Top 10 Jimi Hendrix Songs: Deep Tracks List

I know what you’re probably thinking: How could you even dare reduce Hendrix’s indelible discography to just ten songs? Well, I’m not. These aren’t the top ten songs that I believe are his absolute best; every song he ever created is great in its own right. These are just a small collection of songs that further illustrate why Hendrix is one of the best of the best, in terms of not only his guitar playing but also his knowledge as a sound creator. These are ten songs that I believe every person should listen to if you’re a fan of his or if you’re just getting into him. And if you’re looking for songs like Purple Haze, Voodoo Child (A Slight Return), All Along the Watch Tower, Hey Joe, Foxey Lady, Fire, and Red House, well, this is the wrong list for you; I decided to stick with songs that weren’t AS well known as those, but you may notice one well-known tune in the list that just had to be added.

# 10 – Spanish Castle Magic

This fiery, three-minute headache was recorded on the classic 1967 album Axis: Bold As Love. It was one of the few songs off that album to be regularly performed during their live shows. What makes this song so great is its heavily distorted and pulse-pounding riff that fits the mold well with the overlapping jazz piano chords uncomfortably suspended upon Mitch Mitchell’s swinging rhythm and Noel Reddings’ funk-driven bass line.

The spacey, kaleidoscopic lyrics were inspired by a club called “The Spanish Castle,” where Hendrix used to perform in his earlier years. Plus, there’s the added bonus of two lightning-fast guitar solos that create the harmonious effect of elevated blood pressure even after the song fades out. If this song doesn’t make you want to travel with Jimi on his dragonfly, then you probably need your ears checked.

# 9 –  Killing Floor

This ungodly, supersonic cover version of Howlin’ Wolf’s blues number is on here for its undeniable power and ferocity and its impact on Jimi’s soon-to-be legacy. One night when Hendrix first arrived in London, he went to see a Cream show and requested to get on stage and jam with them. He plugged his guitar into Jack Bruce’s bass amp and ripped into his fast-tempo version of Killing Floor, fulfilling his lifelong dream of jamming with Eric Clapton. The only downside was that he outshined Clapton to the point where he stormed off stage in a rage because of how good Hendrix was. At that moment, Clapton realized he had met his match……and the rest was history; the two would go on to be great friends until Hendrix’s untimely death.

# 8 – Third Stone from the Sun

This psychedelic antithesis of surf rock and jazz interpretations was so far ahead of its time and just so groovy that it simply has to be felt to be believed. It comprises all of the key elements that Hendrix came to be known for, most notably the distorted feedback and studio magic that consisted of heavily manipulated vocals, breezy sound effects, and oracular poetry honey-glazed in his oily, smooth voice. Also, look out for a line in the song that pays tribute to surf rock legend Dick Dale.

# 7 – Castles Made of Sand

I decided on this other Axis: Bold As Love tune mainly for its lyrical content, as opposed to its overall sound, which, don’t get me wrong, also makes the song. It starts out with a swirling progression that starts out fuzzy until it breaks into those Curtis Mayfield-esque chords that embroiled your attention. Jimi then unfolds with some of the most intricate storytelling of his career.

Each verse was an autobiographical account of Hendrix’s childhood that stemmed from his father’s alcoholism, his brother Leon being taken away when he was little, and his parents’ abusive relationship. The context is beautifully masked by crestfallen tales of ironic turn of events that ultimately unfold into uplifting interpretations of redemption and optimism.

# 6 –  Hear My Train-A-Comin’

If there ever were a song that displayed the uninhibited emotion and straight-from-the-hip portrayal of the blues, it would be this song. This was a regular favorite to perform during his live shows, but perhaps the most well-known version is the one he performed with Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox at the Berkeley Community Theater in 1970.

It was subsequently released on his posthumous albums Rainbow Bridge and Blues and further demonstrates what Hendrix was all about regarding prolonged solos and delicate blues phrasing. On a side note: the version he did at Winterland was some of the best improvisation he ever unleashed on stage.

# 5 – Are You Experienced?

This was the song that opened the door to Hendrix’s studio manipulation. It’s not enough that you had a droning riff that marched to the beat of Mitchell’s military percussion, which was reversed backward like most of the song. And that leads us to what this tune is all about the backward guitar solo in the middle section. The way it fits perfectly over the rhythm and never falls out of key puts it in a class all by itself. And what’s great about the guitar solo is that you can play the song backward and hear how the solo sounds……and it still fits!

# 4 – 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)

This thirteen-minute suite of the classic Electric Ladyland brought out the progressive rock side of Hendrix. Its essence and mystique carry on like three different songs packed into one, with a hodgepodge of all of his guitar tricks and effects that make this Lost City of Atlantis-like melody a true anti-war anthem of the sea.

# 3 – Voodoo Chile

What initially evolved as an off-the-cuff jam session during the Electric Ladyland sessions with Steve Winwood of Traffic and Blind Faith and Jack Cassady of Jefferson Airplane proved anything but. This epic is the true testament of the electric blues that took over Jimi from the night he was born, with a lineal expedition through the bloodline of each distinctive blues style. Factor in the funky and slow-burning organ playing that creates a nice balance to Hendrix’s mercurial attack of the axe, and you’ve got yourself a jewel-encrusted mountain of soul.

# 2 – Little Wing

One of Hendrix’s most celebrated songs, this little pocketful of sweet serenity, was inspired by his Monterey Pop Festival live show. He took every positive vibration he witnessed there and wrote the song as an angelic-like female. Musically, it’s probably his most complex song. He took these R&B-inspired chord voicings that mirrored his primary influence, Curtis Mayfield, and structured out a guitar solo that takes off like it grew wings itself, and he doused all of this in the warmest tone imaginable; he achieved this tone by plugging his guitar into a Leslie organ speaker. If heaven could cry, this sound would burst through her tear ducts.

# 1 – Machine Gun

This quintessential protest anthem against the Vietnam War makes the number one slot on our list. It first debuted on Dick Cavett’s show before becoming a staple in all of the live performances to come. This was around the time Jimi formed the supergroup Band of Gypsys with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, where they put on their most well-known live show at The Fillmore East; this would be the basis of their self-titled live album.

This version of Machine Gun is perhaps the most infamous and influential. Many would argue that Voodoo Child (A Slight Return) is the definitive guitar song, but I think Machine Gun holds that title; this song is the encyclopedia of what you can do with an electric guitar. Everything from that haunting riff, those guitar solos, the effects he creates with the guitar to mimic bombs, helicopters, and machine guns going off, all the way to that power in his voice as he preaches the pointlessness of war, and “that note” he unleashes at the four-minute mark of the song: breathtaking. This is quite possibly, in my opinion, the most excellent song Jimi Hendrix ever made.

Updated January 12, 2024

Photo:By Warner/Reprise Records Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia Crop by Crisco 1492 (File:Jimi hendryx experience 1968.JPG) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons