Jimi Hendrix: Top 50 Songs

Jimi Hendrix Top 50 Songs

Legendary psychedelic-blues/rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix was born Johnny Allen Hendrix on 11/27/1942 in Seattle, Washington. He was only 27 when he died of a drug overdose in London on 9/18/1970 but his is one of rock music’s greatest legacies. He first worked as a sideman with Rosa Lee Brooks (1964), Isley Brothers (1964), Buddy & Stacey and the Upsetters (1965); Little Richard, Curtis Knight, and Ronnie Youngblood. He formed Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in 1965. The next year he was discovered by the Animals’ Chas Chandler at New York City’s Café Wha? He went to London and formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience (1966-1969) with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. He also helmed the Band of Gypsys with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Buddy Cox from 1969 to 1970. His albums Are You Experienced (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968) are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. His cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” (1968) is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era 1954-1999.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. 1. All Along the Watchtower (1968) 2. Purple Haze (1967) 3. Hey Joe (1966) 4. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (1968) 5. The Star Spanged Banner (live, 1969) 6. Foxey Lady (1967) 7. Little Wing (1967) 8. Over the Rainbow (1968) 9. The Wind Cries Mary (1967) 10. Crosstown Traffic (1968) 11. Fire (1967) 12. Are You Experienced? (1967) 13. Red House (1967) 14. Dolly Dagger (1970) 15. Stone Free (1966) 16. Manic Depression (1967) 17. If 6 Was 9 (1967) 18. Freedom (1970) 19. Angel (1970) 20. Third Stone from the Sun (1967) 21. Burning of the Midnight Lamp (1967) 22. Up from the Skies (1967) 23. Izabella (1970) 24. Castles Made of Sand (1967) 25. Stepping Stone (1970) 26. Like a Rolling Stone (live, 1967) 27. Gloria (live, 1968) 28. Wild Thing (live, 1967) 29. I Don’t Live Today (1967) 30. Spanish Castle Magic (1967) 31. Gypsy Eyes (1968) 32. Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland? (1968) 33. Johnny B. Goode (live, 1970) 34. Drifting (1970) 35. Love or Confusion (1967) 36. Bold As Love (1967) 37. May This Be Love (1967) 38. Earth Blues (1969) 39. Sunshine of Your Love (1968) 40. Here He Comes (Lover Man) (1968) 41. Hear My Train A-Comin’ (1967) 42. Power of Soul (1969) 43. Ezy Ryder (1969) 44. Hound Dog (live, 1967) 45. Night Bird Flying (1970) 46. Blue Suede Shoes (1970) 47. Day Tripper (live, 1967) 48. Message to Love (1969) 49. The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam's Dice (1967) 50. Machine Gun (1970) Resources and Related Links: First posted 5/21/2019; last updated 7/30/2026.

Today in Music (1966): The Byrds Fifth Dimension released

Fifth Dimension The Byrds

Released: July 18, 1966 Peak: 24 US, 27 UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Genre: folk rock

Tracks: 5D (Fifth Dimension) [2:33] Wild Mountain Thyme (traditional) [2:30] Mr. Spaceman [2:09] I See You (Crosby / McGuinn) [2:38] What’s Happening?!?! (Crosby) [2:35] I Come and Stand at Every Door (Nazim Hikmet) [3:03] Eight Miles High [3:34] Hey Joe (Powers / Roberts) [2:17] (33 DF) Captain Soul (Clarke / Crosby / Hillman / McGuinn) [2:53] John Riley (Gibson) [2:57] 2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song) (McGuinn) [2:12] Total Running Time: 38:26 1996 CD reissue bonus tracks: Why (single version) I Know My Rider Psychodrama City Eight Miles High (alternate version) Why (alternate version) John Riley (instrumental) The Players: Roger McGuinn (vocals, guitar) Gene Clark (percussion, harmonica, guitar, vocals) David Crosby (guitar, vocals) Chris Hillman (bass) Michael Clarke (drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.881 out of 5.00 (average of 31 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

The Beginnings of Psychedelic Rock Only three albums in and the Byrds were redefining themselves, moving from the pioneering folk-rock of their first two albums to the more psychedelic feel of their third. Founding member Gene Clark quit the group in early 1966. Since he was the group’s chief songwriter, it forced David Crosby and Roger McGuinn to step up their games. RD “They devised some of the first and best psychedelic rock, often drawing from the influence of Indian raga in the guitar arrangements.” AM The album was celebrated for “McGuinn’s fascination with things spacey and sci-fi” RD such as on 5D (Fifth Dimension) and “the extraordinary Eight Miles High.” RD The latter, “with its astral lyrics, pumping bassline, and fractured guitar solo, was a Top 20 hit, and one of the greatest singles of the '60s.” AM …But Also a Mix of Other Genres The Byrds, however, didn’t stop at psychedelia. “There are nods to the group’s folk roots and, uncharacteristically, R&B.” RD “The Byrds were now straddling rock ‘n’ roll, folk, jazz, ‘raga’ rock, and country.” RD “A heavy diet of Ravi Shankar and John Coltrane on the tour bus inspired McGuinn’s freeform solos, grounded by Hillman’s rumbling bass and Clarke’s fizzing drums.” RD The Songs The album’s “high points were as innovative as any rock music being recorded in 1966. Immaculate folk-rock was still present in their superb arrangements of the traditional songs Wild Mountain Thyme and John Riley.” AM “I Come and Stand at Every Door is an unusual and moving update of a traditional rock tune, with new lyrics pleading for peace in the nuclear age.” AM “McGuinn’s guitar spits fire on the jazz-raga-rock stunner I See You” RD and delivers “the country-esque, whimsical Mr. Spaceman.” RD The mix of genres makes “for an uneven album, true, and it is not without filler.” RD “The R&B instrumental Captain Soul was a throwaway” AM and “Hey Joe not nearly as good as the versions by the Leaves or Jimi Hendrix.” AM The “proto-hippy musings in What’s Happening?!?!” RD are “the earliest example of David Crosby's disagreeably vapid hippie ethos.” AM Here are more details about some of the songs on this album.

