Jimi Hendrix

The greatest guitarist that ever lived.

Jimi Hendrix was arguably the best American rock guitar player of all time. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine listed him as number 1 out their 100 greatest guitar players of all time. Shy around friends, family, and the general public, the only time Jimi seemed relaxed was when he was on stage presenting his “experience.”

After leaving the Army Jimi moved to Harlem NY where he got work playing backup for several different artists and groups.

Arthur and Albert Allen known as the “Ghetto Twins” said that “he was very self-conscious about himself. He was very self-conscious about the things that he wore.”

During this time period he met Chas Chandler who had just ended his career with The Animals, a famous R&B Band from the early to mid-1960’s. Chas immediately saw Jimi as talent worth investing in, and whisked him off to England to form a new band.

It was in England that Jimi formed “The Jimi Hendrix Experience” He enlisted Noel Redding, and Mitch MIchell to join him in the

band

The name “The Jimi Hendrix Experience” was created by their new band manager,

Mike Jeffery.

Their final European performance for this tour was at the Saville Theatre in London England. The audience was filled with famous

rock musicians of the time. People such as Eric Clapton from Cream, Pop Singer Lulu, and Paul McCartney and George

Harrison

The Jimi Hendrix Experience released “Are You Experienced” in the US and Canada on August 23rd 1967. They changed the

album cover from a black and white themed picture, to a yellow and purple themed picture.

In all, there were 17 total tracks that are included in the “Are You experienced” Both the UK and the US versions

had 11 songs a piece, with the other 6 added in the 1993 Alan Douglas Edition.

On December 1st 1967 The Jimi Hendrix Experience released its second album in the UK. This one was called “Axis: Bold as Love”.

Hendrix said he felt that the album was rushed, and that he’d wished they had more time to make the album.

Jimi’s only other complaint with the album other than having to rush it, was with the CD cover itself. He said he liked the

rendition of the ViraatPurushan-Vishnuroopam, a famous Indian painting, but that it would have been more appropriate if they

had honored his American Indian heritage instead.

Jimi had learned to use a Leslie Speaker, which is a large organ speaker that rotates as it plays, and secondly and most distinguishably is the use of the wha-wha Peddle. The wha-wha peddle was new device that Jimi had seen

when he met Frank Zappa in 1967 at the Garrick Theater.

The last album Jimi put out under the Jimi Hendrix Experience was “Electric

Ladyland”.

The last performance with Jimi and Noel together was the Denver Pop Festival on June 29th, 1969.

August 18th 1969 Jimi Hendrix headlined the Woodstock Music Festival

In April 1970 Jimi did his last tour by reforming The Jimi Hendrix Experience, this time using Billy

Cox on the bass

Jimi would die only 12 days later on September 18th 1970 in London England.

Also of suspicion was Jimi’s girlfriend, Monkia Dannemann, whom was accused for years of knowing more about the night of Jimi’s death

than she had let on.

His family, regained control of his son’s music in the early 1990’s under the company Experience Hendrix LLC.

I have chosen Side A of the Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced album for musical analysis

Purple Haze• Purple Haze• 0:00 Introduction• The Introduction comes in with a short pickup. An alternating Bb from the guitar being answered by an

open E from the bass.• 0:05 Introduction/Motif• This begins Alla Marica. On the down beat the Motif beings to play. The bass plays the same note through

the entire motif causing you to focus only on the guitar which plays the motif several times to bridge different pieces of the song. The beat is quadrupleduple

• 0:23 verse 1• Here it changes to a more Andante feel. This verse has 9 seconds of music that lead into the lyrics. Jimi

sticks to very simple poetry structure of lyrical writing. Brain, Same. Why Sky. He pauses all the music before stating the last line of the chorus to create triple meter feeling on a duple beat. He also plays the last riff of his verse on the same downbeats to make it also feel like a triple meter. He then repeats the motif from the beginning of the song and then goes straight into verse two

• 0:52 verse 2• Verse two is a rather straight forward repeat of verse one. It does not have the leading 9 seconds of music

the first one done. Lyrics are the only thing that changes. Each verse has the same lyrical melody. This allows the listener to identify the vocal melody as a separate motif as well. In this verse he says “whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me.”

Purple Haze• Verse two is a rather straight forward repeat of verse one. It does not have the leading 9 seconds of music the

first one done. Lyrics are the only thing that changes. Each verse has the same lyrical melody. This allows the listener to identify the vocal melody as a separate motif as well. In this verse he says “whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me.”

• 1:12: bridge/solo• To start the solo he plays the motif from the introduction and then goes into a guitar solo. The bass goes one

note at a time up the scale ascending to the pickup note. Then is drops back to the beginning of the scale and repeats until the solo plays the opening motif again and beings verse 3. Jimi’s solo is mostly descending to give harmonic contrast to the base line. The drums keep the tempo at the same quadruple/simple. A chorus begins to make very faint noise growing louder as the solo progresses, but never become clear enough to understand.

