Jimi Hendrix closed 1969 by disbanding the Jimi Hendrix Experience and assembling a new group, the short-lived Band of Gypsys. They debuted in four historic concerts at New York City’s Fillmore East — two sets on New Year’s Eve, and two more on New Year’s Day 1970. The latter shows were combined and edited for the famed Band of Gypsys album in April 1970.

The first night’s first concert is now getting a proper release as Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69. The new album marks the first time the complete early set has been released in any configuration.

In addition to the Machine Gun title track, one of Hendrix’s last classics, the 11-song set — collected here in its entirety and in order — includes songs such as “Hear My Train A Comin'” and “Ezy Ryder” that he was still fine-tuning at the time of his death on Sept. 18, 1970.

The original Band of Gypsys album included Hendrix’s first work with his new trio, rounded out by bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles, after the breakup of the Experience in 1969. Machine Gun: The Filmore East First Show 12/31/69 chronicles the group’s first-ever live performance.

“We didn’t know what to expect from the audience, and the audience didn’t know what to expect from us, but from the time we hit that first note, they were in awe,” Cox notes in a press release announcing the set. “You had Jimi Hendrix, a drummer who had been with the Electric Flag and Wilson Pickett, and I was the new kid on the block.”

Measured alongside his triumphs at Monterey Pop and Woodstock, Hendrix’s legendary Fillmore East concerts illustrated a critical turning point in a radiant career that boasted of indefinite possibilities.