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.
Blues Blues
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Reaching up but not quite touching the promised land
Well, I taste tears and a precious year is wasted
Say lord please, send us a helping hand
(Love, love, love) lord, there's got to be some changes
(Love, love, love) gonna be a whole lot of re-arranges
(Love, love, love) you better hope love is the answer
Well, everybody can hear the sound of freedom's beating heart
Sirens flashing with earth and rockets stoning
You better love me like it's gonna be the last time
And tell the child to bury daddy's old clothes
(Love, love, love) yeah, they're talking about getting together, yeah
(Love, love, love) together for love love love
(Love, love, love) you better hope love is the answer baby
(Love, love, love) I think you better hope it comes before the summer
(Everybody) everybody
(Everybody) every sister
(Everybody) every mother
(Everybody) to feel the light
(Everybody) it's shining bright baby
(Everybody) everybody, we got to live together,(everybody) oh
Right on baby
Feel those earth blues coming at you baby
Don't let your imagination take you by surprise
A queen and me i, one day, visualise
My head in the cloud, my feet on the pavement
Don't get too stoned, please remember you're a man
(Love, love, love) lord, there's got to be some changes
(Love, love, love) people together is gonna be a whole lot of re-arranges
(Love, love, love) you better be ready, my lord
(Love, love, love) just hope love comes before the summer
(Everybody) everybody
(Everybody) got to feel the light
(Everybody) you gotta feel the light, baby
(Everybody) everybody
(Everybody) we gotta live together
(Everybody) keep it together
(Everybody) right on together
(Everybody) oh yeah
All standing together for the earth blues coming at you baby
(Love love love)
(Love love love)
Love love love, right on
Feel those earth blues coming at you
Gotta get it all out together yeah yeah
The lyrics to Jimi Hendrix's song Earth Blues fragment into various key themes, such as freedom, hope, love and togetherness. The song speaks of hands stretching out to capture the promise of dreams, but falling just short every time. The 'tear-stained faces' of those who grasp but miss the promised land then say 'lord please, send us a helping hand.' This is indicative of the song's cry for help, as humanity struggles to reach their goals without aid. The lyrics also touch on the theme of war, acknowledging the flashing of sirens and the stoning of rockets. Despite the gloomy imagery, the song latches onto hope and love for society to move forward.
The lyrics further highlight the importance of unity and the need for mutual cooperation in the race towards freedom. Hendrix urges people to 'get together for love, love, love,' pushing them to find a helpful solution before the summer. While sending out an SOS through the lyrics, Hendrix also calls for love to take center stage in the urgency of the situation. He also references the need to avoid excessively indulging, reminding people to 'not get too stoned' or forget the importance of their roles.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I see hands, and I've seen tear-stained faces
Reaching up but not quite touching the promised land
Well, I taste tears and a precious year is wasted
Say lord please, send us a helping hand
People are struggling and hoping for a better life, but are unable to reach it. The poet observes and feels their pain, and hopes for divine intervention to help them.
(Love, love, love) lord, there's got to be some changes
(Love, love, love) gonna be a whole lot of re-arranges
(Love, love, love) you better hope love is the answer
(Love, love, love) yeah, it better come before the summer
The poet believes that love is the only answer to the problems faced by people. There needs to be a change and rearrangement in society to make things better, and people must hope for love to come before it is too late.
Well, everybody can hear the sound of freedom's beating heart
Sirens flashing with earth and rockets stoning
You better love me like it's gonna be the last time
And tell the child to bury daddy's old clothes
Freedom is being fought for, but there is also chaos and destruction. People must appreciate and love each other as if it is their last moment, and prepare for the worst.
(Love, love, love) yeah, they're talking about getting together, yeah
(Love, love, love) together for love love love
(Love, love, love) you better hope love is the answer baby
(Love, love, love) I think you better hope it comes before the summer
People are talking about coming together and loving each other, which is crucial for a better future. Love must be the answer for things to improve, and people should hope for it to happen before it is too late.
