Jimi Hendrix's Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Coding

Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Coding in the Work of Jimi Hendrix
Author(s): Sheila Whiteley

Source: Popular Music, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Jan., 1990), pp. 37-60
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/852882
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Popular Music (1990) Volume 9/1
Progressive rock and psychedelic

coding in the work of
Jimi Hendrix
SHEILA WHITELEY
But like, the blues is what we're supposed to dig . . sometimes the no
but it's a different scene between those notes. (Hendrix quoted in P
Discussion of the 1960s generally identifies progressive rock as

communication within the counter-culture. At the same time, m
genre is an underdeveloped field of study, including only
musical characteristics (Willis 1978), Mellers' analysis of th
Middleton and Muncie's analysis of five representative
University's course, Popular Culture (1981). As a particularly h
(compared with, for example, rock 'n' roll and r&b), definition
equally raise problems: to what extent does the variety of styles re
radical movements contained within the overall term counter-c
given the variety of styles, can progressive rock be considered
and, if so, to what extent does it have musical codes in comm
Although it is possible to isolate music from its social, cult
context, progressive rock was located where particular soc
musical developments crossed. The question thus arises as to w
rock can be interpreted as a particular expressive form of the c
and material life experience and, if so, the extent to which it
containing cultural values and social meanings.
With progressive rock standing in a contradictory position
conventions, the critical imperative rests on the degree to wh
read as 'oppositional'. How does progressive rock, from within
articulate the socially mediated subjective experience of the diff
the counter-culture? Is it a simple contestation of existing mus
how can a musical language express an alternative 'progressive
extent does this rely on personalised intuitional breaks,
breakdown of structures?
While my initial analysis of Hendrix addresses the problem of the music itself -
how it is arranged, instrumentation, style etc. - the problem remains as to how it can
provide social and cultural meanings. My starting point has been that musical facts
are socially grounded: that 'the socially constructed codes which are responsible for
musical structures set the limits of meaning, but the music is actually created in
concrete cultural situations, and these orient its received meaning in particular ways'
(Willis 1978). However, while it can be argued that the sense of innovation in
progressive rock challenged the more standardised structure of pop songs and as
37
38 Sheila Whiteley
such provided a musical analogy for the counter-culture's search for alternative
cognitive and social modes beneath and outside the framework of the dominant
culture, the area of signification presents problems. In particular the level of
denotation seems lacking or at best unclear as there is very little sense of objective
reference to concepts and perceptions. On the other hand, it is possible to discuss
connotation, in that music was recognised, by the counter-culture, as a symbolic act
of self-liberation and self-realisation in which reality and musical experience were
fused. As such the sound-shape, together with the socio-cultural element
superimposed upon it, consolidate to form a distinct form of communication.
As the counter-culture was largely concerned with alternative modes of living
which involved, to a large extent, the use of drugs as a means towards exploring the
imagination and self-expression, Hendrix's music is analysed for psychedelic
coding. Focused by a reading of Joel Fort's The Pleasure Seekers: the Drugs Crisis, Youth
and Society (1969), this analysis explores the way in which progressive rock conveys a
musical equivalent of hallucinogenic experience through the manipulation of
timbres (blurred/bright/overlapping), upward movement (and its comparison with
psychedelic flight and the 'trip'), harmonies (oscillating/lurching), rhythms (regular/
irregular), relationships (foreground/background) and collages to provide a point of
comparison with the more conventionalised, 'normal' treatment inherent in rock.
At the same time, it is recognised that such associations quickly become
conventionalised. As Middleton and Muncie (1981, p. 87) point out,
psychedelic elements in musical style are typically interpreted as such by reference to a
sub-culture of drug usage; in other words they are defined in this way primarily because
hippies said they should be. A whole group of connotations, arising from our knowledge of
the drug culture, then settles on the music. But this culture has already been defined in this
way partially because of the existence in it of this particular kind of music. The meaning of
drug-usage is affected by the meaning of the associated music . . . The system is perfectly
structured internally . .. but has no necessary connection to anything outside itself; there is
no purchase on it from without.
While my analysis of Hendrix has been influenced to some extent by this awareness
of intra-cultural interpretations, I have tried to establish the meaning of psychedelic
elements through an examination of the musical codes involved and, more
important, their relationship to each other.
This article suggests a possible approach towards correlating cultural and
musical characteristics and, in particular, the correspondence in Jimi Hendrix's
music between its 'progressive rock' and its 'psychedelic' associations. In particular,
it explores how the emphasis on self-expression, improvisation and experimenta-
tion, implicit in progressive rock,1 related to the counter-culture's emphasis on the
immediacy of the experiential here and now of psychedelic experience.
Jimi Hendrix: the relationship between structure and psychedelic

