Despite myriad retrospectives, biopics, documentaries and biographies about Jimi Hendrix, the legendary guitarist continues to be a source of major intrigue. It’s as if his wailing feedback and incendiary riffs threw his future into the same kind of chaotic disaray as his music. Even the date of his last recording isn’t 100 percent agreed upon—for instance, the video we’ve included in this post says August 20.

But if you believe the majority of accounts, Hendrix’s last studio recording was made on this day in 1970, a day after he opened up the heralded Electric Ladyland Studios in New York City (which later became well known as the recording studio for D’Angelo’s "Voodoo" and Erykah Badu’s "Mama’s Gun," among others). The smoldering "Slow Blues," which was finally released in 2000 as part of the "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" compilation, documented his final sessions as he pushed musical boundaries with the likes of Billy Cobb and Buddy Miles, his Band of Gypsies bandmates. Jimi left soon after this recording to play at the Isle of Wight festival in England; less than a month later, he was dead at age 27. 

Take a listen to the song above.