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158-402: " Purple Haze " is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967, in the United Kingdom. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Eastern modalities, shaped by novel sound processing techniques. Because of ambiguities in the lyrics, listeners often interpret

316-793: A Curtis Knight and the Squires single in 1966. Feeling restricted by his experiences as an R&B sideman, Hendrix moved in 1966 to New York City's Greenwich Village , which had a vibrant and diverse music scene. There, he was offered a residency at the Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street and formed his own band that June, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames , which included future Spirit guitarist Randy California . The Blue Flames played at several clubs in New York and Hendrix began developing his guitar style and material that he would soon use with

474-405: A frequency , but pitch is not a purely objective physical property; it is a subjective psychoacoustical attribute of sound. Historically, the study of pitch and pitch perception has been a central problem in psychoacoustics, and has been instrumental in forming and testing theories of sound representation, processing, and perception in the auditory system. Pitch is an auditory sensation in which

632-409: A G 5 (G–X–G–G–D–G) is sometimes played with the major third (B) being muted on the fifth string and replaced by the open third string (G). Redding follows the chord changes mostly by playing the root with occasional passing notes , while Mitchell heightens the tension with drum flourishes that accentuate Hendrix's vocal and guitar. Biographer David Henderson describes Hendrix's guitar tone as "at

790-412: A black American entertainer should and could look like." The Experience went on to perform renditions of "Hey Joe", B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby", Chip Taylor 's " Wild Thing ", and Bob Dylan 's " Like a Rolling Stone ", and four original compositions: " Foxy Lady ", "Can You See Me", "The Wind Cries Mary", and "Purple Haze". The set ended with Hendrix destroying his guitar and tossing pieces of it out to

948-665: A career opportunity, he played the Harlem club circuit and sat in with various bands. At the recommendation of a former associate of Joe Tex , Ronnie Isley granted Hendrix an audition that led to an offer to become the guitarist with the Isley Brothers ' backing band, the I.B. Specials, which he readily accepted. In March 1964, Hendrix recorded the two-part single " Testify " with the Isley Brothers. Released in June, it failed to chart. In May, he provided guitar instrumentation for

1106-406: A change is perceived) depends on the tone's frequency content. Below 500 Hz, the jnd is about 3 Hz for sine waves, and 1 Hz for complex tones; above 1000 Hz, the jnd for sine waves is about 0.6% (about 10 cents ). The jnd is typically tested by playing two tones in quick succession with the listener asked if there was a difference in their pitches. The jnd becomes smaller if

1264-589: A closet in their home. His relationship with his brother Leon (born 1948) was close but precarious; with Leon in and out of foster care, they lived with an almost constant threat of fraternal separation. In addition to Leon, Hendrix had three younger siblings: Joseph, born in 1949, Kathy in 1950, and Pamela in 1951, all of whom Al and Lucille gave up to foster care and adoption. The family frequently moved, staying in cheap hotels and apartments around Seattle. On occasion, family members would take Hendrix to Vancouver to stay at his grandmother's. A shy and sensitive boy, he

1422-593: A concert at the Whisky a Go Go , the Experience was booked as the opening act for the first American tour of the Monkees . The Monkees requested Hendrix as a supporting act because they were fans, but their young audience disliked the Experience, who left the tour after six shows. Chandler later said he engineered the tour to gain publicity for Hendrix. The second Experience album, Axis: Bold as Love , opens with

1580-417: A final photo. It would become one of the most famous images in rock and roll. Caraeff stood on a chair next to the edge of the stage and took four monochrome pictures of Hendrix burning his guitar. Caraeff was close enough to the fire that he had to use his camera to protect his face from the heat. Rolling Stone later colorized the image, matching it with other pictures taken at the festival before using

1738-505: A frantic version of the Howlin' Wolf song " Killing Floor ". In 1989, Clapton described the performance: "He played just about every style you could think of, and not in a flashy way. I mean he did a few of his tricks, like playing with his teeth and behind his back, but it wasn't in an upstaging sense at all, and that was it ... He walked off, and my life was never the same again". In mid-October 1966, Chandler arranged an engagement for

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1896-403: A guitar gained the attention of the school's social worker. After more than a year of his clinging to a broom like a security blanket , she wrote a letter requesting school funding intended for underprivileged children, insisting that leaving him without a guitar might result in psychological damage. Her efforts failed, and Al refused to buy him a guitar. In 1957, while helping his father with

2054-737: A listener assigns musical tones to relative positions on a musical scale based primarily on their perception of the frequency of vibration ( audio frequency ). Pitch is closely related to frequency, but the two are not equivalent. Frequency is an objective, scientific attribute which can be measured. Pitch is the subjective perception of a sound wave by the individual person, which cannot be directly measured. However, this does not necessarily mean that people will not agree on which notes are higher and lower. The oscillations of sound waves can often be characterized in terms of frequency . Pitches are usually associated with, and thus quantified as, frequencies (in cycles per second, or hertz), by comparing

2212-524: A loosely organized band, the Casuals. Hendrix completed his paratrooper training and, on January 11, 1962, Major General Charles W. G. Rich awarded him the prestigious Screaming Eagles patch. By February, his personal conduct had begun to draw criticism from his superiors. They labeled him an unqualified marksman and often caught him napping while on duty and failing to report for bed checks. On May 24, Hendrix's platoon sergeant, James C. Spears, filed

2370-600: A management and production contract with himself and ex-Animals manager Michael Jeffery . That night, Hendrix gave an impromptu solo performance at The Scotch of St James and began a relationship with Kathy Etchingham that lasted for two and a half years. Following Hendrix's arrival in London, Chandler began recruiting members for a band designed to highlight his talents, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix met guitarist Noel Redding at an audition for

2528-580: A medical discharge after breaking his ankle during his 26th parachute jump, but no Army records have been produced that indicate that he received or was discharged for any injuries. In September 1962, after Cox was discharged from the Army, he and Hendrix moved about 20 miles (32 km) across the state line from Fort Campbell to Clarksville , Tennessee, and formed a band, the King Kasuals. In Seattle, Hendrix saw Butch Snipes play with his teeth and now

2686-629: A medium for Hendrix's guitar feedback improvisation and " Fire " was driven by Mitchell's drumming. Released in the UK on May 12, 1967, Are You Experienced spent 33 weeks on the charts, peaking at number two. It was prevented from reaching the top spot by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . On June 4, 1967, Hendrix opened a show at the Saville Theatre in London with his rendition of Sgt. Pepper 's title track , which

2844-511: A mixture of rock, freak-out, rave and blues". Through a distribution deal with Polydor Records , the Experience's first single, "Hey Joe", backed with "Stone Free", was released on December 16, 1966. After appearances on the UK television shows Ready Steady Go! and Top of the Pops , "Hey Joe" entered the UK charts on December 29 and peaked at number six. Further success came in March 1967 with

3002-408: A mutual friend. Mitchell, who had recently been fired from Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames , participated in a rehearsal with Redding and Hendrix where they found common ground in their shared interest in rhythm and blues. When Chandler phoned Mitchell later that day to offer him the position, he readily accepted. Chandler also convinced Hendrix to change the spelling of his first name from Jimmy to

