The Story Behind ‘Crosstown Traffic’ By Jimi Hendrix

There’s no denying the charisma that Jimi Hendrix had also oozed into his creations. “Crosstown Traffic”, for example, had that dripping eroticism that not only presented itself in the lyric but also in every shift and bend in his string fiasco. Hendrix plays the role of a promiscuous debonair who moves on from woman to woman, discouraging any that dare fall for him to kill any hopes of him reciprocating.

The song was a possibility thanks to the involvement of The Animals’ Chas Chandler and the rest of the Experience. Chandler, in particular, was partly responsible for the success of the guitarist in the US and UK. Surely enough, Are You Experienced saw the band step up to the challenge, which became a hurdle itself in planning for the follow-up, Electric Ladyland. But Hendrix didn’t really like how “Crosstown Traffic” was issued as a single instead of making it to the record. “You have the whole planned-out LP, and all of a sudden they’ll make ‘Crosstown Traffic,’ for instance, a single, and that’s coming out of a whole other set,” he said.

Chandler says about the group’s output on the record but wasn’t planning to do an album. They simply decided to do and record songs until they came with the right number for an album and decided to stick with it.

“Crosstown Traffic” saw Hendrix tread the line of playfulness and being uptight in lyrical and musical aspects, respectively. It also became the gateway for his evolution as he tried to be more independent in his creative process, acting as a transitionary phase for the artist in his bright yet brief career.