(Everybody) everybody
(Everybody) every sister
(Everybody) every mother
(Everybody) to feel the light
(Everybody) it's shining bright baby
(Everybody) everybody, we got to live together,(everybody) oh
Right on baby
Everyone, regardless of their gender or role, must feel and embrace positivity and optimism. They must come together and live in harmony.
Feel those earth blues coming at you baby
Don't let your imagination take you by surprise
A queen and me i, one day, visualise
My head in the cloud, my feet on the pavement
Don't get too stoned, please remember you're a man
The bluesy feeling of the earth is being felt and one must be careful that their imagination does not lead them astray. The poet envisions equality between the sexes, and reminds the listeners to stay grounded and remember their humanity.
(Love, love, love) lord, there's got to be some changes
(Love, love, love) people together is gonna be a whole lot of re-arranges
(Love, love, love) you better be ready, my lord
(Love, love, love) just hope love comes before the summer
The poet reiterates the need for change and rearrangement in society for a better future, and that people must be ready for it. Love is the only hope, and the earlier it comes, the better.
(Everybody) everybody
(Everybody) got to feel the light
(Everybody) you gotta feel the light, baby
(Everybody) everybody
(Everybody) we gotta live together
(Everybody) keep it together
(Everybody) right on together
(Everybody) oh yeah
All standing together for the earth blues coming at you baby
(Love love love)
(Love love love)
Love love love, right on
Feel those earth blues coming at you
Gotta get it all out together yeah yeah
Everyone must feel and spread positivity, and live together in harmony. They must stand united against the blues of the earth, and express and solve their problems together, with love as the guiding light.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JIMI HENDRIX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
5 O'clock Somewhere
What can you say..
It's Jimi Hendrix.
🍄Laying here with my eyes closed listening - on a Shroom Mini Dose.
Marveling at the riveting phrasing ideas abd sonic idea, he comes up with.
The combination of skill, talent, practice ethic, dynamics,musicality abd intelligence to okay like that..
Track #2 1st solo I lost count ..
BTW- Drummer wondering...
Who's the drummer?
Not Mitch.
Not Buddy Miles..
Maybe Buddy Miles..😊
UncleAL2006
I've been collecting Jimi's music for almost 50 years and have hundreds of CDs and LPs but I've never heard some of this ever before. Thank you for posting this - It's always a magic moment when I feel some new Jimi in my heart. Fly On ~
Artie B. Rockin'
Same here!
I have so many Jimis. But many are shitty recordings. So hard to find decent material that won't get blocked by Jimi's sister and company.
And then...
The two middle tracks are partially blocked!
And only in Russia!!
Jimmy Burnett
I have a couple of old Jimi album at his best not sure if it's 3 or how many volumes sets if you're interested hollaback some reason I believe it is shortly after he played with Ike and Tina
Jimmy Burnett
Haven't been able to find them online
Maxsno
Dig , Jimi in the studio endless hours , years back I always wondered if tapes would surf , not the third rate shit, this here has nitro fueled lead and crunch . Still property of J H Exp control should be acknowledged and kept clean . Dig 28:58 riffing nice to have copied for my practice.🙏🕊️🌎
Leadwater
I'm 67 now started an obsession around 14 no support I got a Sears electric. With Western auto strings. I ended up wearing15 20 don't really remember. All I have is hard neck learning by I meant to play like jimi-----nobody like him period....
Big Tones
Played from the heart. Jimi was too good for this world.
Ronald Williams
👍💯💯🥁🥁
l214laus
There can't be too much Jimi to listen to. Thank you for this example.
J Sims
Recorded in a jazz studio in NYC and according to Eddie Kramer a lot of partying going on. April 69 or so this provides a window into what the original Experience could have achieved. Sonically a huge improvement over even a short 18 months earlier this uncopyable mayhem Midnight is fantastic thanks. Outrageously hot rodded Marshall’s and no two bars sonically the same this is Jimi unleashed pouring angst all over anyone with ears to listen. In this genre leaving all others in its wake and timeless too. I’m not sure what we did to deserve Jimi but thank God it happened.