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.
Lucille
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, Lucille, won't you do your sister's will?
Well, you ran away and left, I love you still.
Lucille, please, come back where you belong.
Oh, Lucille, please, come back where you belong.
I been good to you, baby, please, don't leave me alone.
Oh, Lucille, baby, satisfy my heart.
I slaved for you, baby, and gave you such a wonderful start.
I woke up this morning, Lucille was not in sight.
I asked her friends about her but all their lips were tight.
Lucille, please, come back where you belong.
I been good to you, baby, please, don't leave me alone.
In the song "Lucille," Jimi Hendrix is pleading with a woman named Lucille to come back to him after she ran away despite Jimi treating her well. He begins by asking her to do her sister's will, likely referring to their relationship being a bond like sisters. Jimi then pleads with Lucille to come back to him and not leave him alone. He emphasizes how he has been good to her and given her a great start in life, essentially begging her to come back and complete his heart once more.
As the song progresses, Jimi reveals his confusion about Lucille's disappearance. He woke up to find her gone and is struggling to find out what happened to her. This could symbolize the difficulty in understanding relationships and how they sometimes end abruptly, leaving a sense of confusion and heartache.
Line by Line Meaning
Lucille, won't you do your sister's will?
Lucille, can you do what your sister wants you to do?
Oh, Lucille, won't you do your sister's will?
Oh, Lucille, can you please do what your sister wants you to do?
Well, you ran away and left, I love you still.
Although you left, I still love you.
Lucille, please, come back where you belong.
Lucille, can you please come back where you belong?
Oh, Lucille, please, come back where you belong.
Oh, Lucille, can you please come back where you belong?
I been good to you, baby, please, don't leave me alone.
I treated you well, baby, please don't abandon me.
Lucille, baby, satisfy my heart.
Lucille, my dear, can you make my heart happy?
Oh, Lucille, baby, satisfy my heart.
Oh, Lucille, my dear, can you make my heart happy?
I slaved for you, baby, and gave you such a wonderful start.
I worked very hard for you, baby, and gave you a great beginning.
I woke up this morning, Lucille was not in sight.
This morning, I woke up and Lucille was nowhere to be found.
I asked her friends about her but all their lips were tight.
I asked Lucille's friends about her, but they refused to speak about her.
Lucille, please, come back where you belong.
Lucille, can you please come back where you belong?
I been good to you, baby, please, don't leave me alone.
I treated you well, baby, please don't abandon me.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Hal Bynum, Roger Bowling
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Phil Silverman
This one has many Little Richard authors stumped! If it was with Hendrix, it had to be done prior to the middle of 1965 when wah-wah wasn't out yet. This is an of instrumental of a 1964 arrangement. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Billy Babu The Story teller
Watching this in Lock down here in the UK. Bravo just bravo.
Billy Babu The Story teller
@Vappo Riesat Yes I agree with you RIP beautiful soul.
Vappo Riesat
3 weeks later i am still watching it in lockdown. may little richard rest in peace. he died yesterday.
The Babbler
For those who know nothing. That guitarist was definitely Jimi.
Phil Silverman
@James Burk jr Jimi was on about 15 LR recordings
Phil Silverman
Was probably cut in April 1971 .
Jimi DID play on the 1964 Vee Jay recording of Lucille .
James Burk jr
@Phil Silverman Jimi played with him of and on in 64 to 65there are only a few song that was actually recorded with Jimi playing
Phil Silverman
Not here because it was cut in 1971. But interestingly enough , Jimi played on a very similar vocal
arrangement for Richard , in 1964!
Phil Silverman
This was probably cut in April of 1971. Jimi case closed .😀