3160-537: A near riot in Los Angeles), or " 'scuse me while I fuck the sky" (during a downpour in Seattle). Music critic William Ruhlmann describes "Purple Haze" as having "relentlessly driving, if relatively slow-paced underlying music, which provides a good platform for some of Hendrix's inventive guitar playing". Beginning with its dissonant opening and heavy use of distortion , Hendrix's techniques "all contributed to

3318-443: A non-transposing instrument like a violin calls B ♭ ." Pitches are labeled using: For example, one might refer to the A above middle C as a′ , A 4 , or 440 Hz . In standard Western equal temperament , the notion of pitch is insensitive to "spelling": the description "G 4 double sharp" refers to the same pitch as A 4 ; in other temperaments, these may be distinct pitches. Human perception of musical intervals

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3476-614: A program produced and aired on Nashville TV station WLAC-TV (now WTVF ). Performing in Little Richard's ensemble band, he backed up vocalists Buddy and Stacy on " Shotgun ". The video recording of the show marks the earliest known footage of Hendrix performing. Richard and Hendrix often clashed over tardiness, wardrobe, and Hendrix's stage antics, and in late July, Richard's brother Robert fired him. On July 27, Hendrix signed his first recording contract with Juggy Murray at Sue Records and Copa Management. He then briefly rejoined

3634-402: A real number, p , as follows. This creates a linear pitch space in which octaves have size 12, semitones (the distance between adjacent keys on the piano keyboard) have size 1, and A440 is assigned the number 69. (See Frequencies of notes .) Distance in this space corresponds to musical intervals as understood by musicians. An equal-tempered semitone is subdivided into 100 cents . The system

3792-614: A recording session for her single, which included the Arthur Lee penned "My Diary" as the A-side , and "Utee" as the B-side. Hendrix played guitar on both tracks, which also included background vocals by Lee. The single failed to chart, but Hendrix and Lee began a friendship that lasted several years; Hendrix later became an ardent supporter of Lee's band, Love . In July 1965, Hendrix made his first television appearance on Night Train ,

3950-484: A report in which he stated: "He has no interest whatsoever in the Army ;... It is my opinion that Private Hendrix will never come up to the standards required of a soldier. I feel that the military service will benefit if he is discharged as soon as possible." On June 29, 1962, Hendrix was granted a general discharge under honorable conditions . Hendrix later spoke of his dislike of the army and that he had received

4108-451: A show experience that would define him from then on: when trying to escape in panic from a frenetic audience that had pulled him off the stage, he smashed his guitar for the first time in a sound explosion on stage, which was perceived by the audience as part of the show. Observing the audience's reaction, Chandler decided that this show of violence had to become a permanent feature of the Experience's show. In mid-November, they performed at

4266-564: A side-job, Hendrix found a ukulele among the garbage they were removing from an older woman's home. She told him that he could keep the instrument, which had only one string. Learning by ear, he played single notes, following along to Elvis Presley songs, particularly " Hound Dog ". By the age of 33, Hendrix's mother Lucille had developed cirrhosis of the liver, and on February 2, 1958, she died when her spleen ruptured. Al refused to take James and Leon to attend their mother's funeral; he instead gave them shots of whiskey and told them that

4424-546: A single overnight session, but they could not match the quality of the lost mix of " If 6 Was 9 ". Redding had a tape recording of this mix, which had to be smoothed out with an iron as it had gotten wrinkled. During the verses, Hendrix doubled his singing with a guitar line which he played one octave lower than his vocals. Hendrix voiced his disappointment about having re-mixed the album so quickly, and he felt that it could have been better had they been given more time. Axis featured psychedelic cover art that depicts Hendrix and

4582-434: A single pair of the birds that were released by Hendrix on Carnaby Street in the 1960s. According to a study, however, which mapped historical news reports of sightings of the birds, the myth is not true. After the UK chart success of their first two singles, "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze", the Experience began assembling material for a full-length LP. In London, recording began at De Lane Lea Studios , and later moved to

4740-413: A stimulus. The precise way this temporal structure helps code for pitch at higher levels is still debated, but the processing seems to be based on an autocorrelation of action potentials in the auditory nerve. However, it has long been noted that a neural mechanism that may accomplish a delay—a necessary operation of a true autocorrelation—has not been found. At least one model shows that a temporal delay

4898-696: A stop in Los Angeles in February 1965, he recorded his first and only single with Richard, "I Don't Know What You Got (But It's Got Me)", written by Don Covay and released by Vee-Jay Records . Richard's popularity was waning at the time, and the single peaked at number 92, where it remained for one week before dropping off the chart. Hendrix met singer Rosa Lee Brooks while staying at the Wilcox Hotel in Hollywood, and she invited him to participate in

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5056-484: A three-day event held at Denver 's Mile High Stadium that was marked by police using tear gas to control the audience. The band narrowly escaped from the venue in the back of a rental truck, which was partly crushed by fans who had climbed on top of the vehicle. Before the show, a journalist angered Redding by asking why he was there; the reporter then informed him that two weeks earlier Hendrix announced that he had been replaced with Billy Cox. The next day, Redding quit

5214-594: A three-year recording contract with entrepreneur Ed Chalpin on October 15. While the relationship with Chalpin was short-lived, his contract remained in force, which later caused legal and career problems for Hendrix. During his time with Knight, Hendrix briefly toured with Joey Dee and the Starliters , and worked with King Curtis on several recordings including Ray Sharpe 's two-part single, "Help Me". Hendrix earned his first composer credits for two instrumentals, "Hornets Nest" and "Knock Yourself Out", released as

5372-525: A while, and then went back to my flat." The last Experience sessions that included Redding—a re-recording of "Stone Free" for use as a possible single release—took place on April 14 at Olmstead and the Record Plant in New York. Hendrix then flew bassist Billy Cox to New York; they started recording and rehearsing together on April 21. The last performance of the original Experience lineup took place on June 29, 1969, at Barry Fey's Denver Pop Festival ,

5530-543: Is almost entirely determined by how quickly the sound wave is making the air vibrate and has almost nothing to do with the intensity, or amplitude , of the wave. That is, "high" pitch means very rapid oscillation, and "low" pitch corresponds to slower oscillation. Despite that, the idiom relating vertical height to sound pitch is shared by most languages. At least in English, it is just one of many deep conceptual metaphors that involve up/down. The exact etymological history of

5688-465: Is approximately logarithmic with respect to fundamental frequency : the perceived interval between the pitches "A220" and "A440" is the same as the perceived interval between the pitches A440 and A880 . Motivated by this logarithmic perception, music theorists sometimes represent pitches using a numerical scale based on the logarithm of fundamental frequency. For example, one can adopt the widely used MIDI standard to map fundamental frequency, f , to

5846-483: Is flexible enough to include "microtones" not found on standard piano keyboards. For example, the pitch halfway between C (60) and C ♯ (61) can be labeled 60.5. The following table shows frequencies in Hertz for notes in various octaves, named according to the "German method" of octave nomenclature : The relative pitches of individual notes in a scale may be determined by one of a number of tuning systems . In

