Recent Hendrix compilation albums, such as People, Hell and Angels and the Miami Pop Festival, include additional studio demo versions along with other live recordings.

[1] One of his earliest recordings with his group the Jimi Hendrix Experience was his composition "Red House", a blues song inspired by Albert King, which is included on the 1967 UK Are You Experienced debut album.

[2][3] In their early years, the Experience adapted and frequently performed other blues songs, including Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor", B.B.

[1] They also played Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man" in 1967 with BBC Rhythm and Blues radio show host Alexis Korner accompanying the group on slide guitar.

[4] Hendrix biographer John McDermott calls "Hear My Train A Comin'" "a powerful blues prayer based on the salvation-train metaphor running through American folklore of every color and faith".

[5] An 1897 manuscript by Richard Spurling describes the gospel train as "built by God to carry redeemed sinners safely from this 'wilderness' ... to heaven".

[7] "Jim Crow Blues", recorded in 1929 by Cow Cow Davenport, deals with getting away from racial segregation in an American town: I'm tired of this Jim Crow, gonna leave this Jim Crow town Doggone my black soul, I'm sweet Chicago bound Yes I'm leavin' here, from this ole Jim Crow town[8] In "Make My Getaway", recorded in 1951, Big Bill Broonzy sings of leaving Arkansas to get over a broken relationship: Bye-bye Arkansas, tell Missouri I'm on my way up north now baby I declare I'm gonna pack up, pack up now baby And make my getaway[8] Biographer Steven Roby sees a parallel in Hendrix's early life that is reflected in the lyrics for "Hear My Train A Comin'".

After a false start, he settles into the song, which biographer Keith Shadwick describes as "100 percent country blues ... s[ung] with great feeling, however artificial the circumstances of the session may have been".

"[30] In addition to the 1968 documentary, the "Hear My Train A Comin'" performance is included in the 1973 film Jimi Hendrix and accompanying soundtrack album (re-released on Blues).

For subsequent versions, Hendrix gradually developed "Hear My Train A Comin'" from a shorter, blues-oriented number into a longer, improvisational piece with extended guitar soloing as he had done with "Voodoo Child".

On May 30, 1970, during the Cry of Love tour, Hendrix with Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox were filmed performing the song at the Berkeley Community Theatre.

[37] Several writers consider this rendition to be definitive,[18][38][39] including Shadwick: He solos with a distinctive flavour, for the most part entirely melodic rather than the usual fusion of chords, melody and outright sonic manipulation.

But he makes them fresh by placing them in new contexts, either by using different registers or one of his electronic effects (here wah-wah or Uni-Vibe) to alter the timbre and texture, or by reordering them to create different continuities of phrasing.

Manager Michael Jeffery had arranged for their concert as a contribution to another film, Rainbow Bridge, directed by Andy Warhol associate Chuck Wein.

[45] Due to technical problems, little of the concert footage was usable, although an edited "Hear My Train A Comin'" is included in the movie (although none of the performances from the film appear on the so-called Rainbow Bridge soundtrack album).

[48] At a February 17, 1969, rehearsal at the Olympic Studios before their upcoming London concerts, multiple takes of "Hear My Train A Comin'" were recorded by the Experience.

During their following appearances at the Royal Albert Hall on February 18 and 24 (which turned out to be their last UK shows), the Experience were filmed and recorded performing the song.