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"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
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 Hard Rock Blues-rock
Length	5:12
Label	MCA
Writer	Jimi Hendrix
Producer	Jimi Hendrix
The Jimi Hendrix Experience singles chronology
Izabella Voodoo Child (Slight Return) No Such Animal (Part 1 & Part 2) Audio sample Info (help·info)

"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-heavy guitar work, influenced by Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone".

"Voodoo Child" was released posthumously in 1970 as the A side on a three-track single, and reached Number 1 in the UK. Unfortunately, it was catalogued as "Voodoo Chile" (Track 2095 001), and that is the title which appears on the single and is the title referred to officially. This obviously confuses it with the 15-minute jam on the album Electric Ladyland. The B-side of the single featured two of his previous hits: "Hey Joe" and "All Along the Watchtower."

Contents 1 Origins and recording 2 Personnel 3 Legacy 4 Cover versions 5 Other usage 6 References

"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)'".

The song appears on the album Band of Gypsys: Live at the Fillmore East. While introducing the song, Hendrix refers to it as the Black Panthers' national anthem.

• Producer: Jimi Hendrix
• Additional producer:Chas Chandler
• Engineer: Eddie Kramer
• Guitar, vocals, percussion: Jimi Hendrix
• Bass: Noel Redding
• Drums, percussion: Mitch Mitchell

One of Hendrix's best known works and a staple for rock guitarists, it is considered by many including numerous famous guitar players of today as one of the greatest pieces of electric guitar work ever. The wah-wah intro has become a timeless example of Hendrix's style and creativity and is instantly identifiable. The kind of raw, unbridled energy and bravado he was able to display with his guitar was unheard of at that point in time, further reinventing himself and the electric guitar.

It was named the 11th greatest solo of all-time in Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos; Guitar Legends Issue #46. Hendrix was listed 6 times, more than any other artist on the list.

In the same issue Joe Satriani listed this as his favorite guitar solo:

"It's just the greatest piece of electric guitar work ever recorded. In fact, the whole song could be considered the holy grail of guitar expression and technique. It is a beacon of humanity."

Kenny Wayne Shepherd:

"This is pretty much the guitar anthem of all time. From that amazing opening riff to the way he breaks it down in the middle and gets funky, the whole thing is incredible. There are things Jimi did on the guitar that humans just can't do. You can try all day, even if you're playing the right notes, it's not the same. It definitely seems as if he was coming from a higher place when he played."

It could also be argued that the muted wah-wah intro is one of the earliest influences on 70's funk guitar playing where the guitarist (often playing through a wah-wah) strums muted chords and un-mutes them during certain beats usually strumming in 1/8 or 1/16 note patterns. Examples of this can be heard on many Issac Hayes recordings and is infamously associated with 70's porn music.

• The song was covered by Zakk Wylde's band Pride and Glory also featuring Slash of Guns N' Roses at an anniversary of the Gibson Les Paul
• The song featured as a jam between Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen at G3: Live in Denver in 2003.
• The track was covered by avid Hendrix fan Stevie Ray Vaughan for his Austin City Limits debut in 1983 and for his 1984 album Couldn't Stand the Weather in a slightly extended version, though it was spelled "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" in both cases. Stevie played this song all throughout his career.
• The song was also covered by Angélique Kidjo for her 1998 album Oremi.
• Another cover was recorded by Yngwie Malmsteen on the album The Genesis and is mentioned as a "jam".
• The song has also been covered numerous times by Ben Harper during live performances, bootlegs of which circulate around the internet are frequently but erroneously attributed to Pearl Jam.
• The song was covered by Kenny Wayne Shepherd and released as a bonus track on his "Blue on Black" single released in 1997 and is a staple in his live setlist.
• The song is usually performed in their concerts by the Argentinian band Divididos. The guitar player Ricardo Mollo usually does the main riffs of the song with different objects such as trainers, drumsticks, carrots, and his own teeth.
• Voodoo Child was also covered by Rob Thomas and pedal steel maestro Robert Randolph.
• The song appears on The Best of Top of the Pops '70 (Hallmark HALMCD 1037), one of a series of albums recorded by session musicians that contained covers of hits.

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash often used the intro to "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" as part of an extended Jam/Intro after the song "Double Talkin' Jive" and before the song "Civil War."
• 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.
• Samples of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" feature on the KMFDM song "We Must Awaken" from the Money album.
• the song is used in a mashup with rapper Jay-Z's song "99 Problems", and is found widely on the internet and as a video on YouTube.
• The song has been featured in the films Payback, In the Name of the Father, Under Siege, Almost Famous, In the Name of the Father, Flashback and Withnail and I.
• Stevie Ray Vaughan's cover of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" was also featured in the 2002 film Black Hawk Down.
• The song has been featured in a Nissan Xterra commercial.
• Theme music of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan during his stint with WCW in the 1990's, in particular while he was known as "Hollywood Hogan" with the nWo. Following his return to WWE in 2003, Hogan used this theme again for a short while. During one such usage, commentator Mike Tenay mentioned it by name, but mispronounced it as "Voodoo Chili," resulting in a brief running gag of mocking that among the Internet wrestling community.
• MLB slugger Mike Piazza of the Oakland Athletics has long used the song when coming to bat. Sal Fasano of the Toronto Blue Jays also uses the song as his entrance music.
• Relief pitcher Joel Zumaya of the Detroit Tigers also uses the song when entering from the bullpen. He does not come out to "Voodoo Chile", as Lynn Henning of the Detroit News mistakenly reports.
• 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.
• Several times as background music in the latest series of Top Gear.

• Experience Hendrix: The Best Of Jimi Hendrix (Liner notes), Experience Hendrix, 1997.

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

v • d • e Jimi Hendrix

Bands The Jimi Hendrix Experience • Gypsy Sun and Rainbows • Band of Gypsys • The Cry of Love Related bands: The Dirty Mac • The Noel Redding Band • Ramatam • The Gypsy Sun Experience Personnel Noel Redding • Mitch Mitchell • Billy Cox • Buddy Miles • Larry Lee • Juma Sultan • Jerry Velez Discography Original releases Studio albums: Are You Experienced (1967) • Axis: Bold as Love (1967) • Electric Ladyland (1968) Live albums: Band of Gypsys (1970) Compilations: Smash Hits (1969) Posthumous releases Studio albums: The Cry of Love (1971) • Rainbow Bridge (1971) • War Heroes (1972) • Loose Ends (1973) • Crash Landing (1975) • Midnight Lightning (1975) • Nine to the Universe (1980) Live albums: Monterey International Pop Festival (1970) • "Experience": Original Soundtrack from the Feature Length Motion Picture (1971) • Isle of Wight (1971) • Hendrix in the West (1972) • More "Experience" (1972) • Soundtrack Recordings from the Film "Jimi Hendrix" (1973) • The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (1982) • Jimi Plays Monterey (1986) • Live at Winterland (1987) • Jimi Hendrix: Woodstock (1994) • Live in Denmark (1995) • Live at the Oakland Coliseum (1998) • Woke up this Morning and Found Myself Dead (1998) • Live at the Fillmore East (1999) • Live at Clark University (1999) • Live at Woodstock (1999) • Live in Ottawa (2001) • Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight (2002) • Jimi Hendrix: Live at Berkeley (2003) • Stockholm Concert (2004) • Live at the Isle of Fehmarn (2005) • Live at Monterey (2007) Compilations and box sets: Jimi Hendrix (1972) • The Essential Jimi Hendrix (Vol. 1) (1978) • The Essential Jimi Hendrix (Vol. 2) (1979) • The Singles Album (1983) • Kiss the Sky (1984) • Johnny B. Goode (1986) • Band of Gypsys 2 (1986) • Radio One (1988) • Lifelines: The Jimi Hendrix Story (1990) • Sessions (1991) • Footlights (1991) • Stages (1991) • Stages (1992) • The Ultimate Experience (1993) • Bleeding Heart (1994) • Blues (1994) • Voodoo Soup (1995) • First Rays of the New Rising Sun (1997) • South Saturn Delta (1997) • BBC Sessions (1998) • Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix (1998) • The Jimi Hendrix Experience (2000) • Morning Symphony Ideas (2000) • Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection (2001) • The Summer of Love Sessions (2001) • The Baggy's Rehearsal Sessions (2002) • Astro Man (2003) • Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Jimi Hendrix (2003) • Axis Outtakes (2003) • Live in Copenhagen (2004) • Hear My Music (2004) • 20th Century Masters Millenium Collection: Best of Jimi Hendrix (2005) • Rainy Day Dream Away (2006) • Burning Desire (2006) • Jimi Hendrix His Greatest Hits (2006) Anticipated releases Jimi Hendrix (1973 film) • The Royal Albert Hall film • Jimi and Noel's 8mm films • Black Gold Songs "All Along the Watchtower" • "Angel" • "Astroman" • "Bold as Love" • "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" • "Castles Made of Sand" • "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)" • "Fire" • "Foxy Lady" • "Freedom" • "Gypsy Eyes" • "Hey Joe" • "I Don't Live Today" • "If 6 Was 9" • "Little Wing" • "Machine Gun" • "Manic Depression" • "My Friend" • "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" • "Purple Haze" • "Red House" • "Spanish Castle Magic" • "The Star-Spangled Banner" • "Stone Free" • "Third Stone from the Sun" • "Up from the Skies" • "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" • "Voodoo Chile" • "Wild Thing" • "The Wind Cries Mary" Related articles Early life of Jimi Hendrix • Electric Lady Studios • Jimi Hendrix's musical equipment • Management: Chas Chandler, Michael Jeffery Monika Dannemann • Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix