AboutJames Hawthorn Expertise I can answer just about any question concerning Jimi Hendrix.
I cannot give the value of records, CDs or tapes relating to the work of Jimi hendrix.
Experience I am the author of The Jimi Hendrix Record Guide:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/hendrix.guide/hendrix.htm
Education/Credentials B.A. Hons. Degree in Graphic Design
Question Is there a studio recording of Machine Gun?
Answer Hi Kevin,
the only studio recording to have surfaced was on the album "Midnight Lightning", back in 1975. That was the second collection assembled by producer Alan Douglas, for which he used demos and studio jams with new overdubbed backing tracks. He claimed that the recordings needed tidying up. In this way hetried to create the illusion of polished studio tracks. It didn't really work and the experiment has always been seen as a real exercise in bad taste.
The "Machine Gun" on the album does reveal that Jimi did try out the song in the studio, perhaps before the definitive Band Of Gypsys Fillmore versions. Maybe one day we will hear the original session in its untouched form (it perhaps exists on a bootleg).
A couple of other loose studio jam versions have surfaced on bootlegs such as "In The Studio Volume 2" (Reclamation 2005).
If Jimi didn't come back to "Machine Gun" one can assume that the stunning Fillmore version (that HE picked for the "Band Of Gypsys" album) is the so well defined that he felt that it was pointless to re-do it in the studio.
Cheers
Jim
I did a little research and the origins of the "Midnight Lightning" version and the session can be found on these other bootlegs :
Soulful Sessions
Mixdown Master Tapes Vol.4
Midnight Lightning Revisited
