[2][3][4][5] In early 1970, Hendrix recorded an autobiographical song cycle in his Greenwich Village apartment that he titled Black Gold.
[6] Months later, at the Isle of Wight Festival, Hendrix gave tapes to his drummer Mitch Mitchell to have him listen and comment on the necessary rhythm section requirements for recording the songs.
He described it briefly: "the quality might be OK for us to put it out in audio form, but it is such an incredible story that I'm thinking along the lines of an animated film".
[8] In March 2010, Janie Hendrix was described as being a "custodian of a vast stash of unreleased material", and stated that Black Gold will be released "this decade",[9] though that did not eventuate.
Eric Burdon recalled a conversation with Hendrix at the time, describing it as: “an autobiographical, multi-song fantasy piece he had been working on.
I know he did at least some work on the suite before he died.” There is a 1996 bootleg release called "Black Gold" but that is a collection of Electric Ladyland outtakes and rehearsals, and does not include the Greenwich Village material.