Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival
Live album by
Jimi Hendrix
ReleasedAugust 28, 2015 (2015-08-28)
RecordedJuly 4, 1970
VenueAtlanta International Pop, Byron, Georgia
GenreRock
Length82:06
LabelLegacy
Producer
Jimi Hendrix chronology
Miami Pop Festival
(2013) 		Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival
(2015) 		Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show
(2016)

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]

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

The 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

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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

All tracks are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted

Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Fire"5:05
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
Disc two
No.TitleLength
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

Charts

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

  1. ^ Santelli, Robert (1980). Aquarius Rising: The Rock Festival Years. Dell Publishing. p. 270.
  2. ^ a b c Kreps, Daniel (August 3, 2015). "New Jimi Hendrix Documentary Focuses on Historic Atlanta Pop Concert". rollingstone.com. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e Westergaard, Sean. "Jimi Hendrix: Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival 1970". AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Shadwick, Keith (2003). Jimi Hendrix: Musician (1st ed.). San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 228. ISBN 0-87930-764-1.
  5. ^ "Ultratop.be – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  6. ^ "Ultratop.be – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  7. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  8. ^ "Lescharts.com – Jimi Hendrix Experience – Freedom – Atlanta Pop Festival". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  9. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  10. ^ "Jimi Hendrix Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
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