6004-516: Is most likely "a pot-pourri of ideas" which Hendrix developed over time. As a fan of science fiction, he frequently incorporated its imagery in his songwriting. Hendrix read Night of Light , a 1966 novel by Philip José Farmer , that expanded on a short story published in 1957. In the story set on a distant planet, sunspots produce a "purplish haze" which has a disorienting effect on the inhabitants. An early handwritten draft by Hendrix, titled "Purple Haze – Jesus Saves", uses dream-like imagery where

6162-648: Is on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and does not include any of the lyrics used in the Experience song. Chandler admitted that in the early stages, he helped Hendrix shape the songs and lyrics to radio single length. Biographer Keith Shadwick comments that although much of the complexity may have been sacrificed, it resulted in verses that are "simple, focused and striking". After its release, Hendrix offered another explanation: "He [the song's protagonist] likes this girl so much, that he doesn't know what [state] he's in, ya know. A sort of daze, I suppose. That's what

6320-537: Is one where a listener can possibly (or relatively easily) discern the pitch. Sounds with definite pitch have harmonic frequency spectra or close to harmonic spectra. A sound generated on any instrument produces many modes of vibration that occur simultaneously. A listener hears numerous frequencies at once. The vibration with the lowest frequency is called the fundamental frequency ; the other frequencies are overtones . Harmonics are an important class of overtones with frequencies that are integer multiples of

6478-494: Is still possible for two sounds of indefinite pitch to clearly be higher or lower than one another. For instance, a snare drum sounds higher pitched than a bass drum though both have indefinite pitch, because its sound contains higher frequencies. In other words, it is possible and often easy to roughly discern the relative pitches of two sounds of indefinite pitch, but sounds of indefinite pitch do not neatly correspond to any specific pitch. A pitch standard (also concert pitch )

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6636-475: Is the conventional pitch reference that musical instruments in a group are tuned to for a performance. Concert pitch may vary from ensemble to ensemble, and has varied widely over musical history. Standard pitch is a more widely accepted convention. The A above middle C is usually set at 440 Hz (often written as "A = 440 Hz " or sometimes "A440"), although other frequencies, such as 442 Hz, are also often used as variants. Another standard pitch,

6794-477: Is unnecessary to produce an autocorrelation model of pitch perception, appealing to phase shifts between cochlear filters; however, earlier work has shown that certain sounds with a prominent peak in their autocorrelation function do not elicit a corresponding pitch percept, and that certain sounds without a peak in their autocorrelation function nevertheless elicit a pitch. To be a more complete model, autocorrelation must therefore apply to signals that represent

6952-484: The Berkeley , California, home of a family friend named Mrs. Champ, who had taken care of and attempted to adopt Hendrix; this is where Al saw his son for the first time. After returning from service, Al reunited with Lucille, but his inability to find steady work left the family impoverished. They both struggled with alcohol, and often fought when intoxicated. The violence sometimes drove Hendrix to withdraw and hide in

7110-726: The British Phonographic Industry awarded "Purple Haze" its Gold certification, signifying sales of over 400,000. For the American single, Reprise Records paired the song with " The Wind Cries Mary ". It was released on June 19, 1967, the day following the Experience's performance at the Monterey Pop Festival . The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart on August 26, where it spent eight weeks and reached number 65. "Purple Haze"

7268-566: The Cheetah Club . During a performance, Linda Keith, the girlfriend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards , noticed Hendrix and was "mesmerised" by his playing. She invited him to join her for a drink, and the two became friends. While Hendrix was playing as Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, Keith recommended him to Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and producer Seymour Stein . They failed to see Hendrix's musical potential and rejected him. Keith referred him to Chas Chandler , who

7426-686: The Don Covay song, " Mercy Mercy ". Issued in August by Rosemart Records and distributed by Atlantic , the track reached number 35 on the Billboard chart . Hendrix toured with the Isleys during much of 1964, but near the end of October, after growing tired of playing the same set every night, he left the band. Soon afterward, Hendrix joined Little Richard 's touring band, the Upsetters . During

7584-634: The Hotel Theresa in Harlem , where he befriended Lithofayne Pridgon, known as "Faye", who became his girlfriend. A Harlem native with connections throughout the area's music scene, Pridgon provided him with shelter, support, and encouragement. Hendrix also met the Allen twins, Arthur and Albert. In February 1964, Hendrix won first prize in the Apollo Theater amateur contest. Hoping to secure

7742-472: The Kronos Quartet often play it as an encore. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Footnotes Jimi Hendrix James Marshall " Jimi " Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix ; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer. He is widely regarded as the greatest guitarist in the history of popular music and one of

7900-642: The London Astoria , Hendrix and Chandler discussed ways in which they could increase the band's media exposure. When Chandler asked journalist Keith Altham for advice, Altham suggested that they needed to do something more dramatic than the stage show of the Who, which involved the smashing of instruments. Hendrix joked: "Maybe I can smash up an elephant", to which Altham replied: "Well, it's a pity you can't set fire to your guitar". Chandler then asked road manager Gerry Stickells to procure some lighter fluid . During

8058-642: 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 bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals became his manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience (with its rhythm section consisting of bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell ): " Hey Joe ", " Purple Haze ", and " The Wind Cries Mary ". He achieved fame in

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8216-443: The chitlin' circuit . In addition to playing in his own band, Hendrix performed as a backing musician for various soul, R&B, and blues musicians, including Wilson Pickett , Slim Harpo , Sam Cooke , Ike & Tina Turner and Jackie Wilson . In January 1964, feeling he had outgrown the circuit artistically, and frustrated by having to follow the rules of bandleaders, Hendrix decided to venture out on his own. He moved into

8374-538: The octave doubles the frequency of a note; for example, an octave above A440 is 880 Hz. If however the first overtone is sharp due to inharmonicity , as in the extremes of the piano, tuners resort to octave stretching . In atonal , twelve tone , or musical set theory , a "pitch" is a specific frequency while a pitch class is all the octaves of a frequency. In many analytic discussions of atonal and post-tonal music, pitches are named with integers because of octave and enharmonic equivalency (for example, in

8532-529: The pitch ) and panning to create novel effects. The guitar solo features the first use of the Octavia guitar effects unit. Acoustical and electronics engineer Roger Mayer developed the unit with input from Hendrix. The Octavia doubles the frequency of the sound it is fed, essentially adding an upper octave. In interviews, Hendrix usually gave different answers about the development of the song's lyrics. Biographer Harry Shapiro points out that "Purple Haze"

8690-623: The reciprocal of the time interval between repeating similar events in the sound waveform. The pitch of complex tones can be ambiguous, meaning that two or more different pitches can be perceived, depending upon the observer. When the actual fundamental frequency can be precisely determined through physical measurement, it may differ from the perceived pitch because of overtones , also known as upper partials, harmonic or otherwise. A complex tone composed of two sine waves of 1000 and 1200 Hz may sometimes be heard as up to three pitches: two spectral pitches at 1000 and 1200 Hz, derived from

8848-471: The tritone paradox , but most notably the Shepard scale , where a continuous or discrete sequence of specially formed tones can be made to sound as if the sequence continues ascending or descending forever. Not all musical instruments make notes with a clear pitch. The unpitched percussion instruments (a class of percussion instruments ) do not produce particular pitches. A sound or note of definite pitch

9006-399: The "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!" The song placed at number two on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" list, which noted that the song "unveiled a new guitar language charged with spiritual hunger and the poetry possible in electricity and studio technology". It also appeared at number 17 on the magazine's " 500 Greatest Songs of All Time " list in 2004, with

