The Wind Cries Mary Cover - Jimi Hendrix

Released as the band's third single, backed with "Highway Chile", on May 5, 1967. It reached no. 6 in the UK Charts. The track is an example of psychedelic blues-rock, as the song is in the key of F major, with a guitar solo primarily involving the F major pentatonic scale. Today, it is #370 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. It has been covered by musicians such as Jamie Cullum, John Mayer and Xavier Rudd.

In the USA, the song was first released as B-side to the song "Purple Haze" in June 1967 and later on the USA compilation version of the album Are You Experienced and along with the other sides of their first three singles, on most later re-releases of Are You Experienced.

The song was recorded at the end of the "Fire" sessions. It is said to have been inspired when Hendrix and his then girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, had an argument over her cooking; after she stormed out of their apartment, Hendrix wrote "The Wind Cries Mary", as Mary was Etchingham's middle name. Kathy has said that many of the Dylanesque lyrics describe the test card that appeared at the end of BBC television transmissions at that time. However, this is clearly a mistake on Kathy's behalf as that particular testcard was not first broadcast until July 1967, while the song had been written long before that. Billy Cox, who was the bassist for the Band of Gypsys and long-time friend of Hendrix has stated Curtis Mayfields' influence on the song.

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Music

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• jimi
• hendrix
• wind
• cries
• mary
• experience