The life and career of Jimi Hendrix are among the most mythologized in music. While he had a distinct personality, the American’s musical efforts were elemental and groundbreaking, propelling him to prominence after being discovered by Chas Chandler. Many moments reveal his deeply inventive character, from ‘Purple Haze‘ to his cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along the Watchtower‘.
Although Jimi Hendrix is certainly one of the most important performers of all time, he sadly had his life cut short in September 1970. Throughout this time, the consequences of drug misuse were more obvious to Hendrix’s generation. This was owing to their widespread use throughout the counterculture movement. Before this time, the dangers of opioids were mostly unknown. At the age of 27, Hendrix sadly joined the ranks of his generation’s icons who succumbed to the dangers of hellraising.
However, in his brief time in the spotlight, Hendrix created an indelible legacy and delivered unforgettable performances to cement his place in this final chapter. Of course, the most famous was Woodstock 1969, which featured his immortal version of ‘The Star Spangled Banner‘, but a year later, at The Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, he delivered a thundering follow-up to another mass of hundreds of thousands of revelers. However, it almost did not become the success that it is now.
Many well-known artists performed at the festival, including The Moody Blues, Miles Davis, The Doors, Jethro Tull, and The Who. Nonetheless, Hendrix had the premier spot, playing late on the last day of the extravaganza, until the early hours. They expect the attendance to exceed 600,000, making it his most sweeping show to date. Ironically, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, who was not yet a household name, saved the performance.
Although Pink Floyd was a popular band, 1970 was a watershed moment for the group. They honed their booming prog-rock style following the loss of original leader Syd Barrett in 1968. Gilmour attended the festival as a fan, hoping to see one of his heroes, Jimi Hendrix, perform.
Hendrix took the stage after Jethro Tull. Because the two bands had such contrasting sounds, the sound engineers had trouble setting up for the American’s performance. David Gilmour, who had previous expertise with mixing boards from producing Barrett’s two solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. He was called in to save the day.
David Gilmour told Prog, “I went down to the Isle of Wight, and I was camping in a tent, just being a punter.” I walked backstage, where our chief roadie, Peter Watts, was trying to deal with the chaos alongside Charlie Watkins of [Watkins Electric Music]. They were quite anxious about having to combine Hendrix’s sound. I did some mixing back then, and they said, ‘Help! Help!’ “So I did.”
Watch Hendrix’s concert on the Isle of Wight below.