9164-424: The "Hendrix chord" by guitarists and was used primarily in rhythm and blues and jazz before Hendrix helped popularize it. He also used an unconventional fingering technique for the G and A chords. Because Hendrix used his thumb to fret the roots of the G and A chords on the sixth string, his fingers were left in a position to create different chord voicings . Instead of the usual G barre chord (G–D–G–B–D–G),

9322-495: The 10 greatest Jimi Hendrix songs. Many musicians have recorded their interpretations of the song, making it one of Hendrix's most covered songs. Dion DiMucci included an acoustic version with strings on his 1968 comeback album Dion . Released as a single in 1969, it appeared at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was two positions higher than Hendrix' single in 1967. In Canada, where Hendrix's single did not reach

9480-522: The A above middle C to 432 Hz or 435 Hz when performing repertoire from the Romantic era. Transposing instruments have their origin in the variety of pitch standards. In modern times, they conventionally have their parts transposed into different keys from voices and other instruments (and even from each other). As a result, musicians need a way to refer to a particular pitch in an unambiguous manner when talking to each other. For example,

9638-613: The Bag O'Nails nightclub in London, with Clapton, John Lennon , Paul McCartney , Jeff Beck , Pete Townshend , Brian Jones , Mick Jagger , and Kevin Ayers in attendance. Ayers described the crowd's reaction as stunned disbelief: "All the stars were there, and I heard serious comments, you know 'shit', 'Jesus', 'damn' and other words worse than that." The performance earned Hendrix his first interview, published in Record Mirror with

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9796-575: The Experience and returned to London. He announced that he had left the band and intended to pursue a solo career, blaming Hendrix's plans to expand the group without allowing for his input as a primary reason for leaving. Redding later said: "Mitch and I hung out a lot together, but we're English. If we'd go out, Jimi would stay in his room. But any bad feelings came from us being three guys who were traveling too hard, getting too tired, and taking too many drugs ... I liked Hendrix. I don't like Mitchell." Pitch (music) Pitch may be quantified as

9954-621: The Experience as Johnny Hallyday 's supporting act during a brief tour of France. Thus, the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed their first show on October 13, 1966, at the Novelty in Evreux . Their enthusiastically received 15-minute performance at the Olympia theatre in Paris on October 18 marks the earliest known recording of the band. In late October, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp , managers of

10112-453: The Experience as various avatars of Vishnu , incorporating a painting of them by Roger Law , from a photo-portrait by Karl Ferris . The painting was then superimposed on a copy of a mass-produced religious poster. Hendrix stated that the cover, which Track spent $ 5,000 producing, would have been more appropriate had it highlighted his American Indian heritage. He said: "You got it wrong ... I'm not that kind of Indian." Track released

10270-507: The Experience toured Scandinavia, West Germany, and gave their final two performances in France. On February 18 and 24, they played sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall , which were the last European appearances of this lineup. By February 1969, Redding had grown weary of Hendrix's unpredictable work ethic and his creative control over the Experience's music. During the previous month's European tour, interpersonal relations within

10428-434: The Experience, with Chandler as producer and engineers Eddie Kramer and Gary Kellgren , moved the sessions to the newly opened Record Plant Studios in New York. As the sessions progressed, Chandler became increasingly frustrated with Hendrix's perfectionism and his demands for repeated takes. Hendrix also allowed numerous friends and guests to join them in the studio, which contributed to a chaotic and crowded environment in

10586-570: The Experience. In September, they gave some of their last concerts at the Cafe Au Go Go in Manhattan , as the backing group for a singer and guitarist then billed as John Hammond . By May 1966, Hendrix was struggling to earn a living wage playing the R&;B circuit, so he briefly rejoined Curtis Knight and the Squires for an engagement at one of New York City's most popular nightspots,

10744-508: The Isley Brothers, and recorded a second single with them, "Move Over and Let Me Dance" backed with "Have You Ever Been Disappointed". Later that year, he joined a New York-based R&B band, Curtis Knight and the Squires, after meeting Knight in the lobby of a hotel where both men were staying. Hendrix performed with them for eight months. In October 1965, he and Knight recorded the single, "How Would You Feel" backed with "Welcome Home". Despite his two-year contract with Sue, Hendrix signed

10902-533: The Kasuals' second guitarist, Alphonso "Baby Boo" Young, was performing this guitar gimmick. Not to be upstaged, Hendrix also learned to play in this way. He later explained: "The idea of doing that came to me   ... in Tennessee. Down there you have to play with your teeth or else you get shot. There's a trail of broken teeth all over the stage." Although they began playing low-paying gigs at obscure venues,

11060-515: The New Animals, where Redding's knowledge of blues progressions impressed Hendrix. Another important criterion for Hendrix was fashion—according to author Keith Shadwick, "what he really liked was Redding's hairstyle." Chandler asked Redding if he wanted to play bass guitar in Hendrix's band; Redding agreed. Chandler began looking for a drummer and soon after contacted Mitch Mitchell through

11218-645: The Rocking Kings, which played professionally at venues such as the Birdland club. When his guitar was stolen after he left it backstage overnight, Al bought him a red Silvertone Danelectro . Before Hendrix was 19 years old, law authorities had twice caught him riding in stolen cars . Given a choice between prison or joining the Army , he chose the latter and enlisted on May 31, 1961. After completing eight weeks of basic training at Fort Ord , California, he

11376-468: The Sky , Cornerstones: 1967–1970 , The Ultimate Experience , Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix , Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection , and The Singles Collection . An alternative version recorded at the same time, but with different vocal and guitar overdubs, is the first song on The Jimi Hendrix Experience 2000 box set. Live recordings of "Purple Haze" as performed by each of

11534-457: The Sun ", " Red House ", and "Remember". In the middle of December, producer Chas Chandler heard Hendrix toying around with a new guitar riff. "I heard him playing it at the flat and was knocked out. I told him to keep working on that, saying, 'That's the next single! ' " Chandler claimed that after some more urging, Hendrix wrote the rest of "Purple Haze" in the dressing room of a London club during

11692-543: The UK number three hit " Purple Haze ", and in May with " The Wind Cries Mary ", which remained on the UK charts for eleven weeks, peaking at number six. On March 12, 1967, he performed at the Troutbeck Hotel, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where, after about 900 people turned up (the hotel was licensed for 250) the local police stopped the gig due to safety concerns. On March 31, 1967, while the Experience waited to perform at

11850-424: The UK record chart. "Hey Joe" was not a Hendrix composition – it was written by Billy Roberts and recorded by several groups prior to the Experience. Hendrix commented, "That record isn't us. The next one's gonna be different. We're working on an LP which will mainly be our stuff." The group recorded several demos of original material at studios in London, including "Can You See Me", " Foxy Lady ", " Third Stone from

12008-802: The US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland , reached number one on the US Billboard 200 . The double LP was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his only number one album. The world's highest-paid rock musician, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before his accidental death in London from barbiturate -related asphyxia in September 1970. Hendrix

