Jimi Hendrix writes Purple Haze
After a stint in the U.S.Army and a creatively unfulfilling stretch as a session musician and sideman to acts like Little Richard and The Isley Brothers 21-year-old Jimi Hendrix moved to New York City in 1964 to set about building a solo career.Discovered two years later by the British managerproducer Chas Chandler a former member of the The Animals Hendrix moved to England in 1966 and teamed up with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell to form The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The group scored an almost immediate UK hit with Hey Joe which was released in mid-December.It was 10 days later however on December 26 1966 that Hendrix wrote Purple Hazethe song that would not only give him his breakthrough hit in the United States but also go on to define an entire musical era.In fact Jimi Hendrix had been fooling around with the guitar riffs that became Purple Haze for several months but it was on the afternoon of this day in 1966 while in a backstage dressing room at the Uppercut Club in London that he wrote the songs famous lyrics.
And while critics and fans alike rightly hail Jimi Hendrix for having revolutionized the very sound of rocks most important instrument his status as arguably the greatest electric guitarist who ever lived sometimes overshadows his talents as a songwriter.Purple Haze was a song that instantly grabbed listeners attention with its famous opening riffa ferocious two-note guitar march scarred with fuzz in the words of Rolling Stoneand didnt let go through a little more than three minutes of tightly constructed instrumental chaos.But its lyricsScuse me while I kiss the skysounded just as revolutionary in 1967 and may be just as much a part of the songs appeal today.Released in the United States as the lead single from The Jimi Hendrix Experiences debut album Are You Experienced in June 1967 Purple Haze actually had relatively little commercial success as a single.
It was Hendrixs legendary guitar-burning live performance at the Monterey Pop Festival that same month that established him as a starthough not too big a star to act briefly as the opening act for The Monkees later that summer. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked Purple Haze 17 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
