Jimi Hendrix went to London in September 1966 to try to expand his career. He gathered a band consisting of drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding.
In the months that followed the band performed a small stint of club shows, testing covers and new material. After a lineup change adding Chas Chandler at bass, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was formed. This early footage shot September 24th, 1967 outside London at the Chelmsford Corn Exchange, is now the earliest of the legendary Hendrix lineup. In the crowd, a young Pete Townsend , John Entwistle and a crew shooting a documentary to be known as ‘Telixer: A Thing of Beat Is a Joy Forever,’ by Dutch company KRO.
The band opens with a cover version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ before playing ‘Stone Free’, the eventual B-side to iconic track ‘Hey Joe’.