12166-632: The US on August 23 by Reprise Records , Are You Experienced reached number five on the Billboard 200 . In 1989, Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor of Guitar World , described Are You Experienced as "the album that shook the world ... leaving it forever changed". In 2005, Rolling Stone called the double-platinum LP Hendrix's "epochal debut", and they ranked it the 15th greatest album of all time, noting his "exploitation of amp howl", and characterizing his guitar playing as "incendiary ... historic in itself". Although popular in Europe at

12324-494: The US public. After the festival, the Experience was booked for five concerts at Bill Graham's Fillmore , with Big Brother and the Holding Company and Jefferson Airplane . The Experience outperformed Jefferson Airplane during the first two nights and replaced them at the top of the bill on the fifth. Following their successful West Coast introduction, which included a free open-air concert at Golden Gate Park and

12482-656: The Who , signed the Experience to their newly formed label, Track Records , and the group recorded their first song, "Hey Joe", on October 23. " Stone Free ", which was Hendrix's first songwriting effort after arriving in England, was recorded on November 2. From November 8 to 11, 1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience had a short residency at the Big Apple club in Munich , their first gigs in Germany. At this occasion Hendrix had

12640-570: 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 has ranked the band's three studio albums, Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968), in its various lists of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ", and it ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and

12798-569: The acoustic guitar, Hendrix formed his first band, the Velvetones. Without an electric guitar, he could barely be heard over the sound of the group. After about three months, he realized that he needed an electric guitar. In mid-1959, his father relented and bought him a white Supro Ozark . Hendrix's first gig was with an unnamed band in the Jaffe Room of Seattle's Temple De Hirsch , but they fired him between sets for showing off. He joined

12956-401: The afternoon of December 26, 1966, before a gig. In several interviews, Hendrix spoke about writing the song, but did not mention where or when he wrote it. The Experience began recording "Purple Haze" on January 11, 1967, at De Lane Lea Studios in London. According to drummer Mitch Mitchell , he and bassist Noel Redding learned the song in the studio: "Hendrix came in and kind of hummed us

13114-403: The album in the UK on December 1, 1967, where it peaked at number five, spending 16 weeks on the charts. In February 1968, Axis: Bold as Love reached number three in the US. While author and journalist Richie Unterberger described Axis as the least impressive Experience album, according to author Peter Doggett, the release "heralded a new subtlety in Hendrix's work". Mitchell said: " Axis

13272-678: The album is "the fullest realization of Jimi's far-reaching ambitions." In 2004, author Peter Doggett wrote: "For pure experimental genius, melodic flair, conceptual vision and instrumental brilliance, Electric Ladyland remains a prime contender for the status of rock's greatest album." Doggett described the LP as "a display of musical virtuosity never surpassed by any rock musician." In January 1969, after an absence of more than six months, Hendrix briefly moved back into his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham's apartment in Brook Street , London, next door to

13430-526: The apparent pitch shifts were not significantly different from pitch‐matching errors. When averaged, the remaining shifts followed the directions of Stevens's curves but were small (2% or less by frequency, i.e. not more than a semitone). Theories of pitch perception try to explain how the physical sound and specific physiology of the auditory system work together to yield the experience of pitch. In general, pitch perception theories can be divided into place coding and temporal coding . Place theory holds that

13588-443: The audience. Rolling Stone 's Alex Vadukul wrote: When Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival he created one of rock's most perfect moments. Standing in the front row of that concert was a 17-year-old boy named Ed Caraeff . Caraeff had never seen Hendrix before nor heard his music, but he had a camera with him and there was one shot left in his roll of film. As Hendrix lit his guitar, Caraeff took

13746-654: The band eventually moved to Nashville 's Jefferson Street, which was the traditional heart of the city's black community and home to a thriving rhythm and blues music scene. They earned a brief residency playing at a popular venue in town, the Club del Morocco, and for the next two years Hendrix made a living performing at a circuit of venues throughout the South that were affiliated with the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA), widely known as

13904-427: The charts at number 39 on Record Mirror and at number 43 on Melody Maker . It peaked at number three and spent 14 weeks on the chart. During March 1967, several performances of "Purple Haze" were filmed to promote the song and used for television programs, such as Beat-Club , Dee Time , and Top of the Pops . Live performances were also broadcast on German NDR and BBC Radio 's Saturday Club . In 2022,

14062-599: The charts, Dion's version reached number 72. Also with a new arrangement, the Cure recorded it for the various artist's Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix in 1993. Their rendition reached number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks alternative rock chart. "Purple Haze" has achieved an unusual level of interest among classical musicians. The Meridian Arts Ensemble , the Hampton String Quartet , and Nigel Kennedy have recorded their interpretations and

14220-474: The chorus, which culminates in what musicologist Andy Aledort described as "simply one of the greatest electric guitar solos ever played". The track fades out on tremolo-picked 32nd note double stops . The scheduled release date for Axis was almost delayed when Hendrix lost the master tape of side one of the LP, leaving it in the back seat of a London taxi. With the deadline looming, Hendrix, Chandler, and engineer Eddie Kramer remixed most of side one in

14378-482: The comment that "it launched not one but two revolutions: late-Sixties psychedelia and the unprecedented genius of Jimi Hendrix". It was re-ranked to number 250 on the 2021 edition of the list. Author and music critic Dave Marsh called it the "debut single of the Album Rock Era ". In 1995, "Purple Haze" was included as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". NPR named

14536-449: The condition that the Experience perform at the festival in mid-June. On June 18, 1967, introduced by Brian Jones as "the most exciting performer [he had] ever heard", Hendrix opened with a fast arrangement of Howlin' Wolf's song "Killing Floor", wearing what Shadwick described as "clothes as exotic as any on display elsewhere". Shadwick wrote: "[Hendrix] was not only something utterly new musically, but an entirely original vision of what

14694-450: The control room and led Chandler to sever his professional relationship with Hendrix. Redding later recalled: "There were tons of people in the studio; you couldn't move. It was a party, not a session." Redding, who had formed his own band in mid-1968, Fat Mattress , found it increasingly difficult to fulfill his commitments with the Experience, so Hendrix played many of the bass parts on Electric Ladyland . The album's cover stated that it

14852-404: The conventional techniques used by the Experience to record previous songs, Chandler decided to try out new effects and sounds for "Purple Haze". He enhanced background sounds (some contributed by Redding) by playing them back through headphones, which were moved around the recording microphone, creating "a weird echo". Chandler also used sped-up guitar parts recorded at half-speed (which also raises

15010-685: The different Hendrix lineups have been released. These include Live at Monterey (the Experience), Live at Woodstock (Gypsy Sun and Rainbows), Live at the Fillmore East (Band of Gypsys), and Live at Berkeley (the Cry of Love touring group). Additional live recordings with the Experience appear on Winterland (2011 Billboard number 49 album) and Miami Pop Festival (2013 Billboard number 39 album). In March 2005, Q magazine ranked "Purple Haze" at number one in its list of

15168-459: The dirty, raw, metallic, [and] angular sounds" heard in the song, according to Shapiro. The intro consists of the melodic interval of a tritone or diminished (sometimes called flattened ) fifth . Historically, this dissonant interval has been referred to as diabolus in musica (literally "Devil in music"). It is sounded during the first two measures by Hendrix playing a B ♭ on guitar against an E played by Redding on bass, followed by

