Little Wing

Jimi Hendrix, 1967. Solo by Jimi Hendrix.

Two and a half minutes, and the melodic fade-out solo is over before you're ready.

The whole song lasts under two and a half minutes, and the solo is a short, richly melodic statement that fades before you are ready. Hendrix routed his lead through a makeshift Leslie rotating speaker, giving the lines a shimmering, swirling vibrato. Underneath, his rhythm part is just as important: thumb-fretted bass notes, chord fragments and hammer-ons played together, a style often compared to a pianist's two hands. That R&B-rooted approach became a touchstone for later players who tried to fold rhythm and melody into one part. Listen for the Leslie wobble on the solo notes as they sustain, and then go back to the verses to hear how much melody Hendrix packs into the chord work itself.

Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix is ranked #30 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Jimi Hendrix and the song was released in 1967. It appears on 18 lists, placing as high as #4 (Accordi e Spartiti).

The story of Little Wing

The seeds of Little Wing go back to 1966, when Hendrix was playing Greenwich Village clubs with Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. A 1966 R&B session he played on, (My Girl) She's a Fox, featured Curtis Mayfield-style guitar that biographer Harry Shapiro called practically a blueprint for the later song. Hendrix's soft, chord-melody approach to ballads drew heavily on that soul tradition, blending bass notes, chords and fills in a single part.

Hendrix said the song was sparked by the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. He described taking the whole joyful atmosphere of the event, where everyone seemed to be flying high, and imagining it as a girl who could simply fly away, then squeezing all of those impressions into a tiny matchbox of a song. He also linked it to a simple Native American style of storytelling, and he never pinned the lyric to a single meaning, saying a ballad could stand for almost anything.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience first tracked an instrumental version at Olympic Studios in London on October 25, 1967. That take was harder and faster, and producer Chas Chandler told Hendrix to slow it right down, which engineer Eddie Kramer said was exactly the right call. Overdubs followed on October 28, including a glockenspiel that Hendrix found lying around the studio and heavily treated vocals using phasing, artificial double tracking and a rotating Leslie speaker.

Axis: Bold as Love was mixed at the end of October 1967, but some master tapes went missing and parts had to be remixed on November 1; it was also the last Hendrix album given a dedicated mono mix. The record came out on Track in the UK on December 1, 1967, and on Reprise in the US in January 1968. Little Wing was never a hit single but became one of Hendrix's most loved compositions.

The solo

Hendrix plays every guitar part on Little Wing. For the rhythm track he set his pickup selector between the neck and middle positions for a hollow, glassy tone, fretting bass notes with his thumb over the neck while adding chord fragments and hammer-ons with his fingers, a style often compared to a pianist's two hands. For the lead he routed his guitar through a makeshift Leslie rotating speaker, normally used with organs, which gives the lines their shimmering, swirling vibrato. After two short verses, the brief solo unfolds as a richly melodic statement, which biographer Keith Shadwick admired for its construction, before the track fades out at under two and a half minutes. Players from Frank Marino to Adrian Belew have described this R&B-rooted technique as something close to a lost art.

Legacy

Despite its brevity, Little Wing is one of Hendrix's most celebrated songs. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 188 on its 500 greatest songs list in both 2021 and 2024, and its solo is a staple of greatest-solo rankings. Its influence is heard most clearly through the musicians who covered it, from Eric Clapton's Derek and the Dominos to Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose instrumental won a Grammy in 1993. Tom Morello has praised its chord voicings as unlike anything found in instruction books.

Top 10 facts about Little Wing

Hendrix said Little Wing was inspired by the atmosphere at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, which he imagined as a girl.
Songfacts
Chas Chandler had Hendrix slow down the song's original, more aggressive arrangement during recording.
Wikipedia
The glockenspiel on the track was an instrument Hendrix found lying around Olympic's Studio A.
Wikipedia
Hendrix's lead guitar and even his vocal were sent through a Leslie rotating speaker designed for organs.
Wikipedia
The name Little Wing was originally a working title for a different Hendrix song that became Angel.
Wikipedia
A master tape went missing before release, forcing a hurried remix; one theory is that Hendrix left it in a taxi.
Songfacts
It was one of only two Axis: Bold as Love songs Hendrix regularly played live, the other being Spanish Castle Magic.
Wikipedia
Hendrix debuted the song live at the Konserthuset in Stockholm on January 8, 1968.
Wikipedia
Derek and the Dominos recorded their cover with Duane Allman shortly before Hendrix died, and he never got to hear it.
Songfacts
Stevie Ray Vaughan's 1984 instrumental version, released posthumously, won the 1993 Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Konserthuset, Stockholm (1968) The song's live debut on January 8, 1968.
Stages: Paris 68 (L'Olympia) (1968) January 29, 1968 Paris performance released in the Stages box set.
The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (Winterland, San Francisco) (1968) October 1968 Winterland performance issued on this posthumous live compilation.
Hendrix in the West (Royal Albert Hall) (1969) February 24, 1969 London show; original liner notes wrongly credited San Diego.

Notable covers

Derek and the Dominos (1970) Clapton and Duane Allman's version on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
Gil Evans Orchestra (1974) Jazz orchestral arrangement on The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix.
Sting (1987) Arranged with Gil Evans for ...Nothing Like the Sun.
Stevie Ray Vaughan (1991) Instrumental recorded in 1984, released on The Sky Is Crying; won a Grammy.
The Corrs (1997) Celtic-flavored version with The Chieftains on Talk on Corners.
Valerie June (2019) Soulful single release of the song.

In our lists

The Most-Taught Solos — #23
Deep Cuts — #5
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #24
The 25 Greatest Psychedelic Guitar Solos — #7
The Pioneers: 1950s & 60s — #7
Ballad Solos — #6
Short & Perfect — #2
Best of Jimi Hendrix — #3
Played on a Stratocaster — #12

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Little Wing?

Jimi Hendrix played the solo on Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing (1967).

What guitar was used on the Little Wing solo?

A fender stratocaster through a Marshall amp, with Leslie, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Little Wing rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#30 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 18 of them.

Who wrote Little Wing?

Jimi Hendrix wrote it and recorded it with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in October 1967.

What album is Little Wing on?

It is on Axis: Bold as Love, the Experience's second album, released in December 1967.

What is Little Wing about?

Hendrix said it captured the feeling of the Monterey Pop Festival pictured as a girl; he left the meaning open.

How did Hendrix get the guitar sound on Little Wing?

He used an in-between pickup setting for the rhythm and ran the lead through a Leslie rotating speaker.

Who covered Little Wing?

Notable covers include Derek and the Dominos, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sting and The Corrs.