Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
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| "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" | ||
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| Single by The Jimi Hendrix Experience | ||
| from the album Electric Ladyland | ||
| Released | 1968 (album)/1970 (single) | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | May 1968 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic Rock | |
| Length | 5:12 | |
| Label | MCA | |
| Writer(s) | Jimi Hendrix | |
| Producer(s) | Jimi Hendrix | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| The Jimi Hendrix Experience singles chronology | ||
| Izabella | Voodoo Child (Slight Return) | No Such Animal (Part 1 & Part 2) |
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is the last track on the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland . The song is well known for its wah-wah-soaked guitar work, with muted strings crescendoing into explosive riffs.
Voodoo Child was released as a single posthumously in 1970, and reached Number 1 in the UK.
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[edit] Origins and recording
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"'s genesis was essentially in Voodoo Chile, a long blues jam featuring guests Steve Winwood and Jack Casady. 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:
- "Someone was filming when we started doing that... We did that about three times because they wanted to film us in the studio—'Make like you're recording, boys.' So it was 'OK, let's play this in E, a one, a two, a three, and then we went into 'Voodoo Child (Slight Return)'".
[edit] Personnel
- Producer: Jimi Hendrix
- Additional producer:Chas Chandler
- Engineer: Eddie Kramer
- Guitar, vocals: Jimi Hendrix
- Bass: Noel Redding
- Drums: Mitch Mitchell
[edit] Covers and usage
The track was covered by avid Hendrix fan Stevie Ray Vaughan for his 1984 album Couldn't Stand the Weather in a slightly extended version, though it was spelled Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), Stevie played this song all throughout his career. It was also covered by Angélique Kidjo for her 1998 album Oremi. The song was covered by guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen in the album The Genesis and is mentioned as a "jam".
The song has been featured in a Nissan Xterra commercial, featured in the film Payback, and had served at several points as the theme music of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. Stevie Ray Vaughan's cover of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" was also featured in the 2002 film Black Hawk Down. MLB slugger Mike Piazza of the San Diego Padres has long used the song when coming to bat. Relief pitcher Joel Zumaya of the Detroit Tigers also uses the song when entering from the bullpen. The opening to the song also is one of the demos included in Guitar Pro 5.
Radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge opens and closes his show with the song.
Hanoi Rocks guitarist Andy McCoy quoted the song as his "last words" when he was sliding down from his balcony in 1999. McCoy said to his wife before falling down to the ground "If I see you no more in this world, I see you in the next world, and don't be late". McCoy, however, survived the fall (though his leg had to be operated afterwards). "I quoted Hendrix", he told later in the interview in Helsingin Sanomat newspaper's weekly supplement.
[edit] References
- Experience Hendrix: The Best Of Jimi Hendrix (Liner notes), Experience Hendrix, 1997.
- Live Performance - Woodstock, 1969.
- Live Performance - Berkeley, 1970.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan Performance - El Mocambo, 1983.
| Preceded by: "Woodstock" by Matthews Southern Comfort |
UK number one single November 17, 1970 |
Succeeded by: "I Hear You Knocking" by Dave Edmund's Rockpile |