Eight Miles High The Byrds

Writer(s): Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark (see lyrics here) Recorded: Jan. 24-25, 1966 at Columbia Records in Hollywood, California Released: 3/14/1966 (single), Fifth Dimension (1966), Greatest Hits (compilation, 1967), History of the Byrds (compilation, 1973), The Byrds (box set, 1990), 20 Essential Tracks from the Boxed Set (compilation, 1992), The Very Best of (compilation, 1997), The Essential (compilation, 2003), There is a Season (box set, 2006) B-Side: “Why” First Charted: 4/2/1966 Peak: 14 BB, 12 CB, 13 GR, 15 HR, 2 CL, 24 UK, 3 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 9.70 video, 38.56 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The Byrds’ 1965 cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” got the group “lauded as the harbingers of a whole new genre – folk-rock.” LW With 1966’s “Eight Miles High” they were celebrated for another song “that was also heralded as a groundbreaking event.” LW It is considered “a classic of the counterculture era” WK and “one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic era,” TC even being held up by many critics as “the first bona fide psychedelic rock song.” WK Band member Roger McGuinn said, “this nugget of proto-psychedelia” DT was not about drugs, as everyone assumed, “but in the ‘60s, anything with abstract imagery was automatically considered a psychedelic song.” SJ It was about the band’s impressions of touring in England. He said, “it’s about the altitude of the airplane – eight miles high – and when you land over there, when you touch down, you find culture shock.” SJ The protests didn’t keep radio from banning it for what regarded as “perceived drug connotations in its lyrics.” WK Band members Gene Clark and David Crosby would admit later that the song “was at least partially inspired by their drug use” WK and McGuinn would acknowledge that “high” had a double meaning. SS In addition, “the Byrds’ harmonies were never more ghostly and uplifting,” SS which enhanced the psychedelic effect of the song. “The amazing guitar solo is McGuinn playing live – and alone!” SJ He said, “There’s no overdubs on that; it’s one straightforward guitar part on a twelve-string. The reason it sounds like that is because I was influenced by John Coltrane,” SJ specifically his song “India.” It was McGuinn’s attempt to replicate “the saxophonist’s repetitive line in that song.” SS Music historian Steve Sullivan said McGuinn’s work here was “no doubt in turn also inspiring an up-and-coming virtuoso named Jim Hendrix.” SS

5D (Fifth Dimension) The Byrds

Writer(s): Roger McGuinn Recorded: May 24-25, 1966 at Columbia Records in Hollywood, California Released: 6/13/1966 (single), Fifth Dimension (1966), Greatest Hits (compilation, 1967), History of the Byrds (compilation, 1973), The Byrds (box set, 1990), 20 Essential Tracks from the Boxed Set (compilation, 1992), The Very Best of (compilation, 1997), The Essential (compilation, 2003), There is a Season (box set, 2006) B-Side: “Captain Soul” Peak: 44 BB, 39 CB, 32 HR, 31 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 5.64 streaming

About the Song: Like “Eight Miles High,” this was banned by some radio stations in the United States when it was released as a single because its lyrics allegedly promoted drug use. MC-44 Roger McGuinn said “he dropped acid to try to understand the universe better and to inform the song’s theme.” MC-45 However, “he saw it as a spiritual song inspired by Islam, rather than an acid-drenched drug song.” MC-45 “For a pop single in 1966 this was cerebral.” MC-45 The song features “an ethereal drone…married to a jig, creating an acid-drenched sea shanty.” MC-44 Roger McGuinn “came up with the waltz-time rhythm that should’ve been too square to work as it was out of place with the era. But it works perfectly, thanks in no small way to his inventive layered guitar and the band’s ravishing harmonies, which perfectly fit the floating music.” MC-44

Mr. Spaceman The Byrds

Writer(s): Roger McGuinn Recorded: Apr. 28-29, 1966 and May 3-6, 1966 at Columbia Records in Hollywood, California Released: 9/6/1966 (single), Fifth Dimension (1966), Greatest Hits (compilation, 1967), History of the Byrds (compilation, 1973), The Byrds (box set, 1990), 20 Essential Tracks from the Boxed Set (compilation, 1992), The Very Best of (compilation, 1997), The Essential (compilation, 2003), There is a Season (box set, 2006) B-Side: “What’s Happening?!?!” Peak: 36 BB, 34 CB, 32 GR, 29 HR, 13 CL, 18 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 13.96 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Roger McGuinn explained the inspiration behind “Mr. Spaceman,” the Byrds’ third single from their album Fifth Dimension: “I was always a science fiction buff. I liked movies like Forbidden Planet and War of the Worlds…I knew that if anyone was out there, FM radio waves would get through the ionosphere and keep travelling in space for maybe thousands of years...or maybe millions of miles…So I thought let’s put something out there that maybe someone would receive. It was sort of a tongue-in-cheek message to outer space. Actually, in a way I got my wish because they used it to wake up the Space Shuttle astronauts.” SJ

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com album review by Richie Unterberger TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 117-8. RD Robert Dimery (2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Quintet Publishing Limited: New York, NY. Page 86. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 126. MC Andy McArthur (2023). On Track…Every Album, Every Song. Sonicbond Publishing: United Kingdom. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Pages 239. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 404. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Pages 144 and 217. WK Wikipedia page for “Eight Miles High” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 4/7/2008; last updated 10/24/2026.