The concert is juxtaposed with footage from violent student political demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley.
       The two, consecutive 30 May 1970 Memorial Day concerts at the Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, CA, were among Jimi Hendrix’s final performances in the U.S. during the “Cry of Love” tour before his death at age twenty-seven on 18 Sep 1970 in London, U.K. According to the musician’s official website, the footage from the Berkeley concerts, which was filmed “more as a test than a true documentary,” was quickly edited and released theatrically as a feature film after Hendrix’s death. The picture was screened during a posthumous European tour that showcased other musicians who were represented by Hendrix’s former manager, Michael Jeffery, despite allegations from several colleagues that Jeffery was responsible for Hendrix’s death.
       An 8 Aug 1973 Var news item announced that New Line Cinema had expanded its distribution operation by acquiring rights to five feature films, including Jimi Plays Berkeley, that were set to be released in “the last quarter of 1973.” However, the film’s first theatrical opening documented in AMPAS library production files was 24 Jul 1974 at the Nuart and Encore Theatres in Los Angeles, CA. A 1974 edition of Screen World reported that the film was scheduled for a Sep 1973 release, but no reviews were found in production files to confirm that the picture opened at that time.
       On 4 Jun 2012, Guitar World announced that a newly “restored and expanded” version of the picture would be released on DVD and Blu-ray on 10 Jul 2012. The film’s original 16mm negative was digitally restored and transferred and fifteen minutes of “previously unseen documentary and performance footage” were added to the new version, including scenes of Hendrix playing “Voodoo Child,” “Hear My Train A Comin’” and “Machine Gun.” The DVD, co-produced by Hendrix’s sister, Janie Hendrix, was released to commemorate the musician’s “70th birthday year.”