coding
Prior to his move to London in 1966, Hendrix's musical career in the United States
had included package tours with Solomon Burke and Wilson Pickett. His strongest
influence came from the serious blues musicians who came out of the South- Muddy
Waters, Willie Dixon and Little Walter - and on one occasion he backed his idol, B. B.
King. Other temporary engagements included backing Little Richard, Jackie Wilson,
Wilson Pickett and Curtis-Knight and for a time he played with the Isley Brothers,
Progressive rock, psychedelic coding and Jimi Hendrix 39
the first band to give him a chance to play lead guitar. This broad-based experience in
the clubs made him equally conversant with jazz, saxophone swing, r&b, gospel and
soul.
Hendrix was brought to England by Chas Chandler who saw him playing at the
Cafe Wha in Greenich Village. Chandler took him back to London where they
auditioned a rhythm section which resulted in the engagement of Noel Redding
(bass) and Mitch Mitchell (drums). Calling the band the Jimi Hendrix Experience,
they played their first public engagement at Paris Olympia.
'Hey Joe', with flip side 'Stone Free', was the group's first single, and was
released on 16 December 1966. By this time Hendrix had spent four months playing
the London clubs: the Marquee, the Upper Cut, the Bag-O-Nails and the short -lived
71/2 Club. A review in Melody Maker's 'Caught in the Act' section focused on his
powerful psychedelic blues style, but the press generally wrote him off as so much
loud, useless noise, calling him 'The Wild Man from Borneo' or 'The Crazy Black
Man'. Rather than fight the image the group encouraged it, hoping it would increase
their following in the underground. 'Hey Joe', musically reinforced the image.
Mysterious, menacing and dynamically very well paced, the record in effect picked up on the
blues where the Rolling Stones had left the idiom after topping the British charts with 'Little
Red Rooster' in 1964, and 'Hey Joe' ... made the British top ten early in 1967. Just as Britain
was beginning to feel the reverberations of the drug culture of San Francisco, here was a
young black man from the West Coast with frizzy hair, outrageously colourful clothes, and no
inhibitions about using the guitar as a sexual symbol. (Brown and Pearce 1978, p. 13)
But, as Mike Clifford points out, Hendrix had everything going for him - he had a
supremely cool vocal drawl, dope-and-Dylan oriented lyrics, the acid dandyism of
his clothes and the stirring element of black sexual fantasy (Gillett 1970, p. 385).
'Hey Joe' is based on a simple repetitive harmonic structure (see Example la).
The introduction establishes the inherent menacing mood of the song with a moody,
blues-like riff (Example ib). The vocal is based on a heavily repetitive falling motif,
coloured by inflection and muttered comments: (Example ic). After a shouted 'I
Gave Her the Gun/I Shot Her/Yes, I Did./ I took the gun and I shot her' the second
verse leads into Hendrix's guitar solo. This is based on scale figures which move
around the principal chord structure: three bars on G Major, two bars on E Minor.
The effect of the simple repetitive harmonies is to free the melody line (the structure
is easily extended to create breaks of an irregular length) while the form itself is not
constrained by a set harmonic sequence (such as the twelve bar blues). At the same
time, the progressions provide harmonic motion under the strongly rhythmic
figures which are themselves punctuated by Hendrix comments. 'Shoot her one
more time baby' (Example 2).
Example la, b, c
b)
40 Sheila Whiteley
c)
Hey Joe where you goin' with that gun in your hand - I said
(--
Hey Joe where you goin' with that gun in your hand I'm go - in'
out and find my wo-man now- she's been run-nin' round with some oth-er man I said I'm
b!F FIF fFF "

go-in' out_ to find my wo-man she's be
Example 2
Progressive elements
Hendrix had first heard 'Hey Joe' when jamming with Arthur Lee of the group Love,
but whereas Lee relied on a mixture of muttered vocals and a guitar line borrowed
from Jackie De Shannon's 'When You Walk In The Room', Hendrix shows more the
influence of two of his guitar heroes, John Lee Hooker and Albert King. The
introduction, for example, with its heavily accented G, the underpinning in the vocal
line with the long decay on the D over which Hendrix mutters 'I said', reflects the
moody and menacing style of Hooker, while the casual dexterity in the lead break is
more reminiscent of Albert King. The influence of B. B. King is also present in the
sensuous articulation in the break, the flurries of quick notes contrasting with the
sustained G and glissando fall in bar 7. The basic falling pattern which was
established in the vocal is also there, and is a typical r&b formula. However, as
Hendrix himself once replied to an interviewer who was comparing his style with
Clapton: 'but like, the blues is what we're supposed to dig ... Sometimes the notes
might sound like it, but it's a different scene between those notes' (quoted in Pidgeon
1976, p. 62). Thus, while there are blue notes, pitch inflection, 'vocalised' guitar tone,
triplet beats and off-beat accenting and a call-and-response relationship in Hendrix'
own commentary to his guitar solo and verse line, the way in which these elements
are pulled together is typically Hendrix. The sustain tone, which originated with
B.B. King, takes on an even more overt sexuality, which was particularly evident in
live performances by Hendrix where he would play the guitar with his teeth or with
strongly masturbatory connotations to feed both the rhythmic emphasis of the guitar
line and the words themselves: 'I caught her messin' with another man'.
In January, 1967 Nick Jones' article in Melody Maker (1967) 'Hendrix - On The
Crest Of A Fave Rave' provided a formative account of the basic ingredients for
progressive rock: 'The Hendrix sound is what England hasn't yet evolved - but
desperately needs. It's a weaving, kaleidoscope of tremor and vibration, discords
and progressions'.
The album Are You Experienced was released in September 1967. The single 'Hey
Joe' appeared on side one and two other tracks also became chart hits: 'And The
Wind Cries Mary' and 'Purple Haze'. The album focused on the psychedelic, with
the title pulling on drug connotations.
'Purple Haze', the name given to a particular brand of the drug LSD, is overtly
concerned with hallucinogenic experience:
Purple Haze was in my brain
Lately things don't seem the same
Actin' funny, don't know why
'scuse me while I kiss the sky
The energy, use of distortion, fuzz,2 wah wah and loudness coupled with precise
and sinuous scalic riffs are comparable to 'Hey Joe', but this time the sexual focus, the
betrayal of the male by the female and the violent consequences are shifted to pull on
a sense of timelessness:
Purple Haze all around

