In 1968, one of the most successful psychedelic rock bands of all time, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released their third album, Electric Ladyland. The Jimi Hendrix Experience only produced three albums together and this one was by far their most successful. Electric Ladyland topped the charts in the United States and it included the band’s highest selling single “All Along the Watchtower.” This album was released in October of 1968, just under a year before the Jimi Hendrix Experience headlined one the most famous music festivals in history, Woodstock.
Woodstock was expected to be just another average music festival but it generated a crowd so large that they extended the festival another day to include all of the artists, which included a lot of psychedelic artists like the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The organizers of Woodstock estimated around 200,000 people would attend this music festival but their expectations were shattered when over 400,000 people showed up to this two-day event. There turnout was so unexpected that the festival had to be extended to three days just to include all of the artists. Some of the artists included The Who, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. This festival was mainly a rock music festival but with bands like the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, and Grateful Dead that played such major roles in the festival, Woodstock had a large psychedelic vibe. These artists are considered psychedelic because they replicated the feeling of using psychedelic drugs, which were very popular at this time, and produced a hallucinogenic, mind-altering feeling. They drew people in with lyrics that told a story, intricate instrumental solos primarily on the guitar or piano, and with the use of elaborate studio effects that produced a mesmerizing, out-of-this-world sound. Woodstock was the epitome of the psychedelic rock genre, good vibes and lots of people under the influence of drugs. During this time period in 1969 psychedelic rock was booming so these psychedelic artists drew in a massive amount of people. Woodstock quickly became possibly the most famous music festival in history so it was a huge accomplishment for the Jimi Hendrix Experience to headline it. Before their appearance at Woodstock they had built up a successful career but after they headlined their popularity skyrocketed and their most recent album, Electric Ladyland, became legendary.
Electric Ladyland opens with “…And the Gods Made Love”, a pure instrumental song that really messes with your mind. The electric sounds of the instruments don’t mesh well together so it creates this uneasy feeling when you listen to it. They keep building up so you expect some sort of resolution but then the song ends before the sounds can reach a harmonious tone. After that, the next song “Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)” establishes the feeling and tone of the whole album. This song has a chill and almost mind-altering feeling that puts you into a relaxed mood to listen to the remaining songs on the album. Throughout the rest of the album this psychedelic style continues and songs such as “Voodoo Chile” and “Gypsy Eyes” produce this hallucinogenic felling that perfectly represents the psychedelic rock genre. Through the use of attention-grabbing guitar riffs and lyrics that draw you in, "Voodoo Chile" and "Gypsy Eyes" influenced many psychedelic rock songs that came after them. Another influential song by the Jimi Hendrix Experience comes at the end of this album, and is the band's most famous song, “All Along the Watchtower." This song helps close out the album with an intense feeling that lingers even after the album is over. This song showcased the talented band members and showed listeners why the Jimi Hendrix Experience was such a successful band. Frontman Jimi Hendrix's impressive guitar skills and the harmonious sound that the entire band creates helps to make Electric Ladyland the Jimi Hendrix Experience's most popular album.
When this album was released in 1968 it was the prime time for the psychedelic rock genre. Psychedelic rock consists of melodious lyrics and unique instrumentation that resemble the feeling of psychedelic drugs. The Jimi Hendrix Experience encompasses this definition of psychedelic rock and Electric Ladyland contains many elements expected of a psychedelic rock album. Although Electric Ladyland contains these elements such as elaborate instrumentation, mesmerizing lyrics, and an out-of-this-world feeling, it pushed the limits of this genre and exceeded the genre’s expectations. The Jimi Hendrix Experience were able to stay true to their roots and use many of the common aspects of a psychedelic rock album but they also introduced new elements that would end up changing the psychedelic rock genre forever.
Jimi Hendrix was a very well-known guitar player but in Electric Ladyland he really shows off his skills and pushes the instrumentation on the album over the top. On Electric Ladyland, the songs “All Along The Watchtower” and “Voodoo Child” showcase Jimi Hendrix’s talent with elaborate and impressive guitar solos that shatter previous expectations of how the guitar is used in psychedelic rock. Hendrix’s guitar riffs draw in listeners and create this hallucinogenic feeling that enthralls the listeners. When the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed “Voodoo Chile” at Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix turned this five minute song into a twelve minute performance by adding additional improvisation on the guitar. The guitar was a very popular instrument in the psychedelic rock genre and the rock genre in general, but before Jimi Hendrix the guitar was overshadowed by vocals or other instruments. Traditionally the guitar added a little excitement when the vocals took a break or maybe it would be lucky enough to get a solo in a song. Jimi Hendrix took these previous ideals and completely turned them around by making the guitar the center of his music. His songs still involved intricate vocals and other instrumentation but the guitar was his passion, and he made it the most important thing in his songs. Jimi Hendrix was truly a mastermind and used the guitar to produce feelings and ideas that words could not. This new, intense, and hypnotizing use of the guitar was a new step in the psychedelic rock genre and generated a very positive response from listeners. Hendrix’s use of the guitar not only revolutionized the psychedelic rock genre but he would also influence many other bands throughout the next few decades and within different genres. Many bands such as Radiohead, Iron Maiden, and the Foo Fighters followed this idea of making the guitar important and each band has multiple guitar players to help showcase it’s importance. Jimi Hendrix will always be remembered as one of the most influential guitar players ever and his showcase of the guitar helped make Electric Ladyland an exciting and revolutionary album.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience was one of the greatest gifts to psychedelic rock and their influence on the genre was unlike any other band before them. During this time period the psychedelic rock genre was booming and bands like this helped the genre skyrocket and become legendary. Electric Ladyland is one of the most important albums from the psychedelic rock category and it will forever remain the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s most impressive work.
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