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This is one I have been playing with for a while, but I have never written it down.. I usually do it Roughly to the tune of Manic Depression, With some other Hendrix riffs added in for good measure... I would WELCOME any fans of his to offer up any suggestions or lines.. it is meant as a tribute..

Jimi
© Kenneth Cade 2009, All rights reversed

Instrumental start..
(and melody sung along with guitar)

He built castles in the sand,
Chopped ‘em down with his hand
Told me manic depression was a "fustrating mess"
Asked if I had ever been experienced

You know who I’m talkin’ about

Star spangled banner sang from his soul
Kept distorted feedback on the edge of control
Lit fire to his strat and he burned up the stage
Took all that came before him and just turned the page

You know who I’m talkin’ about
don't make me get up, scream and shout

We'll never know why after he kissed the sky,
he had to leave us without sayin' goodbye,
The pressure of fame, living up to his name,
Did it all get to him, or was somethin' else to blame?

yeah you know what I’m talkin’ about

Tragic that the magic was taken away
What other end could come to a life lead that way
Legendary status is more than deserved.
His music sweet music like I’d never heard

(..You know who I’m talkin’ about...)
Who Knows who I'm talkin 'bout

Ken HENDRIX WAS ONE OF A KIND.I THINK YOUVE DONE A GREAT JOB PAINTING HIM AND HIS MUSIC.The only line Id think about is

and I never will again.. fOR YOU WILL HEAR HIS MUSICMany times again I am sure. Just a thought. Nice work, Dee

S. Dee,

true... I should work on that line..it doesn't really say what I was trying to say.. I usually add a couple of bars of whatever hendrix tune comes to mind while doing this one, but I would like to commit something to paper, and have it a little less subject to improvisation.. He really is a hero of mine (musically) and I hate to do a lukewarm well intentioned tribute! thanks for the comment

Your welcome. Good luck with the tune. Dee

Hi Ken,

Hope you're doing well.
A hero of mine also.
This seems to flow pretty well.
I REALLY like this part...VERY POWERFULLY PLACED WORDS !

Tragic that the magic was taken away.

Looking forward to hearing it someday !

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

describe hendrix in your song, you have nothing about purple haze, nothing about paisley outfits or neon colors(we called them dayglo back then )nor anything about woodstock nor about his heavy drug use if you're going to describe him give it all, his style of playing behind the back guitars on fire etc.You got to make the lyrics as lively or flame-boyant as his lifestyle was, search on forum 2 and look at my tribute to merle haggard to see how I portray a legend.

Calvin,

thanks for the reply! and I'm glad you liked that line.... Ireally can't imagine anyone that plays a guitar that DOESN'T look at Jimi as a hero ,,,

Nubbin,

thanks for the tips, and the suggestions.. I am just now trying to get SOME of this written down.. There are lots of lines that I have improvised at different times, but I want to make it a little more structured.. it is FAR from a finished piece. I will look at yuor merle tribute, and take your suggestions into account.. this song COULD have so much more.. it's more abouot the HOW and Where... than about the what... I tend to liberally apply hendrix riffs and phrases throughout this , and just kind of let it go, but like I saud I would like to formalize it somewhat so that I can do a little more justice to the inspiration on a more REGULAR basis. Thanks again for teh suggestions.

HiDee Brother Ken!

Nice Start..on a fine tribute to a Pioneer that died WAYyy too early!

Pretty hard guy to easily-define.

Takes a lotta Studyin'-Up, methinks. I DO wish ya luck, since there's not yet been a Good Tribute Song to this great talent.

Things I've learned:

He played Guitar Tracks on some Monkees Hits.
Went to England..THEN got famous.
US Flag around his waist at Woodstock was because a chum of mine hadn't Double-Stitched his pants. (Many of my chum's Hendrix outfits ARE hangin' in Cleveland's Rock & Roll Museum now).
Believe he played a normally-strung guitar Left-Handed...Self-Taught..&...played SOME of his stuff with his teeth, as well as behind his back.
SHOULDA won a Grammy for HIS version of The Star Spangled Banner..back in those Wartime '60's. It's STILL as-poignant TODAY as it was Back-Then...lest-we-forget.