Don't know if I'm coming up or down
Am I happy or in misery
Whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me
'Purple Haze' begins with a bass pedal E under A? on bass and lead guitar, the t
bars creating an underlying beat, a common pulse, which works to establis
bonding between performer and audience (Example 3). The pulse-like bea
continues in the next two bars, but here the A# disappears as Hendrix moves into the
opening riff with its characteristic bending up of notes and dipping vibratos. Wh
this is basically a pentatonic blues riff, the extremes of distortion blur the act
pitching of the notes and the discordant partials make it.practically impossible
hear the pitch. However, given the blues logic of Hendrix's other songs it is proba
Example 3
Guitar I _
Bass a s s
42 Sheila Whiteley
that the underlying structure is based on the chords of E-G-A which support the
earlier vocal line (Example 4).
The riff has the typical feeling of muscle and crunch common to most Hendrix
numbers, and this comes through particularly in the tonal quality created by the
electronic distortion, the fuzz and the resultant discordant partials. The expectations
generated in the opening riff are also picked up in the main break which moves
towards an overt theatricality with its hammered and pulled-off notes, the jittered
bursts of broken words over the free-flowing improvisation with its wild yet
Example 4
bend up
Guitar P-2II
Bass I
etc.
etc.
Example 5
ever it is that girl put a spell on me
II14
W 1 I I' W An t J-l
-..
Help me! Help me! Oh, no, no
6==N 'd WMMM" 'm==. iM I i

etc.
(1 (2 (3 (4
I r r I
behind the beat
controlled sense of energy. In particular, the logic of the melodic shape of

the downward curve from C$-B subtly supports the more overt frenz
delivery itself (Example 5). Throughout the entire solo the impression is of
at the octave above, a possible effect of electronic distortion or alternatively som
ofprtilhroi. IYoebr h oe cae rdmnts nohr h
of partial harmonic. In some bars the lower octave predominates, in ot
upper, with the clearest 'shifts' to the higher octave occurring at bars 2 a
Psychedelic coding
As an acid track, the torn sounds and muttered syllables work within the
shape of the lead guitar line which moves from top C# to B (Example
movement into the trip is accompanied by upward moving figures (Example
44 Sheila Whiteley
Example 6 a
into trip_ _
Help me! Help me! Oh, no, no
start of trip
w Un- MPF M ,-
nL Itt-" I1
) 1climax:
electronic manipulation and bending of notes:
bending of notes: tripping around notes out of trip - next verse
high excitement bars 6-7 bars 8-9
6 7 ~ 9
! , I............. . 0 ! '.
drums gradually moving from a highly active and syncopated rhythm into a fast but
even pulse in quavers (Example 6c). In the lead break, high notes, sliding
amplifications and the sheer volume of noise move against the continuous arterial
throb of the rhythm to juxtapose two realities- the throb of the continuous bass heart
beat against the exhilarated high of Hendrix's guitar solo, which is intensified by the
doubling at the octave effect.
For the listener, the sheer volume of noise works towards the drowning of
personal consciousness. The simultaneous underlying pulsating rhythm and the
heightened sensation of raw power rips through the distorted amplification of the
guitar sound with its sinuous tripping around the basic notes (Example 7).
Example 7
almost 7 in the time of 8 semiquavers
behind the beat

AA
5 6, , "" 7 "6
8th notes 8th notes
The melody line is

moves towards an inc
song reflects the state
particular word or
absorbing and domin
played at half-speed
and moves upwards t
present on 'funny' an
around the beat (Ex
Example 8
Purple Haze was in my brain Lately things don't seem the same
A - -
Acti n funny, kiss the sky'
Act in' funny kiss the sky
46 Sheila Whiteley
Overall, the use of repetition in the song works towards a mood of

