The Jimi Hendrix ExperienceLittle Wing (2:25)

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About This Track

“Little Wing” is a song written by Jimi Hendrix. He first recorded the song on the 1967 album Axis: Bold as Love. It is ranked #357 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and has been covered by numerous artists, notably Derek and the Dominoes, 2 Cows in a Field, Joe Satriani, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Pearl Jam, Sting, John Mayer, Skid Row, The Corrs, Toto, Socrates, John Petrucci, Concrete Blonde, among many others. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version earned a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1993.

“Little Wing” is played using the unique chord/melody guitar style that Hendrix developed during his early career stints in rhythm and blues bands. In this style, the guitar sounds as though it is playing two parts. This is done by simultaneously playing multiple complementary notes, often parts of chords, and then changing a note within the chord to create a melodic effect. Other songs played in this style include “Life Without You” by Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Rainbow Eyes” by Rainbow, “The Boy From Seattle” by Steve Vai, “Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam, and “Under the Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The unusual flanging sound of the lead guitar part is a result of the Doppler effect which is created using a rotating speaker cabinet, or Leslie speaker.

The studio version features a glockenspiel playing the root note of the chords.

A song by the same name appeared on Neil Young’s 1980 album, Hawks & Doves, but is a different song entirely.
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  • alfie_noakes

    Liquid music

    last month
  • oldiesfanjohn

    "Take anything you want from me..anything..fly on by"...song for me was too hard to play on guitar,should be left only for Jimi, Duane Allman and SRV to be playing together in music Heaven!... Wow,could you see that trio jamming?!!!

    last month
  • rolsroyse

    don t lets get carried away now...! ! !

    last month
  • rhez77

    Yeah this is definitely not the studio version. I'm pretty sure it's off an LP I have called Hendrix in the West. It says it's at the San Diego Sports Arena

    last month
  • rhez77

    This is one of my favorite live versions <3

    last month
  • RussellChap

    One of the greatest rock songs ever recorded...

    March 2012
  • AnotherKoshka

    sosososososoooo good. gah.

    March 2012
  • EssexNightClubs

    Lovin it!

    March 2012
  • sprocket11

    Is there anything better? NOT.

    March 2012
  • Roy1968Wood

    Axis:Bold As Love is Jimi's best album. They are all great but this was his best!

    March 2012
  • gregcobra

    No word ! Absolute perfection !

    March 2012
  • wutangmaster

    Jimi: “…it’s based on a very, very simple Indian style… I got the idea like when we were in Monterey and I was just lookin’ at everything around. So I figured that I take everything I’d see around and put it maybe in the form of a girl or somethin’ like that, you know, and call it ‘Little Wing’, and then it will just fly away. Everybody’s really flyin’ and they’re really in a nice mood, like the police, and everything was really, really great out there. And so I just took all these things and put them in one very, very small matchbox, you know, into a girl and then do it. It’s very simple, but I like it though…” (From an interview in a Swedish paper January 1968:)

    March 2012
  • BorisTheBlade19

    Not good...Brilliant. It's alright she says, take anything you want from me. Fly on Little Wing

    March 2012
  • itsnotoveryet27

    so romantic and so yearning

    March 2012
  • lyonfreitas

    damn I luv this track.... [2]

    February 2012
  • PsychoKitty2279

    damn I luv this track....

    February 2012
  • oldiesfanjohn

    the standard...that intro..one of his best!

    February 2012
  • SaintVitus-fan

    Jimi's songs said everything they needed to in the length he gave them.

    February 2012
  • kalian

    gorgeous

    February 2012
  • DonkeyKongJr13

    one of the coolest guitar intros ever

    January 2012
See all 361 shouts

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