5 Songs You Never Knew Featured Jimi Hendrix

It’s fun to imagine Jimi Hendrix to have sprung strongly onto the base of our pop culture; being one of the finest and most prolific guitarists in the world of rock, it’s only fair if one would assume that he was ever-famous from the start. But, just like the rest of us, he had to start slow and discover first the world that he had to join. In the mid-60s, he was nothing but that.

All lost, jumping on different bands from time to time, he was sometimes hired to be a session musician to some of the most notable names in the industry. It was only until he left for England that he had himself established in the depths of music. In honor of the guitarist’s perseverance to break in the annals of rock, we’ll take a look at these 5 songs which featured the mighty Jimi Hendrix.

“Suey” – Jayne Mansfield

Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield loved to pull on publicity stunts from time to time, so when a single cover mentioned a song “Suey” sung by her and featured Hendrix, everyone thought it was only what’s typical of her until it was proven to be real. Hendrix did contribute to Mansfield’s two recordings “Suey” and “As The Clouds Drift By.”

“Mercy Mercy” – Don Covay

It was Don Covay’s hit that made Hendrix’s career be known by many. “Mercy Mercy” was the guitarist’s first taste of the chart success, with the song briefly charted on the 35^th spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

“I Don’t Know What You Got (But It’s Got Me)” – Little Richard

With Little Richard’s shiftiness to anyone who would undermine his performance and Hendrix’s growing abilities to shine like a diamond, it was only a matter of time that these two would eventually clash, leading to Jimi’s firing from Richard’s band less than a year. We got lucky though, Hendrix managed to perform the bluesy guitar parts of “I Don’t Know What You Got (But It’s Got Me),” championing Richard’s soulful vocals.

“Testify” – The Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers’ technique of splitting a lengthy song into two parts (A side and B side) made them unique at that point, and it’s no doubt that “Testify” injected that idea. For the two-part song, the Isley’s incorporated the typical southern church soul with rock n’ roll, with Hendrix showing off his tasty guitar licks for everyone’s amazement.

“(My Girl) She’s a Fox” – The Icemen

As Richard and Bobby Poindexter wrote “(My Girl) She’s a Fox,” they hired session musicians to play the arrangement and they got lucky to have stumbled upon Jimi Hendrix to play the guitar. Inside the track, we can hear some fresh, riveting riffs courtesy of Hendrix.