obsessiveness and absorption. This is reflected in the motif which constitutes the
total melodic structure of the vocal line, and while there are minor variations based
on inflection which bend with the words, its constant use moves ultimately towards
a sense of fixation and total absorption within the 'purple haze'. The final vocal
phrase (Example 10), for example, with its strong dip shapes and muttered
comments is supported by an accented F chord over a pulsating beat which stops
suddenly as Hendrix mutters 'tell me, tell me, tell me'. The effect is one of loss of
time, the underlying beat has gone and all that remains is the distanced voice and a
sense of other-worldliness.
Example 10
* (blue note)
You've got me blow-in' Blow-in' my mind Is it tomorrow or just the
end of time (tell me tell me tell me)
The total effect of 'Purple Haze' is one of drifting and while the lead br
example, is fairly metrical with most of the bars being in eights or sixteen
ornaments, the deflection of accents from weak to strong beats in bars 3-5
feeling of being within a different time-scale (Example 11). The sensation of
is equally fed by phrasing and articulation. In the lead break the guitar me
an almost raga-like noodling around the notes, again suggestive of a state of
where a fixed idea/concept/point takes on a new reality. In conjunction w
feedback and distortion there is a feeling of incoherence. In particular th
registers are almost pure noise and as such resonate with the imagery of th
Purple haze was in my eyes
Don't know if it's day or night
You've got me blowing, blowing my mind,
Is it tomorrow or just the end of time?
Example 11
3) 4) 5)
Progressive
While 'Purple
vocal, the rep
the call-and-response between the vocal and guitar, there is overall a sensation of
anti-structure which comes through in the aural experience of the delivery, the
dense sound, the distorted slide notes, the muttered broken questions:
Tell me, tell me
and the deep/throated answer:

Purple haze, Purple haze
you go on and on till the end of time
oooh noo, oooh noo ...
and the final rising crescendo of the high-pitched E vibrato.

Hendrix's extreme use of a fuzz effect whereby even the slightest sound of
guitar gives off a full-volumed sound also feeds the underlying sens
disorganisation. The effect was increased by his standing close to a speaker so
when a string was plucked, the guitar would pick up the sound which would t
become amplified and come out of the speaker. As the sound wave would make
string vibrate at the same frequency as before, the positive interference would
the effect of making the string vibrate indefinitely, which fuzz alone could not
Then, by using filters, Hendrix would make the feedback occur on the sec
harmonic, so that when the string was plucked and the guitar was held near t
speaker the note would jump up an octave, maintaining itself at a much highe
frequency and causing the sound to become even more piercing. This effect occ
for example, on the second 'help me, help me' which leads into the lead break
such, while Hendrix is basically repeating the riff, the effect is one of added intensi
(Example 12).
Example 12
Help me! Help me!
"* 8 r I
Other effects used in 'Purple Haze' are the wah pedal,

tremelo, all of which are common today but relatively ne
used as extensively as fuzz, they allowed him to extend on
the blues and, in conjunction with the psychedelic conn
song moves towards a theatrical enactment of a drug-in
In contrast to the raw power of 'Purple Haze', 'The W
more gentle in effect. The haunting guitar motif which
has an echo effect which resonates with the evocative 'an
screams/Mary' to create an innate sense of understan
evokes a powerful acid experience, 'Mary' (marijuana) is
such the gentler pacing of the song elicits a sense of comp
the audience. There is a muted understatement. Hendrix's voice is at its most
48 Sheila Whiteley
Example 13
Guitar
Bass ? i___
evocative, the words are spoken rather than sung out with an off-the-beat inflection,
against a gently moving melody which pulls on the mood of serenity and well-being
that can accompany shared 'smoke' (Example 14).
Example 14
A - after all the Jacks are in their box-es And the clowns have all gone to
(down beat accent)
bed you can hear happi-ness stag- g'rin'on down the sheet
foot-prints dressed in red
The basic chord structure is simple, moving through a repetitive C:Bb:F until
the evocative:
Footprints dressed in red

And the wind whispers Mary...
where the move to G7-Bb has an underlying darkness which is immediately

counteracted by the brighter sound of the lead break which moves upwards in
fourths, with a gentle bending of slide notes to effect a musical equivalent of floating
Example 15
Lead
Guitar ,. -_1_l i
Rhythm
Guitar -
(Example 15). There is an ease in tension on the penultimate note, a sudden stillness
before the haunting lyrics of the last verse:
Will the wind ever remember
The names it has blown in the past
And with this crutch, its old age and its wisdom
It whispers, 'No, this will be the last'.
'And the wind cries Mary' is then picked up by the guitar motif which gently ben
the last note (Example 16).
Example 16
And the wind cries Mary
Overall, 'The Wind Cries Mary' encodes the effect of

gentleness and inner-directedness of its style. The t
inflections in the melody line meandering just off-t
conjunction with the gentle drift of the key link motif: C:B
well-being. The wind can blow anywhere, and the m
universal.
'Love or Confusion' has an equally simple harmonic structure and is based on
the chords of G-G6-F-F6. The effect is to free the vocal line, which follows the
Example 17
A broom is drear-il- y sweeping up the bro-ken piec-es of yes-ter-day's
life somewhere a queen wee- p..g
50 Sheila Whiteley
natural inflection of the words with accents both on and off the beat (Example 18).
The rising and falling phrase-shapes and the muttered asides equally support the
underlying meaning of the words, rising on the word 'burns' and 'love', sinking on
'cold', circling 'round and round' and distanced on 'confusion' (Example 19). The
sense of confusion is intensified by Hendrix's guitar playing which appears to be
superimposed on the vocal. It is neither in dialogue with the voice, nor does it fill in
gaps as in the blues, but instead provides its own vocal line. The effect is of two
simultaneous melodies, both in the G minor pentatonic blues scale. At the same
time, the chromaticism in the bass line provides a certain 'dizziness' in effect, which
again feeds the connotations of confusion (Example 20).
Example 18
Is that the stars in the sky or is it rain - ing far from now
Example 19
i F" - " - : L
My heart burns - with
is this love love ba-by or is it con - fus - ion?
Example 20
Vocal "1 F I.
(Now) my heart burns with feel - in' but a..
Lead Guitar .Nw

