Purple Haze

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"Purple Haze" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967, in the United Kingdom. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Eastern modalities, shaped by novel sound processing techniques. Because of ambiguities in the lyrics, listeners often interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience, although Hendrix described it as a love song. It was included as the opening track in the North American edition of the Experience's debut album, Are You Experienced (1967).

"Purple Haze" is one of Hendrix's best-known songs and appears on many Hendrix compilation albums. The song featured regularly in concerts and each of Hendrix's group configurations issued live recordings. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is included on lists of the greatest guitar songs, including at number two by Rolling Stone and number one by Q magazine. In 2004 and 2010, the former ranked it at number 17 on its “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ” list, re-ranking it to number 250 in the 2021 edition.

Background and recording

By January 5, 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's first single, "Hey Joe", backed with "Stone Free", had peaked at number six on the UK record chart.Template:Sfn "Hey Joe" was not a Hendrix composition – it was written by Billy Roberts and recorded by several groups prior to the Experience. Hendrix commented, "That record isn't us. The next one's gonna be different. We're working on an LP which will mainly be our stuff."Template:Sfn The group recorded several demos of original material at studios in London, including "Can You See Me", "Foxy Lady", "Third Stone from the Sun", "Red House", and "Remember".Template:Sfn In the middle of December, producer Chas Chandler heard Hendrix toying around with a new guitar riff. "I heard him playing it at the flat and was knocked out. I told him to keep working on that, saying, 'That's the next single!Template:'"Template:Sfn Chandler claimed that after some more urging, Hendrix wrote the rest of "Purple Haze" in the dressing room of a London club during the afternoon of December 26, 1966, before a gig.Template:Sfn In several interviews, Hendrix spoke about writing the song, but did not mention where or when he wrote it.Template:Sfn

The Experience began recording "Purple Haze" on January 11, 1967, at De Lane Lea Studios in London. According to drummer Mitch Mitchell, he and bassist Noel Redding learned the song in the studio: "Hendrix came in and kind of hummed us the riff and showed Noel the chords and the changes. I listened to it and we went, 'OK, let's do it.' We got it on the third take as I recall."Template:Sfn The basic track was recorded in four hours, according to Chandler.Template:Sfn Multitrack recording technology allowed engineers to record and complete additional parts on the final master. After the basic track was finished, Chandler explained that he and Hendrix developed the song: Template:Blockquote Redding and Mitchell were not included in the process because Chandler felt that it was more efficient for him and Hendrix to do it alone.Template:Sfn To get a better quality recording, Chandler took the four-track tape recorded at De Lane Lea to Olympic Studios for overdubbing (although Hendrix had worked with eight-track recording in the US, it was not yet available in the UK).Template:Sfn At Olympic, they were assigned Eddie Kramer, who, as a sound engineer, played an important role in subsequent Hendrix recordings.Template:Sfn Hendrix added new vocals and guitar parts between February 3 and 8, 1967.Template:Sfn Unlike the conventional techniques used by the Experience to record previous songs, Chandler decided to try out new effects and sounds for "Purple Haze".Template:Sfn He enhanced background sounds (some contributed by Redding) by playing them back through headphones, which were moved around the recording microphone, creating "a weird echo".Template:Sfn Chandler also used sped-up guitar parts recorded at half-speed (which also raises the pitch) and panning to create novel effects.Template:Sfn The guitar solo features the first use of the Octavia guitar effects unit.Template:Sfn Acoustical and electronics engineer Roger Mayer developed the unit with input from Hendrix. The Octavia doubles the frequency of the sound it is fed, essentially adding an upper octave.<ref name="Mayer"> Template:Cite web</ref>

Lyrics and interpretation

File:Purple Haze - ad 1967.png

Billboard advertisement, September 9, 1967

In interviews, Hendrix usually gave different answers about the development of the song's lyrics. Biographer Harry Shapiro points out that "Purple Haze" is most likely "a pot-pourri of ideas" which Hendrix developed over time.Template:Sfn As a fan of science fiction, he frequently incorporated its imagery in his songwriting.Template:Sfn Hendrix read Night of Light, a 1966 novel by Philip José Farmer, that expanded on a short story published in 1957.Template:Sfn In the story set on a distant planet, sunspots produce a "purplish haze" which has a disorienting effect on the inhabitants. The phrase “purple haze” also appears in Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel The Fountainhead (Part 2, Chapter 14), and even earlier in Charles Dickens’s 1861 novel Great Expectations (Chapter 54), although it is unknown whether Hendrix had read these and was influenced by them.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn An early handwritten draft of the song by Hendrix, titled "Purple Haze – Jesus Saves", uses dream-like imagery where the sense of direction and time is distorted.Template:Sfn In an interview on January 28, 1967, before the song was completed, Hendrix was asked how he wrote songs; he responded, "I dream a lot and I put my dreams down as songs. I wrote one called 'First Look Around the Corner' and another called 'The Purple Haze,' which was about a dream I had that I was walking under the sea."Template:SfnTemplate:Efn He later expressed frustration that he was unable to more fully develop his ideas for the song: Template:Blockquote So far, only a crumpled single sheet of ruled yellow tablet paper is on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and does not include any of the lyrics used in the Experience song.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> Chandler admitted that in the early stages, he helped Hendrix shape the songs and lyrics to radio single length.Template:Sfn Biographer Keith Shadwick comments that although much of the complexity may have been sacrificed, it resulted in verses that are "simple, focused and striking".Template:Sfn

