In August 1969, as the Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, New York wound down, Jimi Hendrix took the stage for the closing set with his newly formed band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows (also known as Band of Gypsys). The lineup included bassist Billy Cox, guitarist Larry Lee, percussionists Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez, and drummer Mitch Mitchell, who also played with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The performance would later be regarded as one of the defining moments of Hendrix's career.
Somewhere in the crowd was someone who wasn't supposed to be there. 22-year-old drama student Albert Goodman slipped onstage by hiding behind a friend carrying a guitar, getting mistaken for part of the film crew—a crew that had, in fact, been hired to document the entire performance. Standing right behind percussionist Juma Sultan, he captured footage just 15 feet from Hendrix using two reels of open-reel tape.
The footage sat untouched for over three decades before finally appearing in the new film "Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock — A Second Look," which features Hendrix performing "Purple Haze," "Voodoo Child," "Message To Love," his rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and the rarely seen "Hear My Train a Comin'." Made to mark the 57th anniversary of the performance, the film premiered on YouTube on August 18.
The footage's resurfacing came down to a chain of coincidences. Just days after the performance, Goodman was out hitchhiking when he happened to catch a ride with a driver who had connections to Hendrix's camp. He mentioned the footage he'd captured, and the driver arranged for him to screen it directly for Hendrix himself. The story of how it happened is almost as remarkable as the footage itself.
Goodman held onto the original tapes for thirty years before eventually handing them over to the Hendrix family. No pricing or physical release details were included in the materials—for now, the only way to watch is via "Live at Woodstock — A Second Look" on YouTube.