(high sustained)
Rhythm Guitar"0- dii 0_0 do-d-

(fuzz, feed back)_F_0_ _ _ ___OPOP
Bass I
Splash 7 1
Drums Cymbals .
Bass
Wah, my mind is cold and reel-ing Is this love
71: F ,i IF; I
a - by or is it or is it con - fus - ion
grinding sound
The overall eff

by Hendrix's us
This functions
together with t
the drum roll.
doubling the ba
example, actua
relatively free
heavily with th
sounds of the
52 Sheila Whiteley
Psychedelic coding
The words are strongly psychedelic in their associations of colour and confusion:
Must there be all these colours without names
without sounds
My heart burns with feelin' but
Oh! My mind is cold and reeling
Oh, my head is pounding, pounding,
going 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round
Must there always be these colours?
and in conjunction with the acute distortions of fuzz sound and the tripping aro
notes in the lead break, move towards a sensation of movement through time
space. The endless feedback and distortion move the listener into an equivalent s
of incoherence, the montage of sound effects, reverb, echo, tremelo and f
resonating with the vocal message 'pounding, pounding, going 'round and 'roun
and 'round and 'round'.
Hendrix's lead break with its bend-up notes and glissandi equally su
flight. It is here that the psychedelic fuses with space rock: the electr
distorted notes encoding both the unpredictability of hallucinogenic search,
of certainty of a good/bad trip with the unknown element in space travel.
Hendrix's exploration of space reads like a negative reaction to the main
rather than a positive move towards engaging in cultural quest. The use of di
and fuzz creates an unknown element which can connote a sense of uncert
This also comes through in the way in which he tuned his guitar. The top str
often tuned to D or Eb and the excessive bending and the use of the wah wa
served to obscure the actual notes played. At the same time, Hendrix's
conventional guitar, similar to that of Hank Marvin, but played upside down
read as a turning upside down the conventional world of such groups
Shadows. Clearly, Hendrix could have bought a left-handed guitar (as he hi
was left-handed), but his playing of the instrument upside down helped to c
his image of an inverter of norms.
At the same time, the extreme use of noise, in conjunction with the hy
nature of the Hendrix sound with its overwhelming sense of energy and d
created a means through which he could tune into the 'collective unconsciou
audience. This provoked the mass sexual ecstasy often associated with his c
which moved towards a corporeal sense of tribal unity. At this point, Hen
personal expansion of human consciousness would fuse with the colle
experience of the hallucinogenic in the exploration of the self through
expanding drugs:
Is that the stars in the sky or is it raining far from now?

Will it burn me if I touch the sun, so big, so round?
Will I be truthful, yeah, in choosing you as the one for me?
Is this love baby, or is it - a just confusion?
Mild physical sensations particularly in the limbs, occur, but the main dimen
perceptual .. primarily visual, but also (including) the other individual sensory mo
and sometimes a blending or synesthesia so that one 'hears' something seen o
something touched. With the eyes closed, kaleidoscopic colors and a wide array of g
shapes and specific objects . . . are often seen ... Illusions can occur and som
depending on the interaction of the many important human and drug variables, hallucina-
tions. (Fort 1969, p. 182)
In conjunction with the overwhelming sense of energy and drive in his guitar
playing, allied to unusual sound effects (running his hand up and down the
fretboard, banging the guitar and feeding these sounds through fuzz) there is, then,
the implication of a new language of sound which equates with the sense of
hallucinogenic exploration implicit in the lyrics.
Progressive elements
While 'Love or Confusion' continues to draw on blues resources particularly in the
single note attack with long decay and glissando fall, the basic melodic falling pattern,
for example, 'Is this love, baby, or is it confusion' - is equally typical of r&b. The
forcefulness in Hendrix's guitar style can be traced back to his early experience in r&b
and rock 'n' roll, but generally structures and style are growth points rather than
working barriers.
In particular his use of effects works to support the sense of the unknown, the
'confusion' in the lyrics:
Is this love baby, or is it - a just confusion

Oh, my mind is so mixed up, goin' round'n round
Must there be all these colours without names
without sounds?
The improvisations and the often incoherent instrumental melody/sound,

