The wah-wah guitar pedal was a relatively new invention in 1968, when Jimi Hendrix used it to devastating effect on the unforgettable introduction of Voodoo Child (Slight Return), and while that intro is the song’s most memorable feature, Hendrix treats the entire composition as a vehicle for expression.
He alternates between rhythm and lead playing at the blink of an eye, and both riffs and solos frequently pan from left to right to add to the swaying, hypnotic nature of the performance. His guitar parts are backed up by the solid, unwavering playing of bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, who allow him the breathing space he needs to take the dynamics down and up.
“If you listen to Voodoo Child, you can hear the way the room just resonates,” engineer Eddie Kramer told The Recording Engineer’s Handbook. “That’s because I had mics everywhere, and the fact that Jimi was singing live too! I wasn’t afraid of recording an artist in the room live as he was cutting. To me, anything that was in the room was fair game to be recorded. Don’t forget that I had an artist who was an absolute genius, so it made life a lot simpler.”
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Released in a format somewhere between a single and an EP – Voodoo Child (Slight Return) was backed with Hey Joe and Hendrix’s immortal cover of Bob Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower – the song remains another reason for Hendrix’s reputation as a man for whom a guitar was not simply an instrument.
As his devotees believe, his iconic Fender Stratocaster was a vehicle for the expression of his essential soul. Which legendary guitarist hasn’t played at least part of this song at some point or other in their career? It has been hailed as an all-time classic by Joe Satriani among many others, who praised it as the very peak of guitar creativity, and has been covered by players as varied as Yngwie Malmsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan – who employed it to quell a bottle-throwing crowd at the Reading Festival in 1982 – and Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe.
Other bands who have taken a shot at the track include Extreme, Pearl Jam, Earth, Wind & Fire, Neal Schon, Tom Morello and Pride And Glory, the last of whom featured Hendrix devotee Zakk Wylde. In the world of hip-hop, it’s been sampled by a plethora of A-listers including Mos Def, 2 Live Crew, the Beastie Boys, Schoolly D, Ice-T and Del the Funky Homosapien.
Note that this song is not to be confused with Voodoo Chile, a much longer and more freeform blues workout played alongside the great Steve Winwood. Both songs are found on Electric Ladyland (1968), the third and final album recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Indeed, …Child was based on …Chile, as a shorter, more succinct song that grew from the longer original, with the addition of several key parts such as that heavily wah-wah’ed introduction.
Just to add to the complexities, Voodoo Child was actually released as a single after Hendrix’s death in 1970 under the title Voodoo Chile, without the distinguishing (Slight Return). As the man himself said, was this love or just confusion?
Fittingly, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) was the last song Hendrix sang, at the Love + Peace Festival on the Isle of Fehmarn, off the coast of northern Germany in the Baltic Sea. Ironically, the final lines of the song – the final lines that Hendrix would ever sing in public – almost preshadowed his death: ‘If I don’t see you no more in this world/I’ll meet you in the next one and don’t be late, don’t be late.’