The lyrics seem to be based on what Jimi himself had told him. ---------------------
Also in compound time is the Ballad of Jimi. The writing credits are compounded too, sometimes accrediting Curtis Knight, sometimes Ed Dantes. Knight seems the more likely writer of a song that went through a number of versions between 1965 and 1970. A lilting requiem for Jimi Hendrix in 6/8 time, there's nothing especially novel about the sentiments "a song dedicated to the memory of my best friend" except that this particular best friend wasn't dead! Hendrix wasn't to die for another three years. Now Jimi's gone, he's not alone. His memory still lives on. Five years, this he said, He's not gone, he's just dead. Me and my best friend, Me and my best friend Maybe it appealed to Jimi's sense of humour? His closing chord is a portentous, doomy chord suspension sustained under the final line, which wrings maximum melodrama out the word `dead'. More likely though, this version of the vocal was dubbed over the 1967 track, new lyrics and all, after Hendrix's death in September 1970 to facilitate a quick single release while the news was still hot (and the corpse still warm). http://www.jungle-records.net/jungle/freudcd067.htm
