Tag: Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix – Foxy Lady

This is one of the most remembered songs from Jimi. According to Hendrix biographer Harry Shapiro, the song  was probably inspired by Heather Taylor, who eventually married Roger Daltrey, the lead singer for The Who.

UK model Heather Taylor, inspiration for Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady. | Sixties fashion, Fashion, 60s fashion

Kathy Etchingham, Jimi’s girlfriend at the time, also claimed to be one of many inspirations for “Foxy Lady.” I’m sure there are/were a lot of claims.

Hendrix recorded this on December 13, 1966. That same day, he made his first TV appearance on the British show Ready Steady Go. The Jimi Hendrix Experience had been together only 2 months at that point, but things moved very quickly. Three days later, their first single, “Hey Joe” was released.

Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at number 153 on its list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

The song was on the Are You Experienced album released in 1967. It peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts, #15 in Canada and #2 in the UK

Foxy Lady peaked at #67 in the Billboard 100.

From Songfacts

Hendrix opened for The Monkees on their 1967 tour. When he played this, the young girls who came for The Monkees and had no interest in Hendrix shouted “Davy!” when Hendrix sang “Lady,” resulting in “Foxy Davy,” and turning it into a tribute to their idol, Monkees lead singer Davy Jones.

This was featured in the movie Wayne’s World. It is used in a scene where Garth (Dana Carvey), sings it while thinking about his dream woman, played by Donna Dixon.

In the booklet for the Experience Hendrix CD, Hendrix was quoted as saying this was the only happy song he had ever written. He said that he usually just doesn’t feel happy when writing songs. 

The title of this song has two alternate spellings: “Foxey Lady” (for release in America) and “Foxy Lady” (for release in the UK).

Foxy Lady

Foxey, foxey
You know you’re a cute little heart breaker, ha
Foxey, yeah
And you know you’re a sweet little love maker, ha
Foxey

I want to take you home, haha yeah
I won’t do you no harm no, ha
You got to be all mine, all mine
Ooh foxey lady, yeah
Foxey, foxey

Now-a I see you come down on the scene
Oh foxey
You make me want to get up and a scream
Foxey, oh baby listen now
I’ve made up my mind
Yeah, I’m tired of wasting all my precious time
You got to be all mine, all mine
Foxey lady
Here I come
Foxey

Yeah
I’m gonna take you home
I won’t do you no harm no
You got to be all mine, all mine
Foxey lady
Here I come baby, I’m commin’ to get ya

Ooh foxey lady yeah yeah
You look so good foxey
Oh yeah foxey
Yeah give us some foxey
Foxey foxey lady
Foxey lady

…

Jimi Hendrix – Fire

This song was on Jimi Hendrix’s debut album  Are You Experienced released in 1967. The song was written by Hendrix shortly before it was recorded. The guitar and the drum sound is incredible on this one.

The main lyrics in this song (“let me stand next to your fire”) came from a time when the band had just finished a gig in the cold around Christmas, 1966. They went to bass player Noel Redding’s mother’s house in Folkestone, England, and when they got there, Jimi asked Redding’s mother Margaret if he could “stand next to her fire” to warm up. The family dog, a German Shepherd, lay by the fire, which inspired the line, “Move over Rover, and let Jimi take over.”

The song was remixed in stereo for the American release of the album. In 1969, it was released as a stereo single in the UK with the title “Let Me Light Your Fire”

 

From Songfacts

This lyrical lightning bolt was a breakthrough for Hendrix, who had just started writing songs at the request of his manager Chas Chandler. Writing riffs was easy for him, and it turned out he had a talent for crafting lyrics as well, as he was able to turn a simple line into a fiery tale of lustful passion. (This story is verified in Mat Snow’s Mojo story on Hendrix that ran in the October 2006 issue.)

Hendrix is legendary for theatrics like setting his guitar on fire and playing it with his teeth (not at the same time). This was the song he was (appropriately) playing when he set it on fire for the first time. It happened at a concert in London in March 1967, two months before the Are You Experienced? the album was released. Hendrix was low on the bill (below Engelbert Humperdinck), and looking to garner some media attention. When he ignited his guitar, he created a buzz that grew to a roar as his career took off.

Hendrix set fire to his guitar once again at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. At that show, he didn’t do the bit during “Fire,” he did it after playing “Wild Thing.”

The Red Hot Chili Peppers often covered this song in their early years. They decided to play it again at Woodstock ’99 in Rome, New York, but this was a very different festival than the one where Jimi Hendrix performed the song in 1969. The ’99 crowd was violent and unruly; when RHCP launched into this song, they increased their level of mayhem, tearing the place up and setting fires (yes, Rome was burning). >>

Gary Moore covered this on his 1999 release A Different Beat. >>

In the movie Wayne’s World, Wayne falls in love with the bassist from an all-girl band (Tia Carrere) after seeing them cover this song at Gasworks

Fire

Alright,
now listen, baby

You don’t care for me
I don’-a care about that
Gotta new fool, ha!
I like it like that
I have only one burning desire
Let me stand next to your fire
Let me stand next to your fire [Repeat 4 times]

Listen here, baby
and stop acting so crazy
You say your mum ain’t home,
it ain’t my concern,
Just play with me and you won’t get burned

I have only one itching desire
Let me stand next to your fire
Let me stand next to your fire [Repeat 4 times]

Oh! Move over, Rover
and let Jimi take over
Yeah, you know what I’m talking ’bout
Yeah, get on with it, baby
That’s what I’m talking ’bout
Now dig this!
Ha!
Now listen, baby

You try to gimme your money
you better save it, babe
Save it for your rainy day

I have only one burning desire
Let me stand next to your fire
Let me stand next to your fire