• 1:53: verse 3• Verse three leaves you with a sense of discomfort and wanting resolution. Lyrically it ends with “tomorrow of

just the end of time” Musically it’s again the same as the other two verses • 2:13 outro solo• This outro beings with the same introduction motif and then a short guitar solo that has two ascending runs on

the scale and then one descending run. The chorus from bridge returns and this time sings “purple haze” they repeat this as the guitar loses its major harmony and goes to a minor harmony creating a disjunct sound as the music fades out. This coincides with the message of the song being lyrically about a person who has a “purple have, all around”

• 2:30 Here the chorus beings to sing purple haze background until the music does a slow fade out

Manic Depression• 0:00 Introduction

The introduction has an ascending solo that is repeated by the same solo an octave higher. This sequence is followed by the melody of the song creating a motif that is used throughout the rest of the song in both the chorus and verse. This also sets the beat at a triple meter. This song is very resolute and has very decisive timing.

• 0:09 verse 1He starts out with the words “manic depression is touch in soul. I know what I want, but I just don’t know. How to go about getting it” The last sentence is thrown in as trill it doesn’t quite fit the pattern he’s created with the melody so he quickly says it rather than keeping the tempo. Jimi does not really have much of a chorus. He uses the same pause and vocal melody at the end of each verse to give the same affect and familiarity a person normally connects to the chorus with.

• 0:40 verse 2• The sequence from the introduction is used again to introduce verse 2 with the answering part of the sequence

being a solo. It goes into the motif once before the lyrics come in this time talking about music and manic depression being a “frustrating mess”

• 1:18: bridge• He uses the motif to lead into the solo. The bass plays the same to notes keeping the rhythm the same through the

whole solo. The drums also stay consistent to put more focus on the guitar solo. Jimi plays in a minor harmony using sharp and flat bends to create a very disjunct discomfort in order to emphasize the lyrical message. He gives resolution by playing the introduction and motif again just before the second chorus in order to tie it all together again.

Manic Depression• 2:00 verse 3• Verse three starts to build momentum. It’s gets a little louder as it progresses

and when they reach the pause and say “frustrated mess” it goes into a final bridge that breaks the song down to end it.

• 2:38 bridge 2• This repeats the motif over several times, but often does not play the motif all

the way. It will repeat half way or ¾ of the way through motif. He uses the alternating scales from the motif but plays higher accent notes at the end of the scale to break it up. The drums are doing descending drum rolls instead that are intensified instead of the more rhythmic progressions they doing in the verses. At 2:51 Jimi begins to fade in and out with “music sweet music” The drums begin to repeat steadily in a triple/compound meter with the guitar joining in at 3:13 afinal buildup that is made by intensifying the volume and playing an ascending scale in the major mode before breakdown at the end with it descending to a casual fade out of the drums and feedback of the guitar.

Love or Confusion• 0:00: Introduction• Starts with the pickup note that holds until until the drums come in to set the tempo. At

0:07 the motif for the song is played lasting 10 seconds. It sets the mood as a summary of what will make up the song.

• 0:16: Verse 1• The motif is repeated to being the chorus with the pickup note being stuck and held. Jimi’s

voice is about the same volume as the guitar making him more like an instrument than a focal point. The guitar still has much of the attention of the audience and holds the melody. The guitar also makes a series of trills with a few arched scale patterns to tie the trills together. As he intensifies the desperation in his voice he uses the trills in and harmonious note bends to counterpoint the lyrics. The verse builds up gradually by getting louder as it progresses. I then give resolution to the build up by doing a series that is a descending scale.

• 0:51 verse 2:• Verse two has no introduction; it goes right into it after the resolution to the buildup on

verse1. At 1:26 it has a small pause that feels like hitting the brakes to go around the corner.

Love or Confusion• 1:27 solo/bridge 1• Here we have a tempo change into a quadruple meter rhythm with the guitar playing

a series of scales. The bass guitar repeats a three note patter which it moves up and down the scale. The harmony of the guitar rings on a single note until and then he gradually walks up the scale back to the pickup note so that he can start verse 3

• 2:00 verse 3• Verse three repeats the base rhythm of the first two verses, the guitar follows more

of the solo pattern to give harmony and contrast to the bass line. The drums tie the two together. This verse deteriorates more musically with the guitar playing more off beat ascends than it had in the first two verses as well.

• • 2:40 outro

the outro repeats the final phrase of the chorus twice, then repeats the ending of the phrase then plays the whole phrase a final time before fading out at 3:03 with an echo

May This Be Love• May this be love?• 0:00 introduction• He starts out with a clean Maestoso feel that paints a picture almost like

water. He does a slow descending scale to lead into the Vers1. • 0:16 Verse1/Theme1: • Here he introduces the first theme of the song. He uses this for the first

verse that still has the maestoso feel the drums do a triple/compound meter beat that gives this theme the feel of a slow trot.

• 0:59 verse 2/Theme2: • Here he introduces theme two. This one is a little faster from the guitar

and does a triple simple meter dividing the beat into two distinguishable halves.

May This Be Love• 1:34 Chorus 2• Again Jimi does use much in the way of a chorus, instead

using pauses with repeated melodic vocals to make the melody that “gets stuck in your head” When he comes back into theme two he uses the phrase “water fall” to act as the chorus .

• 1:55 outro• Here he mixes the two themes like you would normally do

in a bridge. He plays the melody and parts of both themes before letting the song break down at 2:54 until it fades out with the guitar