apparently disordered, random and electronically dominated noise, the nev
ending effect of the reverb, create a kaleidoscopic effect. Layers of sound appea
grow out of one another in a continuous flow to provide a musical metaphor for
endlessness of space itself. The emphasis on noise and the apparently chaotic so
of Hendrix's playing equally supports the idea of confusion:
Oh, my head is pounding, pounding,
going round and round and round
The overall effect is anarchic, a move against reality (with its emphasis on logic)
as such there is a fusion with the psychedelic, the unpredictability of hallucinoge
search, the juxtaposition of unknown colours with chaos and confusion.
'Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze', 'The Wind Cries Mary' and 'Love Or Confusion' we
constantly performed by Hendrix in concert and appeared on seven of his
including the live recording Woodstock. As such they would appear to
representative not only of his particular style of performance, but also of
particular focus on the psychedelic, space rock and sexuality. 'Foxy Lady', 'Fire
'Red House', 'Long Hot Summer Night', 'Gypsy Eyes' and 'Dolly Dagger' fo
example, show a comparable sensuality in vocal delivery and performing style
'Hey Joe'. There are the characteristic muttered asides (Example 21) to evoke an
erotic intimacy which is intensified by the pounding beat and sensuous guitar sty
'Gypsy Eyes', for example, has the characteristic sliding glissandos and bent-up n
in the guitar introduction (Example 22a) but the opening vocal has no supportin
chords, and as such the focus is on Hendrix's slow sensual delivery (Example 22
The overt sexuality of 'Dolly Dagger' is intensified by the pounding rock beat a
bass riff (Example 23). In particular, the repetitive blues-like delivery of the coda
54 Sheila Whiteley
Example 21a 'Long Hot Summer Night'
It was a long, hot hot summer night As far as my eyes could
r I/ L[.. _,_7 ,I ir " " rI

see But I can feel the heat com-in' on as my baby's gettin closer I'm so
glad that my ba - by's com- in' to res - cue me
So glad that my ba - by's com-in' to res - cue me
b 'Foxy Lady'
Ooh, Fox- y lad - y yeah, yeah. Youlook so good Fox- y
oh yeah Fox-y yeah, give us some, Foxy
,04
b<. , - P> - !J
a) no chords
I love you Gyp - sy Eyes
Example 23
Here comes
Dol - ly Dag - ger Her love's so heav - y it's gon-na
make you stag - ger Dol - ly Dag - ger
conjunction with the strongly bent-up chords m

dominance and self-gratification which, in live p
intensified by the explicit masturbatory connotatio
(Example 24).
Example 24
SI I , 1 F r
She ain't sat - is - fled 'til she gets what she's af - ter
She drinks her blood from a jag - ged edge
You'd bet - ter watch out, baby, here comes your master
'Spanish Castle Magic' and 'Are You Experienced' exhibit co

techniques both in vocal delivery and guitar style but this time draw on
vocabulary (Example 25). Initially, it is the lyrics that point to the psyc
you Experienced' invites hallucinogenic exploration:
If you can get your mind together
then come across to me
We'll hold hands
an' then we'll watch the sun rise
from the bottom of the sea.
But first, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have.
I know, I know, you'll probably scream-n' cry
That your little world won't let you go ...
The 'are you experienced', in particular, points to the need for guidance by a trained,
trusted person for the first-time user of LSD.
The underlying personality, mood, attitudes, expectations and setting in which the drug is
taken have proven to be far more important as determinants of an LSD experience than with
drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, barbiturates, or amphetamines... Because of the intensity
and complexity of the experience, it can ... be disorganizing and upsetting'. (Fort 1969, p.
181, 183)
56 Sheila Whiteley
Example 25
a) 'Spanish Castle Magic'
It's ver - y far a - way It takes a - bout half a day to get there
If we tray - el by my dragon fly No it's
not in Spain But all the same you know it's a groovy name
b) 'Are You Experienced?'
Ah _ but are you ex - per - i-enced Have you e
- per - i - enced Not necess-arily - stoned but beau - ti - ful.
With Hendrix as a 'trusted' and 'experienced' guide, (in the sense that he was both a
loved and respected performer) the experience is promised as beautiful: 'Have you
ever been experienced: Well, I have. Ah, let me prove it to you.'
Trumpets and violins I can hear in the distance.
I think they're calling our names.
Maybe now you can't hear them,
but you will if you just take hold of my hand.
'Spanish Castle Magic' extends the 'experience' itself:

The clouds are really low and they overflow with cotton candy ..
Hang on, my darling, yeah, hang on if you want to go.
It puts everything else on the shelf
with just a little bit of Spanish Castle Magic
but in both songs the lyrics imply knowledge: 'candy'= 'sugar'=LSD,

'stoned'= 'high', pulling on the effects of LSD, the sensation of floating. Coupled
with the overwhelming sense of energy in Hendrix's guitar playing and the sheer
volume of noise generated by the fuzz tone there is then an implicit drowning of
individual consciousness, an invitation to 'experience', which is reflected in the
name of the band itself.
Space rock also required experience, with the form of the music depending
upon comparison and for symbolic communication. As such its form of communica-
tion is symbolic and pre-conditioned by the structures of previous symbolic transfer.

