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Gypsy Sun and Rainbows was a band formed by Jimi Hendrix after the break-up of The Jimi Hendrix Experience in June 1969. Hendrix teamed with his old bass partner Billy Cox to form a new band planned as an ever evolving ensemble of musicians (similar to John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band) and brought in friends Larry Lee (guitar), Juma Sultan (percussion) and Jerry Velez (congas). Mitch Mitchell of The Experience stayed on to play drums.

Hendrix was listed as the headline attraction at the famous Woodstock Festival; the band rehearsed in a house not far from the site. They were scheduled to close the third and final night of the festival, a Sunday, but events ran late and they played early Monday morning in front of about 25-30.000 fans - a sizeable crowd but a fraction of the numbers that had been present during the preceding days. Their shaky set is documented on the album Live at Woodstock and in the Woodstock movie, as well as on a separately released videotape of most of the concert and on numerous bootlegs.

The gig achieved enduring iconic status due to its place at the end of the Woodstock film and the electrifying final part of the set, with The Star Spangled Banner as a climax. As a musical statement it has been judged differingly; Charles Shaar Murray and others conclude much of the show was tired and imprecise, while many fans then and now see it as on a par with Hendrix' breakthrough performance at Monterey two years before. Despite the band's lack of cohesion and true rehearsal, however, Hendrix is in top form for most of the show, and also very prominent in the sound mix. The performance included his exceptional rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner," as seen in the documentary Woodstock (incidentally, this was not the premiere for Jimi's treatment of the national anthem - he had performed it on and off through 1968-69 - but certainly the most famous one).

The band did not last long. After the festival they appeared on only one more occasion, in Harlem, New York. Studio recordings of the band can be heard on the MCA Records box set The Jimi Hendrix Experience and on South Saturn Delta.

After the break-up of this band, Hendrix and Cox teamed up with another Hendrix friend, Buddy Miles (formerly with Wilson Pickett and The Electric Flag). They performed a short series of concerts under the name A Band of Gypsys. In 1999, Mitchell and Cox, along with guitarist Gary Serkin, performed some dates as the Gypsy Sun Experience.^[1]

1. ^ All Music.com biography of Billy Cox. Allmusicguide.com. Retrieved on April 26, 2006.

• Gypsy Sun and Rainbows at MusicBrainz