After its release, Hendrix offered another explanation: "He [the song's protagonist] likes this girl so much, that he doesn't know what [state] he's in, ya know. A sort of daze, I suppose. That's what the song is all about."Template:Sfn This draws on an experience Hendrix had while still in New York, where he felt that a girl was attempting to use voodoo to trap him and he became ill.Template:Sfn Shapiro believes that this is reflected in most of the first two verses:Template:Sfn Template:Poemquote

Many fans and the press interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience due to lines such as "purple haze all in my brain" and Template:"'scuse me while I kiss the sky".Template:Sfn However, Hendrix and those closest to him never discussed any connection between psychedelic drugs and the song, although Shapiro admits that, at the time, to do so would have been "professional suicide".Template:Sfn Chandler, who claimed he was present when Hendrix wrote it, later denied suggestions that Hendrix did so while under the influence of psychedelics.Template:Sfn<ref name="Ruhlmann"> Template:Cite web</ref> Commenting on the lyrics, Shadwick concludes "the music [was allowed] to tell the larger story. Poised effectively between the twin intoxicants of drugs and desire, they could be interpreted to the listener's taste".Template:SfnTemplate:Efn In concert, Hendrix sometimes substituted lyrics for comic effect; Template:"'scuse me while I kiss the sky" was rendered Template:"'scuse me while I kiss this guy" (while gesturing towards Mitchell),Template:Sfn Template:"'scuse me while I kiss that policeman" (at a near riot in Los Angeles), or Template:"'scuse me while I fuck the sky" (during a downpour in Seattle).Template:Sfn

Composition

Music critic William Ruhlmann describes "Purple Haze" as having "relentlessly driving, if relatively slow-paced underlying music, which provides a good platform for some of Hendrix's inventive guitar playing".<ref name="Ruhlmann"/> Beginning with its dissonant opening and heavy use of distortion, Hendrix's techniques "all contributed to the dirty, raw, metallic, [and] angular sounds" heard in the song, according to Shapiro.Template:Sfn The intro consists of the melodic interval of a tritone or diminished (sometimes called flattened) fifth.Template:Sfn Historically, this dissonant interval has been referred to as diabolus in musica (literally "Devil in music").Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn It is sounded during the first two measures by Hendrix playing a BTemplate:Music on guitar against an E played by Redding on bass, followed by the respective octaves.Template:Sfn Mitchell on drums comes in for the third measure, when Hendrix introduces the riff that piqued Chandler's interest, and Redding continues playing the octaves in E.Template:Sfn

After the riff, the verse sections begin, which Shadwick describe as "simplicity itself, consisting of just three chords": E7Template:Music9, G, and A.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The E7Template:Music9, or dominant seventh sharp ninth chord, has come to be called the "Hendrix chord" by guitarists and was used primarily in rhythm and blues and jazz before Hendrix helped popularize it.Template:Sfn He also used an unconventional fingering technique for the G and A chords.Template:Sfn Because Hendrix used his thumb to fret the roots of the G and A chords on the sixth string, his fingers were left in a position to create different chord voicings.Template:Sfn Instead of the usual G barre chord (G–D–G–B–D–G), a G5 (G–X–G–G–D–G) is sometimes played with the major third (B) being muted on the fifth string and replaced by the open third string (G).Template:Sfn Redding follows the chord changes mostly by playing the root with occasional passing notes,Template:Sfn while Mitchell heightens the tension with drum flourishes that accentuate Hendrix's vocal and guitar.Template:Sfn

Em Casalena of American Songwriter wrote, "for lack of a better descriptor, [the song sounds] alien. Or at least, it was alien when it was released back in 1967."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biographer David Henderson describes Hendrix's guitar tone on the track as "at the razor edge of distort".Template:Sfn However, individual notes are still clear, as well as the harmonically more complex chords, even with the use of extreme overdrive for the time.Template:Sfn The tension is maintained until the guitar solo, which "arrives as something of a release rather than a further racking up of the atmosphere."Template:Sfn It is also when Hendrix first introduces the Octavia, coupled with a Fuzz Face distortion unit.Template:Sfn Whitehill describes the solo as "almost sound[ing] likes he's playing a blues raga. He starts out playing in the Mixolydian mode and then he goes right into the blues side. The Octavia has the effect of a sitar, kind of like Ravi Shankar meets B.B. King."Template:Sfn During the song's outro, the guitar part recorded at 7½ inches per second (ips) played back at 15 ips, is combined with the Octavia, further extending the guitar's upper frequency range.Template:Sfn Henderson describes it as "an uncanny piercing tone that takes off, Eastern-sounding beyond the range of the guitar"Template:Sfn and, according to Shadwick, "gives the impression that the guitar notes are flying off into the ether."Template:Sfn