Unlike Pink Floyd, however, whose space rock (e.g. 'Astronomy Domine', 'Set the
Controls for the Heart of the Sun') is melodically and rhythmically simple, relying on
electronically produced sounds to create a dramatic realisation of the vastness and
potential beauty of space, Hendrix appeared more intent on destroying conventional
reality (with its emphasis on logic), to constitute instead a sense of the anarchic
through the mutation of sound. With both bands, space rock exhibits a comparability
with psychedelic rock and hallucinogenic experience: both talk of flight, of colours,
of the extra-ordinariness of experience.
In 'Up From the Skies', Hendrix again makes use of spoken dialogue to effect a
sense of personal experience which, coupled with the use of fuzz and distortion and
the upward moving figures, suggests flight and disorientation (Example 26).
Thoughts which are ordinarily suppressed or repressed from consciousness come into focus
and previously unseen relationships or combinations between these are recognized ...
Ordinary boundaries and controls between the self and the environment and within the self
are loosened . .. mood changes or swings can occur and sometimes intense pleasurable or
esthetic experience ... On other occasion or with other individuals, the mood changes can be
highly unpleasant and labile (quoted in Fort 1969, pp. 182-3).
Example 26 'Up From the Skies'
And I came back to find the stars mis - placed _ and the smell of a
world that has burned the smell of a world that has burned
I can dig it
The songs analysed suggest, then, knowledge and experie

psychedelic drugs and their potential effects, but equally of
example, while Hendrix made use of blues resources in the repetit
riffs, the repetition of phrases and short motifs, the use of blu
shapes of the vocal, the use of call-and-response between the v
the Jimi Hendrix Experience was ultimately based on an immen
sound. Volume affecting sustain, wah wah pedal, fuzz ton
especially important in a consideration of style and Hendrix's ex
roll and r&b is equally apparent in the forcefulness of his playin
on an essentially rhythmic rather than lyrical guitar technique.
melodies and lyrics would appear to be secondary to a considerati
are often simple deep structures are masked by the incred
forcefulness of the guitar style and the dynamics of the electronic e
'Love or Confusion' for example, is based on the chords of G,
58 Sheila Whiteley
phrases are repetitive and memorable, but overall the effect is one of anti-structure
which is due to the aural experience of the delivery, the dense sound, the feedback
and distortion which move toward pure noise. 'Purple Haze' is also based on a
repetitive riff over a simple harmonic structure: E, G, A, but again the underlying
logic of the chord progressions is transformed by Hendrix to produce a feeling of
intuitive incoherence and lack of rationality through the use of fuzz tone which
distorts the hammered and pulled-off notes.
The blues, then, is a growth focal point rather than a working barrier and
Hendrix's guitar style, while reflecting the influence of B. B. King, John Lee Hooker
and Albert King, demonstrates his own physical feeling for sound, not only in the
virtuosity of technique but also in the use of electronic effects which enhance the
feeling of raw energy which characterises all his songs.
The muttered vocals which are common to all Hendrix songs, also demonstrate
a physical feeling for sound rather than melody and as such make their impact
musically rather than semantically. In 'Love or Confusion' for example, the musical
effect of 'or is it, or is it confusion' is to focus the confusion in the sound itself, the
fuzz tone, the low grinding sound of the bass guitar against the roll on the cymbal. In
'Long Hot Summer Night' the muttered 'I'm so glad that my baby's coming to rescue
me' again works as a sound source to effect a strongly sexual rhythmic focus before
the lines are repeated twice to an upward melodic line to suggest, in context, an
orgasmic high. 'Foxy Lady' again focuses on a repetitive rhythmic motif: preceded by
the highly charged 'give us some', the repeated 'foxy' symbolically moves to an
expression of the rhythm of the sexual act itself. The falling shape on 'Ah' in 'Are You
Experienced' followed by the muttered 'but you are experienced' is also rhythmic in
effect, the lack of melody moving towards an underlying intimacy and sense of
personal hallucinogenic knowledge which is finally focused by the spaced out
utterance: 'Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful.'
The muttered vocals show, then, a comparability with Hendrix's essentially
rhythmic guitar style. To quote Greil Marcus, the 'words are sounds we can feel
before they are statements to understand' (quoted in Frith 1978, p. 176). While it is
difficult to describe verbally the aural quality of the rhythmic delivery and the
sensuality in the vocal style, the overall effect is to give an underlying rhythmic
weight to the content of the words and as such there is a parallel with the blues where
repetitive lines are coloured by inflection to impart an underlying expressive
tension.
Like their close contemporaries, Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience show a
development of blues resources, and while both Clapton's and Hendrix's guitar
styles show the influence of B. B. King there is nevertheless a difference in delivery -
'where Clapton played with attack and tension, Hendrix tended to take his time and
stay relaxed' (Gillett 1983, p. 385) - relying more on electronic effects to create the
effect of raw energy. At the same time, contemporary reviews of the two guitarists
were curiously similar. 'Hendrix: Progressive and beautiful in his ideas': 'Clapton:
Progressing with ideas and techniques' (Melody Maker June 1967). As such it would
appear that the concept of progressiveness was strongly determined by the way in
which the two musicians could take on the basic resources of the blues and produce
new and unexpected developments. As Zappa said at the time: 'If you want to come
up with a singular, most important trend in this new music, I think it has to be
something like: it is original, composed by the people who perform it, created by
them.'
Acknowledgements
Grateful acknowledgement is made to Peter Winkler, State University of New York,
Stony Brook for his help in transcribing 'Purple Haze' and 'Love or Confusion'.
Endnotes
1 My own research, of which the analysis of what gives off the piercingly painful effect.
Hendrix constitutes only a small part, indicates
Natural guitar sounds at loud volume are not
that progressive rock was characterised by nearly
a so painful to listen to, and hence far less
aggressive.
sense of creative development from a base style
and involved an underlying sense of uncertainty
Hendrix took this use of fuzz much further by
and surprise through extensive improvisation;using amplifiers with a much higher gain. This
that performance (live and recorded on LPs)meant that most of the signal was clipped,
would demonstrate both originality and self-
leaving only the bass part (see Figure 2). This
expression.
2 The 'fuzz' effect, so important in Hendrix's
Figure 2
music, is effectively a severe distortion. The first
deliberate distortion of this type was produced
in the mid-1960s by damaging the speaker cones
of an amplifier system. This meant they could no
longer give a true response and thus introduced
some distortion. The first properly controlled
fuzz was produced in much the same way as it is
today, except that valves were used rather than
amplifiers transistors. The input signal from the
guitar is greatly amplified to exceed the signal
level above the supply voltage. As this is not greatly increased the effect by making the signal
possible, the signal becomes saturated at the much harsher. At times he also used extremely
supply voltage level. This has the effect of high-gain fuzz which left practically none of the
clipping the top of the wave form to produce the original signal and the output was similar to a
distortion (see Figure 1). square wave (Figure 3). It is probable that
Figure 1 Figure 3
This effect was used by rock musicians to Hendrix later used transistors in his fuzz box.
produce the 'aggressive' quality through the These have much higher gain than valves as they
introduction of many high frequency harmo- saturate faster, giving very square cut-offs as
nies. Naturally produced sound waves have opposed to valves whch tend to saturate more
only a few harmonies, but these 'clipped' waves slowly, thus giving a more rounded and softer
have many, especially at a high level and this is fuzz.
60 Sheila Whiteley
References
Brown, H. and Pearce, D. 1978. Jimi Hendrix (London)

