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Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

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"Voodoo Child"
Song
B-side"Hey Joe" and "All Along the Watchtower"

"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" is the last track on Electric Ladyland, the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The song is known for its wah-wah-heavy guitar work. It is #102 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time.[1]

The song was recorded in 1968, and was re-released as a single after Hendrix's death in 1970. It was the A side on a three-track record, and reached Number 1 in the UK. It was catalogued as "Voodoo Chile" (Track 2095 001), and that is the title which appears on the single and is the title referred to officially. This obviously confuses it with the 15-minute song "Voodoo Chile" also on Electric Ladyland. The B-side of the single featured two of his previous hits: "Hey Joe" and "All Along the Watchtower".

Origins and recording

The genesis of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" was essentially in "Voodoo Chile", a long blues jam featuring guest Steve Winwood.[2] On May 3, 1968 (the day after "Voodoo Chile"'s recording), a crew from ABC filmed the Jimi Hendrix Experience while they played. As Hendrix explained it:

[S]omeone was filming when we started doing [Voodoo Child]. We did that about three times because they wanted to film us in the studio, to make us—"Make it look like you're recording, boys"—one of them scenes, you know, so, "OK, let's play this in E, a-one, a-two, a-three", and then we went into "Voodoo Child".[3]

The song became one of Hendrix's staples in live performances and would vary in length from 7 to 18 minutes. Notable live performances were at Woodstock and during his 1969 show at the Royal Albert Hall, originally released on the posthumous Hendrix in the West album, later re-released on the Experienced Box Set. On the Band of Gypsys live album Live at the Fillmore East, Hendrix refers to the song as the Black Panthers' national anthem.

Personnel

Legacy

Hendrix's solo was named the 11th greatest solo of all-time in Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos; Guitar Legends Issue #46. Hendrix was listed 6 times, more than any other artist on the list.

In the same issue Joe Satriani listed this as his favorite guitar solo:

"It's just the greatest piece of electric guitar work ever recorded. In fact, the whole song could be considered the holy grail of guitar expression and technique. It is a beacon of humanity."

Kenny Wayne Shepherd:

"This is pretty much the guitar anthem of all time. From that amazing opening riff to the way he breaks it down in the middle and gets funky, the whole thing is incredible. There are things Jimi did on the guitar that humans just can't do. You can try all day, even if you're playing the right notes, it's not the same. It definitely seems as if he was coming from a higher place when he played."

Cover versions

  • The track was covered by avid Hendrix fan[10] Stevie Ray Vaughan for his 1984 album Couldn't Stand the Weather in a slightly extended version. Stevie played this song all throughout his career, and it was included on his 1986 concert album Live Alive, as well as on several of his live video releases and the 2000 SRV retrospective box set.
  • Top of the Poppers covered the song in 1970, with their version later appearing on their album The Best of Top of the Pops '70 (Hallmark HALMCD 1037).
  • The song has also been covered numerous times by the Naughty Thoughts.
  • John Mayer performed this song live at his show at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York on August 8, 2010, at First Midwest Bank Amphitheater in Tinley Park, Illinois on August 14, 2010, at USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, UT, on August 31, 2010, and again at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO on September 1, 2010.

Stevie Winwood and Eric Clapton covered it during their concerts in 2010.

Other usage

Samples of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" feature on the KMFDM song "We Must Awaken" from the Money album.The song has been featured in the films Payback, In the Name of the Father, Under Siege, Almost Famous, Lords of Dogtown, Black Hawk Down, Flashback and Withnail and I. Stevie Ray Vaughan's cover of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" was also featured in the 2002 film Black Hawk Down. The song has also been featured in a Nissan Xterra commercial. In addition, pro wrestler Hulk Hogan has frequently used this song as his theme music, most notably as a member of the New World Order in WCW, his return to WWE as well as his current tenure in TNA.

References

  1. ^ "Rolling Stone 500 greatest songs of all time The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 'Voodoo Child (Slight Return)'". © 2012 Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  2. ^ McDermott, R., Kramer, E., Cox, B. (2009). Ultimate Hendrix, page 101. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-938-1
  3. ^ Henderson, David. Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky. 2003, page 350
  4. ^ Acariciando lo áspero - Rock.com.ar
  5. ^ YouTube - Voodoo Chile DIVIDIDOS en Chile
  6. ^ Civil War live
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZNGAR7U7hY
  9. ^ Ten Club
  10. ^ "Vaughan worshiped at the altar of Hendrix, brazenly inviting comparisons with him and even recording one of his songs, "Voodoo Chile." "
  • Experience Hendrix: The Best Of Jimi Hendrix (Liner notes), Experience Hendrix, 1997.
Preceded by UK number one single
November 21, 1970 		Succeeded by
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