15326-399: The first recording of stereo phasing . Shadwick described the composition as "possibly the most ambitious piece on Axis , the extravagant metaphors of the lyrics suggesting a growing confidence" in Hendrix's songwriting. His guitar playing throughout the song is marked by chordal arpeggios and contrapuntal motion , with tremolo -picked partial chords providing the musical foundation for

15484-456: The fundamental. Whether or not the higher frequencies are integer multiples, they are collectively called the partials , referring to the different parts that make up the total spectrum. A sound or note of indefinite pitch is one that a listener finds impossible or relatively difficult to identify as to pitch. Sounds with indefinite pitch do not have harmonic spectra or have altered harmonic spectra—a characteristic known as inharmonicity . It

15642-438: The group had deteriorated, particularly between Hendrix and Redding. In his diary, Redding documented the building frustration during early 1969 recording sessions: "On the first day, as I nearly expected, there was nothing doing ... On the second it was no show at all. I went to the pub for three hours, came back, and it was still ages before Jimi ambled in. Then we argued ... On the last day, I just watched it happen for

15800-408: The guitar from him until he had begged for its return. In November 1961, fellow serviceman Billy Cox walked past an army club and heard Hendrix playing. Impressed by Hendrix's technique, which Cox described as a combination of " John Lee Hooker and Beethoven ", Cox borrowed a bass guitar and the two jammed . Within weeks, they began performing at base clubs on the weekends with other musicians in

15958-410: The headline: "Mr. Phenomenon". "Now hear this ... we predict that [Hendrix] is going to whirl around the business like a tornado", wrote Bill Harry , who asked the rhetorical question: "Is that full, big, swinging sound really being created by only three people?" Hendrix said: "We don't want to be classed in any category ... If it must have a tag, I'd like it to be called, 'Free Feeling'. It's

16116-433: The home of his girlfriend Betty Jean Morgan, asked his father to send it to him as soon as possible, stating: "I really need it now." His father obliged and sent the red Silvertone Danelectro on which Hendrix had hand-painted the words "Betty Jean" to Fort Campbell. His apparent obsession with the instrument contributed to his neglect of his duties, which led to taunting and physical abuse from his peers, who at least once hid

16274-455: The home of the composer Handel . After a performance of " Voodoo Child ", on BBC's Happening for Lulu show in January 1969, the band stopped midway through an attempt at their first hit "Hey Joe" and then launched into an instrumental version of " Sunshine of Your Love ", as a tribute to the recently disbanded band Cream , until director and producer Stanley Dorfman was forced to bring

16432-483: The influence of psychedelics. Commenting on the lyrics, Shadwick concludes "the music [was allowed] to tell the larger story. Poised effectively between the twin intoxicants of drugs and desire, they could be interpreted to the listener's taste". In concert, Hendrix sometimes substituted lyrics for comic effect; " 'scuse me while I kiss the sky" was rendered " 'scuse me while I kiss this guy" (while gesturing towards Mitchell), " 'scuse me while I kiss that policeman" (at

16590-435: The low and middle frequency ranges. Moreover, there is some evidence that some non-human primates lack auditory cortex responses to pitch despite having clear tonotopic maps in auditory cortex, showing that tonotopic place codes are not sufficient for pitch responses. Temporal theories offer an alternative that appeals to the temporal structure of action potentials, mostly the phase-lock of action potentials to frequencies in

16748-472: The more exotic Jimi . On October 1, 1966, Chandler brought Hendrix to the London Polytechnic at Regent Street, where Cream was scheduled to perform, and where Hendrix and guitarist Eric Clapton met. Clapton later said: "He asked if he could play a couple of numbers. I said, 'Of course', but I had a funny feeling about him." Halfway through Cream's set, Hendrix took the stage and performed

16906-427: The most common type of clarinet or trumpet , when playing a note written in their part as C, sounds a pitch that is called B ♭ on a non-transposing instrument like a violin (which indicates that at one time these wind instruments played at a standard pitch a tone lower than violin pitch). To refer to that pitch unambiguously, a musician calls it concert B ♭ , meaning, "the pitch that someone playing

17064-528: The most influential 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 age 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville , then Nashville , Tennessee, and began playing gigs on

17222-406: The musical sense of high and low pitch is still unclear. There is evidence that humans do actually perceive that the source of a sound is slightly higher or lower in vertical space when the sound frequency is increased or reduced. In most cases, the pitch of complex sounds such as speech and musical notes corresponds very nearly to the repetition rate of periodic or nearly-periodic sounds, or to

17380-511: The output of the cochlea , as via auditory-nerve interspike-interval histograms. Some theories of pitch perception hold that pitch has inherent octave ambiguities, and therefore is best decomposed into a pitch chroma , a periodic value around the octave, like the note names in Western music—and a pitch height , which may be ambiguous, that indicates the octave the pitch is in. The just-noticeable difference (jnd) (the threshold at which

17538-420: The perception of pitch is determined by the place of maximum excitation on the basilar membrane . A place code, taking advantage of the tonotopy in the auditory system, must be in effect for the perception of high frequencies, since neurons have an upper limit on how fast they can phase-lock their action potentials . However, a purely place-based theory cannot account for the accuracy of pitch perception in

17696-408: The physical frequencies of the pure tones, and the combination tone at 200 Hz, corresponding to the repetition rate of the waveform. In a situation like this, the percept at 200 Hz is commonly referred to as the missing fundamental , which is often the greatest common divisor of the frequencies present. Pitch depends to a lesser degree on the sound pressure level (loudness, volume) of

17854-485: The press interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience due to lines such as "purple haze all in my brain" and " 'scuse me while I kiss the sky". However, Hendrix and those closest to him never discussed any connection between psychedelic drugs and the song, although Shapiro admits that, at the time, to do so would have been "professional suicide". Chandler, who claimed he was present when Hendrix wrote it, later denied suggestions that Hendrix did so while under

18012-407: The prestigious Olympic Studios . The album, Are You Experienced , features a diversity of musical styles, including blues tracks such as " Red House " and the R&B song "Remember". It also included the experimental science fiction piece, " Third Stone from the Sun " and the post-modern soundscapes of the title track , with prominent backwards guitar and drums. "I Don't Live Today" served as

18170-594: The process because Chandler felt that it was more efficient for him and Hendrix to do it alone. To get a better quality recording, Chandler took the four-track tape recorded at De Lane Lea to Olympic Studios for overdubbing (although Hendrix had worked with eight-track recording in the US, it was not yet available in the UK). At Olympic, they were assigned Eddie Kramer , who, as a sound engineer, played an important role in subsequent Hendrix recordings. Hendrix added new vocals and guitar parts between February 3 and 8, 1967. Unlike

18328-639: The range of the guitar" and, according to Shadwick, "gives the impression that the guitar notes are flying off into the ether." On March 17, 1967, "Purple Haze" was released in the UK as the first single on Track Records . Another Hendrix composition, the R&;B -influenced "51st Anniversary" was included as the B-side . Paul McCartney , who was an early Hendrix supporter, gave the record an enthusiastic pre-release review in Melody Maker . The single entered

18486-492: The razor edge of distort". However, individual notes are still clear, as well as the harmonically more complex chords, even with the use of extreme overdrive for the time. The tension is maintained until the guitar solo, which "arrives as something of a release rather than a further racking up of the atmosphere." It is also when Hendrix first introduces the Octavia, coupled with a Fuzz Face distortion unit. Whitehill describes

