1533 Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 1968

"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" is a song recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1968 and appears on the "Electric Ladyland" album also released that year. It is an improvisational guitar piece, with Hendrix's vocal and guitar backed by Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. The song was developed from "Voodoo Chile", recorded May 2, 1968 during a studio jam with Steve Winwood on organ and Jack Casady on bass. The next day, Hendrix returned to the studio with Redding and Mitchell for the filming on a short documentary by ABC television. Noel Redding explained, "We learned that song in the studio ... They had the cameras rolling on us as we played it". Hendrix added, "Someone 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'. According to Hendrix biographer Steven Roby, eight takes of the song were recorded by Hendrix, Redding, and Mitchell; the final one was chosen as the master which appeared on "Electric Ladyland". Particularly noted is Hendrix's guitar work: "Opening with a simple riff on the wah-wah pedal, the song explodes into full sonic force, the guitarist hitting the crunching chords and taking the astral-inspired leads for which he became infamous. The real guitar explorations happen midway through the song, while the basic, thundering riff is unrelenting".