If 6 Was 9
| "If 6 Was 9" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from the album Axis: Bold as Love | |
| Released | 1 December 1967 (UK) 15 January 1968 (US) |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, acid rock, heavy metal, hard rock |
| Length | 5:32 |
| Label | MCA (reissues) |
| Writer | Jimi Hendrix |
| Producer | Chas Chandler |
| Axis: Bold as Love track listing | |
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Side 1
Side 2
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"If 6 Was 9" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It appeared on the release of their 1967 album Axis: Bold as Love and on the soundtrack for the 1969 film Easy Rider and the soundtrack for the 1991 film Point Break.
Contents |
[edit] Style and instrumentation
The style of the song has been referred to as "acid-fueled blues".[1] The guitar solo is noteworthy for making innovative use of studio technology for the time, with stereo panning from left to right and vice versa, along with other effects, such as slap echo, fuzzbox distortion, and reverb. [2]
There is some confusion as to whether Hendrix played a flute or a soprano recorder on this track. The credits list Hendrix as playing flute, but recorder player Rodney Waterman and Joe Vanderford of Independent Weekly refer to Hendrix's instrument as a recorder. Early music enthusiast Nicholas S. Lander maintains that "the high tessitura, the typical 'breaking' between octaves, and other characteristics are more suggestive of a soprano recorder."[3]
Compared to the other tracks on Axis: Bold As Love, "If 6 Was 9" suffers from an unusually large amount of tape noise, dropouts, and overall "rough" sound quality. According to Hendrix biographer John McDermott, the master tape used for the album was a quarter-inch open-reel tape belonging to bassist Noel Redding, containing an early rough mix of the song. This technically inferior copy (intended for a home tape player) had to be used at the last minute since the album's final stereo master tape had been accidentally lost, and "If 6 Was 9" was the one song that Hendrix and engineer Eddie Kramer could not satisfactorily remix. They reportedly had to use a clothes iron to remove wrinkles in the badly mishandled tape, copied it onto new studio-quality tape, and inserted it into the final album master with no further modification.
[edit] Interpretation
The theme has been described as an "individualist anthem".[4] The lyrics portray the underlying conflict of the counterculture of the 1960s: the "social and cultural dichotomies" between the hippies and the "white collared conservative" business world of the establishment. Beginning with a blues riff, the lyrics accompany a "spacey" free-form jam, with Hendrix epitomizing the existentialist voice of the youth movement: "I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die/so let me live my life/the way I want to."[5]
Authors Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek believe the lyrics, "if the mountains fell into the sea" are a reference to the creation myth of the second world of Hopi mythology.[6] Frank Waters' Book of the Hopi (1963) was known to have influenced Hendrix, and many of his songs contain mythological themes and images related to Native Americans in the United States;[7] Hendrix himself was part Cherokee.[8]
[edit] Urban legend
Various urban legends based on numerology have developed around the meaning of number 9 in the song and Hendrix's subsequent accidental death from asphyxiating on his vomit after taking a mixture of Secobarbital and alcohol in 1970.[9]
[edit] Cover versions
Notable cover versions include the 1995 release by Bootsy Collins with guitarist Buckethead on Funkcronomicon (released as a single in 1996)[10] and Todd Rundgren's cover on the 1976 album Faithful. Punk-rock band Fifteen also quotes the 'White Collared Conservative Businessman' verse in their song "Brian's Song".
Tori Amos covered this song on the limited edition CD Single of "Cornflake Girl" released in the United Kingdom as part of a two disc set (sold separately.) To date it is one of the few Amos songs that has not been re-released in a collection or boxed set, or made available digitally.[11]
Lenny Kravitz used to cover this song during his Let Love Tour between 1989 and 1990. One of these performances has been officially released in 2009 on the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of his album Let Love Rule.
In 1994, the band Beautiful People did a remixed version of the song called "If 60's Were 90's" on their album by the same name.[12]
David Lee Roth covered "If 6 Was 9" on his 2003 album Diamond Dave.
Wolfmother covered "If 6 Was 9" for their 2009 album Cosmic Egg which also was partially recorded at Electric Lady Studios.
Maria Pia De Vito covered "If 6 Was 9" on her 2009 album Mind The Gap.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Newquist, Harvey P. (2003). The Blues-Rock Masters. Backbeat Books. p. 32. ISBN 0879307358.
- ^ Prown, Pete; Harvey P. Newquist (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard. p. 50. ISBN 0793540429.
- ^ Lander, Nicholas S.. "Recordings". Recorder Home Page: Instrument of Torture or Instrument of Music?. http://www.recorderhomepage.net/torture5.html. Retrieved 2007-07-16. "Most of this article was previously published in the Australian Journal of Musical Education. From an interview with Lander in Recorder and Music. 20, 2: 50-53 (2000)."
- ^ Pendergast, Sara (2000). "Jimi Hendrix". St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. St. James Press. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200532. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
- ^ Vincent, Ricky (1996). Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of the One. St. Martin's Press. p. 107. ISBN 0312134991.
- ^ Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 225
- ^ Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 148
- ^ Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 13
- ^ Patterson, Gary R. (2004). Take a Walk on the Dark Side: Rock and Roll Myths, Legends, and Curses. Simon and Schuster. p. 200. ISBN 0743244230.
- ^ Axiom Funk's "If 6 Was 9" at Discogs
- ^ Rogers, Kalen (1994). Tori Amos: All These Years. Omnibus Press. p. 81. ISBN 0711948275.; See also: Tori Amos' "If 6 Was 9" at Discogs
- ^ If 60's Were 90's at Discogs
[edit] References
- Shapiro, Harry; Caesar Glebbeek (1995). Jimi Hendrix, Electric Gypsy. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312130627.
[edit] Further reading
- Kubernik, Harvey (2006). Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music in Film and on Your Screen. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 082633542X.
- Roby, Steven (2002). Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix. Billboard Books. ISBN 082307854X.
- Shadwick, Keith (2003). Jimi Hendrix: Musician. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0879307641.
- Stubbs, David (2003). Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child: The Stories Behind Every Song. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1560255374.
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