18644-421: The respective octaves. Mitchell on drums comes in for the third measure, when Hendrix introduces the riff that piqued Chandler's interest, and Redding continues playing the octaves in E. After the riff, the verse sections begin, which Shadwick describe as "simplicity itself, consisting of just three chords": E7 ♯ 9, G, and A. The E7 ♯ 9, or dominant seventh sharp ninth chord, has come to be called

18802-410: The riff and showed Noel the chords and the changes. I listened to it and we went, 'OK, let's do it.' We got it on the third take as I recall." The basic track was recorded in four hours, according to Chandler. Multitrack recording technology allowed engineers to record and complete additional parts on the final master. After the basic track was finished, Chandler explained that he and Hendrix developed

18960-462: The sense of direction and time is distorted. In an interview on January 28, 1967, before the song was completed, Hendrix was asked how he wrote songs; he responded, "I dream a lot and I put my dreams down as songs. I wrote one called 'First Look Around the Corner' and another called 'The Purple Haze,' which was about a dream I had that I was walking under the sea." He later expressed frustration that he

19118-414: The shot for a 1987 magazine cover. According to author Gail Buckland, the final frame of "Hendrix kneeling in front of his burning guitar, hands raised, is one of the most famous images in rock". Author and historian Matthew C. Whitaker wrote that "Hendrix's burning of his guitar became an iconic image in rock history and brought him national attention". The Los Angeles Times asserted that, upon leaving

19276-482: The show, Hendrix gave an especially dynamic performance before setting his guitar on fire at the end of a 45-minute set. In the wake of the stunt, members of London's press labeled Hendrix the "Black Elvis" and the "Wild Man of Borneo". An enduring urban legend in the UK maintains that a possible explanation for the feral parakeets that have appeared in Great Britain since the mid-20th century may derive from

19434-477: The show...Afterwards, Dorfman refused to speak to us, but the result is one of the most widely used bits of film we ever did. Certainly, it’s the most relaxed." Dorfman recalls at the BBC club after the show, he found Hendrix to be "a very sweet man, very quiet, he didn’t know he’d done anything wrong at all." However, according to rock and roll legend, Hendrix was banned from working at the BBC again. During this time,

19592-518: The single reached number five in the UK. " Burning of the Midnight Lamp ", his first recorded song to feature a wah-wah pedal , was added to the album. It was originally released as his fourth single in the UK in August 1967 and reached number 18 on the charts. In 1989, Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor of Guitar World , described Electric Ladyland as "Hendrix's masterpiece". According to author Michael Heatley, "most critics agree" that

19750-412: The sixth-greatest artist of all time. Hendrix was of African-American and alleged Cherokee descent . His paternal grandfather, Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix, was born in 1866 from an extramarital affair between a woman named Fanny and a grain merchant from either Urbana, Ohio or Illinois, one of the wealthiest men in the area at that time. Hendrix's paternal grandmother, Zenora "Nora" Rose Moore,

19908-404: The so-called Baroque pitch , has been set in the 20th century as A = 415 Hz—approximately an equal-tempered semitone lower than A440 to facilitate transposition. The Classical pitch can be set to either 427 Hz (about halfway between A415 and A440) or 430 Hz (also between A415 and A440 but slightly sharper than the quarter tone). And ensembles specializing in authentic performance set

20066-580: The solo as "almost sound[ing] likes he's playing a blues raga. He starts out playing in the Mixolydian mode and then he goes right into the blues side. The Octavia has the effect of a sitar, kind of like Ravi Shankar meets B.B. King." During the song's outro, the guitar part recorded at 7½ inches per second (ips) played back at 15 ips, is combined with the Octavia, further extending the guitar's upper frequency range. Henderson describes it as "an uncanny piercing tone that takes off, Eastern-sounding beyond

20224-506: The song as referring to a psychedelic experience , although Hendrix described it as a love song. It was included as the opening track in the North American edition of the Experience's debut album, Are You Experienced (1967). "Purple Haze" is one of Hendrix's best-known songs and appears on many Hendrix compilation albums. The song featured regularly in concerts and each of Hendrix's group configurations issued live recordings. It

20382-399: The song is all about." This draws on an experience Hendrix had while still in New York, where he felt that a girl was attempting to use voodoo to trap him and he became ill. Shapiro believes that this is reflected in most of the first two verses: Purple haze all around, don't know if I'm coming up or down Am I happy or in misery, whatever it is that girl put a spell on me Many fans and

20540-451: The song to a premature end. The Experience bass player Noel Redding describes in his autobiography, "as the minutes ticked by on his live show, short of running onto the set to stop us or pulling the plug, there was nothing he could do. We played past the point where Lulu might have joined us, played through the time for talking at the end, played through Stanley tearing his hair, pointing to his watch and silently screaming at us. We played out

20698-415: The song to its list of the "100 Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century" in 2000. In 2000, it was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award , which "honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance". In 2020, Far Out ranked the song number one on their list of the 20 greatest Jimi Hendrix songs, and in 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number two on their list of

20856-521: The song: With 'Purple Haze', Hendrix and I were striving for a sound and just kept going back in [to the studio], two hours at a time, trying to achieve it. It wasn't like we were there for days on end. We recorded it, and then Hendrix and I would be sitting at home saying, 'Let's try that.' Then we would go in for an hour or two. That's how it was in those days. However long it took to record one specific idea, that's how long we would book. We kept going in and out. Redding and Mitchell were not included in

21014-505: The sounds being assessed against sounds with pure tones (ones with periodic , sinusoidal waveforms). Complex and aperiodic sound waves can often be assigned a pitch by this method. According to the American National Standards Institute , pitch is the auditory attribute of sound allowing those sounds to be ordered on a scale from low to high. Since pitch is such a close proxy for frequency, it

21172-537: The stage, Hendrix "graduated from rumor to legend". Author John McDermott wrote that "Hendrix left the Monterey audience stunned and in disbelief at what they'd just heard and seen". According to Hendrix: "I decided to destroy my guitar at the end of a song as a sacrifice. You sacrifice things you love. I love my guitar." The performance was filmed by D. A. Pennebaker and included in the concert documentary Monterey Pop , which helped Hendrix gain popularity with

21330-415: The stockade, received a telegram announcing his son's birth. During Al's three-year absence, Lucille struggled to raise their son. When Al was away, Hendrix was mostly cared for by family members and friends, especially Lucille's sister Delores Hall and her friend Dorothy Harding. Al received an honorable discharge from the US Army on September 1, 1945. Two months later, unable to find Lucille, Al went to

21488-406: The time, the Experience's first US single, "Hey Joe", failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart upon its release on May 1, 1967. Their fortunes improved when McCartney recommended them to the organizers of the Monterey Pop Festival . He insisted that the event would be incomplete without Hendrix, whom he called "an absolute ace on the guitar". McCartney agreed to join the board of organizers on

