Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child voted best guitar riff of all time

**jizzybloke** · 28-11-2009, 04:00 AM

Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child named best guitar riff of all time

Voodoo Child, by Jimi Hendrix has been named the greatest guitar riff of all time, more than 40 years after he first recorded the classic jam.

Late guitar guru Hendrix, who topped the singles chart with the track in 1970, triumphed in a poll of musicians.
The track - full title Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - edged past Guns N'Roses song Sweet Child O'Mine which finished second in the poll by musicians' website MusicRadar.com.

When the site's sister magazine Total Guitar last conducted the survey five years ago, the list was headed by the G N'R song.

The list shows that the older riffs are the best. Just two from the past decade make it into the top 20 - Muse's Plug In Baby at 11 and The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army at 15.
Michael Jackson's Beat It, with its Eddie Van Halen guitar part, props up the top 20.
Voodoo Child - with its distinctive 'wah-wah' opening - was first released on Hendrix's Electric Ladyland album and led on from an earlier track, Voodoo Chile, which was a 15-minute blues jam. Confusingly, by the time it was released as a single in 1970 it too had been named Voodoo Chile.
MusicRadar.com's editor-in-chief Mike Goldsmith said: ''Nearly 40 years after his untimely death, Jimi Hendrix is still the undisputed heavyweight champion of rock guitar.
''Of the current generation of six-string stars, only Jack White of The White Stripes and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy feature in the higher echelons of our list. No surprise given both Bellamy and White share - or have inherited - Hendrix's unique blend of experimental instincts and white-knuckle showmanship.
''Above all though, our poll seems to indicate one thing - in 2009, classic rock still rules.''
More than 5,000 MusicRadar users took part in the poll.
The top 20:

1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

2. Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine

3. Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

4. Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water

5. Derek and the Dominos - Layla

6. AC/DC - Back In Black

7. Metallica - Enter Sandman

8. The Beatles - Day Tripper

9. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

10. The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

11. Black Sabbath - Paranoid

12. Muse - Plug In Baby

13. Eddie Van Halen - Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

14. The Kinks - You Really Got Me

15. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

16. AC/DC - Highway to Hell

17. Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker

18. Black Sabbath - Iron Man

19. Led Zeppelin - Black Dog

20. Michael Jackson - Beat It

**Loy Toy** · 28-11-2009, 04:09 AM

Mate at 4.00am in the morning and you do this to me I should red your fucking Voodoo Chile arse.

Now I'm gunna lay my head down with this riff running through my veins you bastard!

Fucking luv it!

**jizzybloke** · 28-11-2009, 04:48 AM

I think i'll put up some more of them from the list

**Norton** · 28-11-2009, 08:35 AM

Interesting list. Some great stuff but the poll overlooked an obvious choice? Go get a beer. Sit down relax for about 5 minutes enjoying the nice mellow music, then crank up the volume til your neighbors windows shatter. If your blood pressure doesn't go up 10 points, then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you dead.

**harrybarracuda** · 08-12-2009, 01:38 PM

"Pfffft", I say, and again I say "Pfffft".

**jandajoy** · 08-12-2009, 02:07 PM

I wonder what happened to this kid?

**harrybarracuda** · 08-12-2009, 03:23 PM

Well at a guess I'd say he had to go back to school

**Mid** · 08-12-2009, 03:35 PM

^^

Quinn Sullivan - Blues Guitarist

**Davis Knowlton** · 08-12-2009, 03:52 PM

Electric Ladyland! Got to be one of the greatest albums ever. One of my big regrets is not seeing Hendrix live at Woodstock - unfortunately, I had a prior commitment with little brown guys in black pajamas which precluded my attendance. Pity. But, it's a GREAT video.

**Bung** · 08-12-2009, 04:26 PM

Were you having a sleep over?

**S Landreth** · 08-12-2009, 05:19 PM

Might not be one of the best,…but he sure seems to enjoy what he does

**Davis Knowlton** · 08-12-2009, 05:30 PM

^^Happily, not a permanent one.

**Mid** · 08-12-2009, 05:39 PM

indeed

**Bung** · 08-12-2009, 08:21 PM

I just got it....

**jandajoy** · 08-12-2009, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Might not be one of the best,…

Certainly isn't.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

but he sure seems to enjoy what he does

Certainly does. Bless him.

**Davis Knowlton** · 08-12-2009, 09:27 PM

Now that Bung gets it, a small historical sidebar. As I slogged through the paddies with the 101st Airborne, yet one of many 19 year old young paras far away from a home which was changing with the speed of light while we were absent, Hendrix was a bit of a hero to us. Known to few, Hendrix had been a para, just like us, with the 82nd Airborne. He was never in Vietnam, having been in and out prior to that conflict, but just the fact that he had once been where we were was something which made him special to us. There are many stories about movie and TV stars who (supposedly) were in Vietnam, most of them bull. But Elvis, who served honorably as a Sergeant in the tank corp in Germany, and Hendrix, and countless others in WWII, were the real deal. No agenda here, so keep your anti-American/anti-Vietnam rhetoric in your pants. Just an sidebar about a great musician.

**crazy dog** · 08-12-2009, 09:59 PM

Hendrix broke an ankle on a jump and was out of the airborne after that. Much as I love a lot of Thai music and classical European music I will always love Hendrix. Hendrix was a true artist who transcended the narrow constraints of rock and blues. Listen to his performance at Woodstock, just beautiful music and the one performer for me who represents the 60's better than anyone else.

**Davis Knowlton** · 08-12-2009, 10:02 PM

Amen to that. Well said.

**Bung** · 08-12-2009, 10:56 PM

My brother gave me a Jimi Hendrix album-War heroes- when I was 14 (his girlfriend didn't want him to play it....) and I have been a big fan ever since.

Never seen the album available but the opening track wassomething to behold.

**Bung** · 08-12-2009, 11:00 PM

Check it out:

Incedentely, Im listening to some Tny Joe White at the moment

**Bung** · 09-12-2009, 12:08 AM

Sorry, off topic but......

I foking love this! Just got his greatest hits and been giving it a hiding.

**astasinim** · 09-12-2009, 03:27 AM

Hendrix was nothing special. no real talent to speak of. Far better artists out there.

**Bung** · 09-12-2009, 06:11 AM

I think whoever you may think is a better guitar player than Jimi and asked them to name who they think is the greatest ever, a very large percentage will tell you it's Jimi Hendrix.

**kmart** · 09-12-2009, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by astasinim

Hendrix was nothing special. no real talent to speak of. Far better artists out there.

Nice troll post.. There might be better "technical" guitarists out there, but I doubt many could match Hendrix' talent for showmanship and charisma. Dying young certainly cemented his total rock legend status though.

**good2bhappy** · 09-12-2009, 01:36 PM

man that guitar gently weeps

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