| The Wind Cries Mary | |
| Artist: | The Jimi Hendrix Experience |
| Album: | Are You Experienced |
| B-Side: | "Highway Chile" |
| Released: | May 5, 1967 |
| Format: | 7" |
| Recorded: | January 11, 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios in London, England |
| Genre: | Rock, psychedelic rock, blues-rock |
| Length: | 3:20 |
| Label: | Track |
| Producer: | Chas Chandler |
| Last Single: | "Purple Haze" (1967) |
| This Single: | "The Wind Cries Mary" (1967) |
| Next Single: | "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" (1967) |
"The Wind Cries Mary" is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was released as the band's third single, backed with "Highway Chile", on May 5, 1967. The track is considered a good exhibit 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. One of Hendrix's first hits in England, the song was recorded at the end of the "Fire" sessions. Today, the song is considered a classic and continues to receive decent airplay around the world.It is #370 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time.
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 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.[1] , although this may have been a mistake on Kathy's behalf as that particular testcard wasn't 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.
"'The Wind Cries Mary' was a riff that was influenced by Curtis Mayfield, who was a big influence for Jimi."It is a misconception that Hendrix wrote the song about marijuana use, as "Mary Jane" is a slang term for marijuana. "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Highway Chile" were re-released in 1983, on The Singles Album compilation.[2]
The song appears in the music video game Guitar Hero World Tour And once it's played on Career Mode, Jimi Hendrix appears singing and playing the guitar in memory of Jimi Hendrix.