide range of estimates from 200,000-400,000, was the largest U.S. crowd to which Hendrix played during his career.[1][2][3]
| Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | August 28, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | July 4, 1970 | |||
| Venue | Atlanta International Pop, Byron, Georgia | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 82:06 | |||
| Label | Legacy | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Jimi Hendrix chronology | ||||
| ||||
Recorded around the middle of his The Cry of Love Tour, Hendrix is backed by Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums.[3] The sixteen songs were recorded during their evening performance and include a mix of popular Jimi Hendrix Experience-era tunes, and his newer compositions, "Message to Love", "Freedom", and "Straight Ahead".[2][4] However, the album does not include his closing number, "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)"; biographer Keith Shadwick notes tuning problems with the song.[4]
Electric Church video and other releases
editThe album was released on August 28, 2015, and a video documentary, Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church, including Hendrix's performance premiered on the American cable television network Showtime on September 4, 2015, with a commercial DVD/Blu-Ray release on October 30.[2]
Prior to 2015, songs and video clips of Hendrix's performance had been released several times,[3] such as on Johnny B. Goode (1988) and disc four of Stages (1991).
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
In a review for AllMusic, critic Sean Westergaard gave the album four out of five stars. He notes that Hendrix falters a bit on the rarely played "All Along the Watchtower", but praises his performance of "Hear My Train A Comin'", which he calls "an absolutely incredible version ... a guitar performance nearly equal to "Machine Gun" on Band of Gypsys, [and] one of the greatest solos of his career."[3]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fire" | 4:40 |
| 2. | "Lover Man" | 2:59 |
| 3. | "Spanish Castle Magic" | 5:21 |
| 4. | "Red House" | 8:27 |
| 5. | "Room Full of Mirrors" | 3:19 |
| 6. | "Hear My Train A Comin'" | 9:32 |
| 7. | "Message to Love" | 4:54 |
| Total length: | 39:13 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan) | 4:19 |
| 2. | "Freedom" | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Foxy Lady" | 4:30 |
| 4. | "Purple Haze" | 4:19 |
| 5. | "Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts) | 4:37 |
| 6. | "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" | 7:58 |
| 7. | "Stone Free" | 5:25 |
| 8. | "Star Spangled Banner" (Traditional) | 2:47 |
| 9. | "Straight Ahead" | 4:52 |
| Total length: | 42:53 | |
Personnel
edit- Jimi Hendrix – guitar, vocals
- Billy Cox – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Mitch Mitchell – drums
Charts
edit| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[5] | 86 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[6] | 33 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7] | 22 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[8] | 89 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[9] | 87 |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 63 |
References
edit- ^ Santelli, Robert (1980). Aquarius Rising: The Rock Festival Years. Dell Publishing. p. 270.
- ^ a b c Kreps, Daniel (August 3, 2015). "New Jimi Hendrix Documentary Focuses on Historic Atlanta Pop Concert". rollingstone.com. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Westergaard, Sean. "Jimi Hendrix: Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival 1970". AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- ^ a b Shadwick, Keith (2003). Jimi Hendrix: Musician (1st ed.). San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 228. ISBN 0-87930-764-1.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ "Jimi Hendrix Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2015.