James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942… Read Full Bio ↴James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music".

Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and trained as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division; he was granted an honorable discharge the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the Chitlin' Circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after being discovered by Linda Keith, who in turn interested bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals in becoming his first manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary". He achieved fame in the U.S. after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the U.S.; it was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his first and only number one album. The world's highest-paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, before his accidental death from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970, at the age of 27.

Hendrix was inspired musically by American rock and roll and electric blues. He favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in utilizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback. He helped to popularize the use of a wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, and was the first artist to use stereophonic phasing effects in music recordings. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."

Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year, and in 1968, Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year. Disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked the band's three studio albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland, among the 100 greatest albums of all time, and they ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist of all time.

Beginning
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics

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"yeah well a like i said before
we only ran up a few numbers
so let me try and do this one
like we were just
jammin' at the house
we don't have a name for yet
it's just like an instrumental
so we'll just go along with it.

it goes somthin' like this."

"before we go any further
we'd like to say that you all
really had a lot of patience
three days worth.
you've prooved to the world
what can happen with a little bit
of love and sounds.
oh, i left my girlfriend at home
i'm sorry. i'd like to do a thing
that a new american anthem
until we get another on together.

this is called 'voodoo child
(slight return)'."

Overall Meaning

The lyrics are spoken by Jimi Hendrix himself, as an introduction to one of his well-known songs "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)". The first few lines express Hendrix's candidness towards the audience, telling them they are only going to play a few numbers and that the song will be an instrumental jam session with no formal name yet. This informal and spontaneous approach was Hendrix's trademark style of music-making. Then, he introduces "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" as a new American anthem, emphasizing the importance of love and sound to create something so powerful that it can impact the world.

The second part of the lyrics is Hendrix expressing his gratitude towards the audience's patience for waiting for three days to hear him play. More importantly, he is also telling the audience how much power they hold simply by loving and enjoying music. The final line before the song starts is Hendrix's humorous apology for leaving his girlfriend at home, which adds a playful and relatable element to his performance.

Overall, the lyrics highlight Hendrix's rawness, spontaneity, and mastery of connecting with the audience. It is the perfect introduction to a song that has become one of his most famous numbers - a song that showcases his unique and revolutionary style of guitar playing, with its mix of blues, rock, and psychedelic elements.

Line by Line Meaning

yeah well a like i said before
As previously mentioned, and with the same enthusiasm as before

we only ran up a few numbers
We have only played a few tunes

so let me try and do this one
I will now attempt to play this song

like we were just jammin' at the house
We are playing as if we were casually jamming at home

we don't have a name for yet
This song does not have a title yet

it's just like an instrumental
This is purely an instrumental piece without vocals

so we'll just go along with it.
We will just let the music carry us without a set plan

before we go any further
Before we continue with the performance

we'd like to say that you all really had a lot of patience
We appreciate the audience's patience and endurance

three days worth.
Through a three-day festival, demonstrating great dedication

you've proved to the world
Your efforts have shown the rest of the world