Fort J. 1969. The Pleasure Seekers: the Drug Crisis, Youth and Society (New York)
Frith, S. 1978. The Sociology of Rock (London)
Gillett, C. 1970. The Sound of the City (London)
Mellers, W. 1973. Twilight of the Gods (London)
Melody Maker, 1967
Middleton, R. and Muncie, J. 1981. 'Pop culture, pop music and post-war youth: countercultures',
Politics, Ideology and Popular Culture (1) (Popular Culture, Unit 20) (Milton Keynes)
Pidgeon, J. 1976. Eric Clapton (London)
Willis, P. 1978. 'The Creative Age', Profane Culture (London)

Jimi Hendrix's Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Coding

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Jimi Hendrix's Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Coding

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Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Coding in the Work of Jimi Hendrix

Author(s): Sheila Whiteley

Progressive rock and psychedelic

Discussion of the 1960s generally identifies progressive rock as

Jimi Hendrix: the relationship between structure and psychedelic

b!F FIF fFF "

Purple Haze all around

ev- er it is that girl put a spell on me

Help me! Help me! Oh, no, no

6==N 'd WMMM" 'm==. iM I i

behind the beat

controlled sense of energy. In particular, the logic of the melodic shape of

Help me! Help me! Oh, no, no

behind the beat

8th notes 8th notes

The melody line is

Overall, the use of repetition in the song works towards a mood of

You've got me blow-in' Blow-in' my mind Is it tomorrow or just the

end of time (tell me tell me tell me)

and the deep/throated answer:

and the final rising crescendo of the high-pitched E vibrato.

Help me! Help me!

Other effects used in 'Purple Haze' are the wah pedal,

(down beat accent)

foot-prints dressed in red

Footprints dressed in red

where the move to G7-Bb has an underlying darkness which is immediately

And the wind cries Mary

Overall, 'The Wind Cries Mary' encodes the effect of

A broom is drear-il- y sweeping up the bro-ken piec-es of yes-ter-day's

life somewhere a queen wee- p..g

is this love love ba-by or is it con - fus - ion?

Lead Guitar .Nw

Rhythm Guitar"0- dii 0_0 do-d-

Wah, my mind is cold and reel-ing Is this love

a - by or is it or is it con - fus - ion

The overall eff

Is that the stars in the sky or is it raining far from now?

Is this love baby, or is it - a just confusion

The improvisations and the often incoherent instrumental melody/sound,

Example 21a 'Long Hot Summer Night'

It was a long, hot hot summer night As far as my eyes could

r I/ L[.. _,_7 ,I ir " " rI

glad that my ba - by's com- in' to res - cue me

So glad that my ba - by's com-in' to res - cue me

Ooh, Fox- y lad - y yeah, yeah. Youlook so good Fox- y

oh yeah Fox-y yeah, give us some, Foxy

I love you Gyp - sy Eyes

Dol - ly Dag - ger Her love's so heav - y it's gon-na

make you stag - ger Dol - ly Dag - ger

conjunction with the strongly bent-up chords m

'Spanish Castle Magic' and 'Are You Experienced' exhibit co

a) 'Spanish Castle Magic'

If we tray - el by my dragon fly No it's

b) 'Are You Experienced?'

Ah _ but are you ex - per - i-enced Have you e

- per - i - enced Not necess-arily - stoned but beau - ti - ful.

'Spanish Castle Magic' extends the 'experience' itself:

but in both songs the lyrics imply knowledge: 'candy'= 'sugar'=LSD,

tion is symbolic and pre-conditioned by the structures of previous symbolic transfer.

Example 26 'Up From the Skies'

The songs analysed suggest, then, knowledge and experie