By Ian Murphy

In the summer of 1968, popular music was in the midst of an enormous growth period where seemingly every day some artist or another broke new ground. Within this sonic evolution, there was an undercurrent of (often in the Blues tradition) “ax-manship”, or a competition between top guitarists to push the boundaries of their instrument to new heights. Over in England, players like Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were constantly pushing the envelope in both technical proficiency and creative expression. However, it was an American who was really putting the musical world on its ear: Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps no guitar player in pop-history had a more seemingly “came out of nowhere” impact than the strange and mysterious Hendrix, whose vision and influence is on par with luminaries such as Brian Wilson, Lennon and McCartney, and Stevie Wonder. Select company indeed.

Despite his reputation as a blistering psychedelic player, Hendrix, at his core, was a bluesman. He learned his craft on the “Chitlin’ Circuit”, touring with established and polished Black American acts like the Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, and the Isley Brothers. Rumor has it that while backing up Little Richard, a young Hendrix showed up Mr. Penniman himself. A faux pas if there ever was one! Despite his background in the blues and R&B world, Jimi did not confine himself to any standard style or structure. He took full advantage of the era’s evolving technology and pushed musical innovation in directions that even made Jazz wizard Miles Davis raise an eyebrow. Of all the incredible work Hendrix put out in his short but brilliant career, perhaps “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” off his iconic 1968 Electric Ladyland album best captures in essence what is Jimi.

The song itself is not terribly complex in it’s structure (just basically a jam in the key of E), but this simplicity allows Hendrix to really stretch out and cut loose. It begins with an memorable fade-in wah drenched guitar intro. Just a funky, percussive precursor to what lies ahead. Shortly afterward, the band explodes into a raw and earthy passage, highlighted by Jimi’s fiery high-end blues riff. The sonic mass of this song is enormous. The vocal melody and lyrics that follow are more complementary as opposed to being in the forefront, and the guitar solo that comes next is absolutely incendiary in its application. It is the Gold Standard of solos and many a fumbling neophyte guitarist cut their teeth (this author included!) attempting to make their weak and sloppy technique mimic the Great Hendrix.

The origins of “Voodoo Child” are from a jam session between Hendrix, Traffic vocalist Steve Winwood and Jack Casady of The Jefferson Airplane. Later, Experience members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding recorded the version that was to be included on Electric Ladyland. Jimi then took a simple Delta blues and pumps it full of steroids, making it crushingly powerful and dripping with testosterone. The impact of this song on popular music (and guitar players in general) is hard to measure because it is so great. Not only was it next level guitar playing, it was also a new innovation in studio production. While players like Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Alvin Lee were making their mark concurrently with Hendrix, it wasn’t until Jan Akkerman’s 1971 masterpiece “Hocus Pocus” or Edward Van Halen’s first great opus “Eruption” did any guitarist make a comparable jump in proficiency and expression.