The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced?

Plucked up from Greenwich Village by The Animals' bassist turned producer, Chas Chandler, Jimi Hendrix debuted with the eleven-track LP Are You Experienced? with The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

"Purple Haze" kickstarts the record. Filled with the heady, rough-edged sound of a Stratocaster strummed frantically, wherein each note dissipates into the air creating a sonic shimmer, Hendrix establishes his signature sound. The opening chords mimic a signal, a premonition to the record's impact.

Approaching the tail-end of the civil rights movement, the ex-Veteran seizes the opportunity to reclaim Rock for the Black man, which he cheekily acknowledges in "Third Stone from the Sun," stating, "you'll never hear surf music again." The Seattle native-turned-English rocker sets the record's theme of love and soul-searching by pondering in his smoky, baritone voice as the guitar lulls between a punctuated R&B riff to one of a more calm blues in "May This Be Love" — showing the influences of legends like Muddy Waters and encapsulating the introspective atmosphere of the 60s. With the use of fuzz pedals, jangly chords, and bending strings in the record's fifth track, the frontman exclaims, "is this love or confusion?" with a cheeky dazed-out smirk evident in his voice alone, inviting us to join this trance and come to our own conclusion.

This article was submitted as an assignment for the Music Journalism course at the University of Texas at Austin taught by professor Raul Hernandez.