21646-489: The tone, especially at frequencies below 1,000 Hz and above 2,000 Hz. The pitch of lower tones gets lower as sound pressure increases. For instance, a tone of 200 Hz that is very loud seems one semitone lower in pitch than if it is just barely audible. Above 2,000 Hz, the pitch gets higher as the sound gets louder. These results were obtained in the pioneering works by S. Stevens and W. Snow. Later investigations, e.g. by A. Cohen, have shown that in most cases

21804-526: The track "EXP", which uses microphonic and harmonic feedback in a new, creative fashion. It also showcased an experimental stereo panning effect in which sounds emanating from Hendrix's guitar move through the stereo image, revolving around the listener. The piece reflected his growing interest in science fiction and outer space . He composed the album's title track and finale around two verses and two choruses, during which he pairs emotions with personas , comparing them to colors. The song's coda features

21962-399: The two tones are played simultaneously as the listener is then able to discern beat frequencies . The total number of perceptible pitch steps in the human hearing range is about 1,400; the total number of notes in the equal-tempered scale, from 16 to 16,000 Hz, is 120. The relative perception of pitch can be fooled, resulting in aural illusions . There are several of these, such as

22120-475: The west, the twelve-note chromatic scale is the most common method of organization, with equal temperament now the most widely used method of tuning that scale. In it, the pitch ratio between any two successive notes of the scale is exactly the twelfth root of two (or about 1.05946). In well-tempered systems (as used in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach , for example), different methods of musical tuning were used. In almost all of these systems interval of

22278-592: Was "produced and directed by Jimi Hendrix". During the Electric Ladyland recording sessions, Hendrix began experimenting with other combinations of musicians, including Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady and Traffic's Steve Winwood , who played bass and organ, respectively, on the 15-minute slow-blues jam, " Voodoo Chile ". During the album's production, Hendrix appeared at an impromptu jam with B.B. King, Al Kooper , and Elvin Bishop . Electric Ladyland

22436-531: Was Preston Jeter (born 1875), whose mother was born in similar circumstances as Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix. Lucille's mother, Clarice ( née Lawson), had African-American ancestors who had been enslaved people. Al, who had been drafted by the US Army to serve in World War II , left to begin his basic training three days after the wedding. Johnny Allen Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942, in Seattle; he

22594-528: Was a former dancer and vaudeville performer who co-founded Fountain Chapel in Hogan's Alley . Hendrix and Moore relocated to Vancouver , Canada, where they had a son they named James Allen Hendrix on June 10, 1919; the family called him "Al". In 1941, after moving to Seattle , Washington, Al met Lucille Jeter (1925–1958) at a dance; they married on March 31, 1942. Lucille's father (Jimi's maternal grandfather)

22752-408: Was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and stationed at Fort Campbell , Kentucky. He arrived on November 8, and soon afterward he wrote to his father: "There's nothing but physical training and harassment here for two weeks, then when you go to jump school ... you get hell. They work you to death, fussing and fighting." In his next letter home, Hendrix, who had left his guitar in Seattle at

22910-403: Was deeply affected by his life experiences. In later years, he confided to a girlfriend that he had been the victim of sexual abuse by a man in uniform. On December 17, 1951, when Hendrix was nine years old, his parents divorced; the court granted Al custody of him and Leon. At Horace Mann Elementary School in Seattle during the mid-1950s, Hendrix's habit of carrying a broom with him to emulate

23068-533: Was how men should deal with loss. In 1958, Hendrix completed his studies at Washington Junior High School and began attending, but did not graduate from, Garfield High School . In mid-1958, at age 15, Hendrix acquired his first acoustic guitar, for $ 5 (equivalent to $ 53 in 2023). He played for hours daily, watching others and learning from more experienced guitarists, and listening to blues artists such as Muddy Waters , B.B. King , Howlin' Wolf , and Robert Johnson . The first tune Hendrix learned to play

23226-408: Was included as the opening track on the American release of Are You Experienced on August 23, 1967. Because of the song's airplay on underground FM radio , the album became more popular than Hendrix's singles. One of Hendrix's most popular songs, "Purple Haze" appears on numerous compilation albums. Some of these include Smash Hits , The Essential Jimi Hendrix , The Singles Album , Kiss

23384-525: Was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is included on lists of the greatest guitar songs, including at number two by Rolling Stone and number one by Q magazine. In 2004 and 2010, the former ranked it at number 17 on its “ The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ” list, re-ranking it to number 250 in the 2021 edition. By January 5, 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's first single, " Hey Joe ", backed with " Stone Free ", had peaked at number six on

23542-417: Was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues . He favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain , and was instrumental in popularizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback . He was also one of the first guitarists to make extensive use of tone-altering effects units in mainstream rock, such as fuzz distortion, Octavia , wah-wah , and Uni-Vibe . He

23700-468: Was leaving the Animals and was interested in managing and producing artists. Chandler saw Hendrix play in Cafe Wha? , a Greenwich Village, New York City nightclub. Chandler liked the Billy Roberts song " Hey Joe ", and was convinced he could create a hit single with the right artist. Impressed with Hendrix's version of the song, he brought him to London on September 24, 1966, and signed him to

23858-455: Was released just three days previous. Beatles manager Brian Epstein owned the Saville at the time, and both George Harrison and Paul McCartney attended the performance. McCartney described the moment: "The curtains flew back and he came walking forward playing 'Sgt. Pepper'. It's a pretty major compliment in anyone's book. I put that down as one of the great honors of my career." Released in

24016-539: Was released on October 25, and by mid-November it had reached number one in the US, spending two weeks at the top spot. The double LP was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his only number one album. It peaked at number six in the UK, spending 12 weeks on the chart. Electric Ladyland included Hendrix's cover of a Bob Dylan song, " All Along the Watchtower ", which became Hendrix's highest-selling single and his only US top 40 hit, peaking at number 20;

24174-417: Was the first musician to use stereophonic phasing effects in 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

24332-531: Was the first of Lucille's five children. In 1946, Johnny's parents changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix, in honor of Al and his late brother Leon Marshall. Stationed in Alabama at the time of Hendrix's birth, Al was denied the standard military furlough afforded servicemen for childbirth; his commanding officer placed him in the stockade to prevent him from going AWOL to see his infant son in Seattle. He spent two months locked up without trial, and, while in

24490-526: Was the first time that it became apparent that Jimi was pretty good working behind the mixing board, as well as playing, and had some positive ideas of how he wanted things recorded. It could have been the start of any potential conflict between him and Chas in the studio." Recording for the Experience's third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland , began as early as December 20, 1967, at Olympic Studios. Several songs were attempted; however, in April 1968,

24648-714: 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, Billboard named him the Artist of the Year and 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

24806-500: Was the television theme " Peter Gunn ". Around that time, Hendrix jammed with boyhood friend Sammy Drain and his keyboard-playing brother. In 1959, attending a concert by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters in Seattle, Hendrix met the group's guitarist Billy Davis . Davis showed him some guitar licks and got him a short gig with the Midnighters. The two remained friends until Hendrix's death in 1970. Soon after he acquired

24964-440: Was unable to more fully develop his ideas for the song: You know the song we had named 'Purple Haze'? [It] had about a thousand, thousand words ... I had it all written out. It was about going through, through this land. This mythical ... because that's what I like to do is write a lot of mythical scenes. You know, like the history of the wars on Neptune. So far, only a crumpled single sheet of ruled yellow tablet paper

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