Rolling Stone has published their list of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time, featuring six-string glory from “blues pioneers, hippie jammers, punk rockers, metal warriors, funkateers, and more.” This year’s rankings put Prince’s soulful playing on “Purple Rain” at the top of the heap. However, Jimi Hendrix‘s influence looms large on the list, with three top-20 spots: “Little Wing” at 18, “All Along the Watchtower” at 11, and “Machine Gun” at 2.
The guitar great had bigger crossover hits like “Purple Haze” and “Voodoo Chile,” but “Machine Gun” features a solo that feels like the height of his powers. Rolling Stone calls it “Hendrix at his most Hendrix,” adding that fellow shredders from Guns N’ Roses’ Slash to Metallica’s Kirk Hammett have called it the greatest solo ever.
“It comes from ‘Band of Gypsys,’ recorded live on New Year’s Day 1970 at the Fillmore East, a 12-minute firestorm of electric anguish and political rage, inspired by the violence in Vietnam and America,” the magazine writes. “Hendrix had bigger hits, but this is the furthest he ever traveled. Over 50 years later, ‘Machine Gun’ remains the outer limits of how high a guitar — and a guitarist — can reach.”
Why Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” Solo Matters
Jimi Hendrix was part of the wave of guitarists who transformed the guitar solo into one of rock’s defining features. As his website states, “Hendrix’s innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback, and controlled distortion created a new musical form.” But “Machine Gun” marked a new era for the guitar hero. The historic recording was part of the live debut of his new group, The Band of Gypsys, featuring bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles, and a new musical direction that was freer and funkier, as per Louder.
Hendrix used this freedom to express himself in a new way. At the beginning of the track, he dedicates “Machine Gun” to “all the soldiers fighting in Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York… and Vietnam.” Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid explained to Guitar World that his solo transcended just notes and told a narrative.
“Jimi was playing the zeitgeist there and spoke to what the nation was going through,” Reid said. “He was a witness to what the nation was going through and was communicating with people who were walking in rice paddies in Vietnam thousands of miles away. He was in solidarity with the Vietcong and the American G.I.’s with ‘Machine Gun.'”
How Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” Solo Creates Its Emotional Impact
Although Hendrix is known for tuning his guitar Eb standard, he tuned it to D standard (D-G-C-F-A-D) for the Fillmore East concerts. Dropping a whole step from standard tuning gives the guitar a darker, moodier tone.
The verse and chorus of “Machine Gun” are riff-based with a staccato, muted attack resembling the automatic fire of an assault rifle. Hendrix contrasts that on the solo by starting on a high note – literally.
“Not only is this my favorite guitar solo of all time,” Phish’s Trey Anastasio told Rolling Stone, “but it includes the single greatest note ever played on electric guitar: the high screaming note Jimi plays right at the beginning of his solo.”
The sustained wail is a cosmic moaning that bends the 17th fret of the 2nd string up a whole step, per the official score. From there, he stays in the guitar’s upper register, mining the pentatonic and blues scales for all the passion he can muster. Hendrix also uses lots of hammer-ons and pull-offs combined with the whammy bar to create otherworldly sounds. Every time you think the solo is winding down, he returns with a flurry that keeps the energy high. The track ended up being over 12 minutes of pure gold.
Hendrix’s catalog produced bigger hits, but “Machine Gun” revealed the full scope of his artistry by capturing the turmoil of the world and inspiring generations of players. Some fans may be upset that it didn’t reach number one on Rolling Stone’s list, but that’s part of the game.
“Every fan would compile a different list, and that’s the point,” they write. “But it’s a salute to the guitar-solo tradition and all the rituals that go with it.”