Releases and charts

File:Are You Experienced - US cover-edit.jpg

"Purple Haze" became the opening track on the 1967 American Are You Experienced album

1967 singles charts

Chart	Peak	Template:Abbr
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	7	<ref> Template:Cite web</ref>
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)	45	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Netherlands (Singles chart)	11	<ref> Template:Cite web</ref>
New Zealand (Listener)	9	<ref>https://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=638#n_view_location search listener</ref>
Norway (VG-lista)	7	<ref> Template:Cite web</ref>
UK (Record Retailer)	3	Template:Sfn
US Billboard Hot 100	65	Template:Sfn
West Germany (GfK)	17	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On March 17, 1967, "Purple Haze" was released in the UK as the first single on Track Records.Template:Efn Another Hendrix composition, the R&B-influenced "51st Anniversary" was included as the B-side.Template:Sfn Paul McCartney, who was an early Hendrix supporter, gave the record an enthusiastic pre-release review in Melody Maker.Template:Sfn The single entered the charts at number 39 on Record Mirror and at number 43 on Melody Maker.Template:Sfn It peaked at number three and spent 14 weeks on the chart.Template:Sfn During March 1967, several performances of "Purple Haze" were filmed to promote the song and used for television programs, such as Beat-Club, Dee Time, and Top of the Pops.Template:Sfn Live performances were also broadcast on German NDR and BBC Radio's Saturday Club.Template:Sfn In 2022, the British Phonographic Industry awarded "Purple Haze" its Gold certification, signifying sales of over 400,000.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref>

For the American single, Reprise Records paired the song with "The Wind Cries Mary".Template:SfnTemplate:Efn It was released on June 19, 1967, the day following the Experience's performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.Template:Efn The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart on August 26, where it spent eight weeks and reached number 65.Template:Sfn "Purple Haze" was included as the opening track on the American release of Are You Experienced on August 23, 1967.Template:Sfn Because of the song's airplay on underground FM radio, the album became more popular than Hendrix's singles.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

One of Hendrix's most popular songs,<ref name="Ruhlmann"/> "Purple Haze" appears on numerous compilation albums. Some of these include Smash Hits, The Essential Jimi Hendrix, The Singles Album, Kiss the Sky, Cornerstones: 1967–1970, The Ultimate Experience, Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix, Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection, and The Singles Collection.<ref name="Ruhlmann"/> An alternative version recorded at the same time, but with different vocal and guitar overdubs, is the first song on The Jimi Hendrix Experience 2000 box set. Live recordings of "Purple Haze" as performed by each of the different Hendrix lineups have been released.Template:Sfn These include Live at Monterey (the Experience), Live at Woodstock (Gypsy Sun and Rainbows), Live at the Fillmore East (Band of Gypsys), and Live at Berkeley (the Cry of Love touring group).<ref name="Ruhlmann"/> Additional live recordings with the Experience appear on Winterland (2011 Billboard number 49 album) and Miami Pop Festival (2013 Billboard number 39 album).

Recognition and influence

In March 2005, Q magazine ranked "Purple Haze" at number one in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!"<ref> Template:Cite magazine Template:Usurped</ref> The song placed at number two on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" list, which noted that the song "unveiled a new guitar language charged with spiritual hunger and the poetry possible in electricity and studio technology".<ref> Template:Cite magazine</ref> It also appeared at number 17 on the magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2004, with the comment that "it launched not one but two revolutions: late-Sixties psychedelia and the unprecedented genius of Jimi Hendrix".<ref> Template:Cite magazine</ref> It was re-ranked to number 250 on the 2021 edition of the list. Author and music critic Dave Marsh called it the "debut single of the Album Rock Era".Template:Sfn In 1995, "Purple Haze" was included as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> NPR named the song to its list of the "100 Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century" in 2000.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> In 2000, it was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which "honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance".<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, Far Out ranked the song number one on their list of the 20 greatest Jimi Hendrix songs,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number two on their list of the 10 greatest Jimi Hendrix songs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Many musicians have recorded their interpretations of the song, making it one of Hendrix's most covered songs.Template:Sfn Dion DiMucci included an acoustic version with strings on his 1968 comeback album Dion.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> Released as a single in 1969, it appeared at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was two positions higher than Hendrix' single in 1967. In Canada, where Hendrix's single did not reach the charts, Dion's version reached number 72.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Also with a new arrangement, the Cure recorded it for the various artist's Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix in 1993.<ref name="Ruhlmann"/> Their rendition reached number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks alternative rock chart. "Purple Haze" has achieved an unusual level of interest among classical musicians.<ref name="Ruhlmann"/> The Meridian Arts Ensemble, the Hampton String Quartet, and Nigel Kennedy have recorded their interpretations and the Kronos Quartet often play it as an encore.<ref name="Ruhlmann"/>

See also

• Album era

Notes

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Sources

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External links

• "Purple Haze" (official audio) on Vevo