| "Fire" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Jimi Hendrix Experience | ||||
| from the album Are You Experienced | ||||
| A-side | "Let Me Light Your Fire" (Fire) | |||
| B-side | "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp" | |||
| Released | LP May 12, 1967 (UK) stereo single April 1969 |
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| Format | vinyl record (7") & LP | |||
| Recorded | February 1967 | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, acid rock | |||
| Length | 2:47 | |||
| Label | Track Records, Polydor (LP & single); Reprise (LP only) | |||
| Writer(s) | Jimi Hendrix | |||
| Producer | Chas Chandler | |||
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience singles chronology | ||||
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"Fire" is a song written and originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix and released on the 1967 Are You Experienced album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The 1967 USA Reprise stereo remix of "Fire" was subsequently released as a stereo single in 1969, outside of USA and Canada as "Let Me Light Your Fire." The track has been included on a number of greatest hits collections, including Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Experience. 'The Experience' frequently opened live concerts with this song.
Despite its sexual overtones, the song had an innocuous origin, stemming from a cold New Year's Eve in Folkestone, England after a gig. Noel Redding, bass player for The Jimi Hendrix Experience invited Jimi and Cathy as guests at his mother's house. Jimi asked her if he could stand next to her fireplace to warm himself. She agreed, but her Great Dane was in the way, hence the line, "Aw, move over, Rover, and let Jimi take over..." ("Electric Gypsy").[1]
The album version of the song contained a very short and simple solo, but through several live performances, Hendrix expanded it.
The album version also features Backing vocals from Trevor Burton (The Move) and Jim Leverton (Steve Marriott, Rory Gallagher)
"Fire" has been covered by many artists, including Alice Cooper; a Top Forty version of the song was released by the pop group Five By Five in 1968. It was used in TV commercials for the 1993 Chevrolet Camaro and the 1999 Pontiac Sunfire, and in 2007 for a commercial for Verizon's V-Cast.
A notable band to cover the song are Red Hot Chili Peppers, who started playing it regularly from around March 1983. When the band's original guitarist Hillel Slovak died in 1988, the recording of "Fire" was added as a tribute to their Mother's Milk, released in 1989. The Red Hot Chili Peppers had their version as part of their Woodstock '99 setlist. In their recorded version, they replaced "Oh, move over Rover, and Let Jimi take over" with "Oh, move over Mr. Rover, and let Mr. Huckleberry take over". Since Slovak's death, however, Mr. Huckleberry has been replaced by "Mr. Frusciante", though it has never been said in a recorded version.
Nigel Kennedy performed a cover of "Fire" on the 1993 album Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
Another notable cover, by The Real McKenzies, was released on their debut album Real McKenzies in 1995, in a slightly faster tempo and with lyrics not related to those of "Fire".
Lupe Fiasco has also sampled the song for his own of the same name.
"Fire" was featured as a playable song in the game Lego Rock Band, and a live version was later released as downloadable content for the main series (ironically, the live version is unavailable for Lego Rock Band).
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