Good Luck with your Project, Amigo,
Big Guy-Hug,
Stan

This section:
You know who I’m talkin’ about
(come on Who knows who I’m talkin’ about)

... Seems like the second line is "ad lib live."
How about making it a twist on the Foxy Lady lyric like this:
You know who I’m talkin’ about
don't make me get up, scream and shout

Stan THE man,

Thanks for the read and the tidbits... cool about your freind doing the outfits! I have always thought it was funny that he didn't become famous HERE until he became famous over the pond... the thing is there is so much that could be put into this song... there are so many amazing and unique things about him. I never really have tried to make it a coherent story song, I have always just pullled bits and pieces in from stuff that I thought his fans would appreciate as much as I do.. and threw them over MY take on coppoing his riffs and style etc.. more of just an excuse to channel hendrix than anything else.. WHO DOESN'T wnat to act like jimi when they have a guitar in hand!!!! right?!

anyway.. thanks for the read and the reply.. I don't think this will ever turn out to by THE quintessential hendrix tribute song, but varied versions of it have served as MY hendrix tribute song for a pretty good while. His fans seem to appreciate the effort and the fact that I am giving homage when I do it, so that is pretty much what I am shooting for. I just want to have it be a little less off the top of my head, and a little more structured so I can pull it off better and more consistently when I play it. I would like to be able to do him AT LEAST AS MUCH JUSTICE AS I AM ABLE!

Tom... great tip

DONE...

it is ad lib..in fact ALL of this comes from various ad libs...
I have used rhymes with "foxy lady"
and "in Montery he"
but it's proven hard to fit that one into any context in my typed version..

also have used "star at woodstock" with "guitar that could talk"
but those lines are really pretty lame...

Hi Kenneth,

Great read! Seems like new stuff from you, to work this way with this kind of lyrical content?

Reminds me of the 1970ies song "I remember Elvis Presley" (neither remember the writer nor the artist), which I actually loved.

I guess it will be hard to choose the essentials from Jimi's life and/or music (I love "Hey Joe" and "All along the watchtower"). You might help yourself, if you choose a particular angle on life/music to write this on.

But as it is it could work fine too, I can hear the Hendrix phrasing in the aabb scheme you've got going. A little Hendrix lick with every couplet :-)

Seem to miss a chorus though? I guess that is really hard to write in this kind of song, making it so 'final'.. or is it deliberate you did not do it?

Ken...Stopping by ..and enjoying the read!...I know little about Jimi Hendrix....but if I'm understanding everyone's posts...there
could be several songs written as tribute!!!....

I will check out your other songs....later this weekend!!...

very best...and thanks again for your help!
Kaley

Magne,

Thanks! I actaullly write in alot of different styles, I have just posted alot of stuff taht came out of one particular era of my life.. mostly writing is therapy, and I write pretty fast, so if there is a tough stretch of road, I tend to crank out a rough stretch of material.. I am not that one sided in real life, and I do play and make stuff up all the time, I just don't commit alot to paper (or computer file) I am trying to change that.. thanks for stopping by and the kind words.. this is still an evolving piece, and I think it will always have SOME free space for improv.. (I thnk I owe that to the spirit of the inspiration of the song!)

Kaley,

Thanks I am glad you enjoyed the read.. To me the most important thing to know about Jimi is just the music.. he wsa truly gifted... I love his RARE acoustic stuff as much as his well known electric stuff.. he was just an amazingly expressive musician..

check this out if you get a chance...(so raw but SOOO beautiful)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQBbgb_Lvo

We'll never know why after he kissed the sky,
He chose to get crazy, tell everyone 'bye,
The pressure of fame, living up to his name,
Did it all fall on him, or was someone else to blame?

Colin,

thanks for stopping by and for having something to add!

I actually used :
We'll never know why after he kissed the sky,
he had to leave us without sayin' goodbye,
The pressure of fame, living up to his name,
Did it all get to him, or was somethin' else to blame?

I changed the SOMEONE to something, and changed the get crazy part a bit..

I l,ove the kissed the sky line though and the double rhyming sound in the first and third lines ... thanks

I still need to come up with a good chorus (hopefully one that uses some good hendrix lines and ties them together in a different way) I would love it to follow music from the verse in "Hey Joe" as I have used that as a sort of a hook in this song in the past I usually Use "the wind cries mary" as intro or outtro music.. It really is amazing how nicely the different pieces of the different songs fit together.. and what a great showcase song just to WAIL on some solos!!!!!!

I drew a quick picture as a tribute today as well, and posted it in the graphics arts forum.. if anyone would like to see it...
http://www.jpfolks.com/forum/ubbthr...ID=fkkhmaj5vihutb02p3038ujq34#Post685076