After decades of archival Jimi Hendrix releases – some good, some not so great – it would be easy to overlook yet another live set. But Magic Boy: Live at Berkeley (First Show) is well worth the time. Capturing a live date by Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Billy Cox (bass) on May 30, 1970, this fiery performance finds Jimi in the process of rebooting his music in public, acknowledging past achievements while leaning into a future cut short by his death a few months later.
Although pieces of the show have previously been released, this is the first time it’s been available in full, reflecting the ebb and flow of the music as he intended. Mixing early material like “Fire” and “Purple Haze” with newer songs such as “Ezy Ryder” and “Freedom,” which has the crackling spontaneity of a work in progress, Hendrix projects the relaxed self-assurance of someone who no longer feels the need to impress audiences, instead playing to satisfy himself. Three tracks – “Hear My Train A Comin’,” “Machine Gun” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” – run longer than ten minutes, allowing for plenty of predictably mind-blowing guitar displays, while “Red House” underscores his deep feeling for traditional blues.
Magic Boy: Live at Berkeley (First Show) will satisfy longtime fans, but it wouldn’t be a bad place to start for newbies, either.
