Star Spangled Banner

Jimi Hendrix, 1969, from Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More. Solo by Jimi Hendrix.

At Woodstock, Hendrix turned the national anthem into something both reverent and harrowing. He plays the melody fairly straight at first, then breaks it apart with feedback, whammy-bar dives and sustained screams that evoke falling bombs and sirens, before stepping back into the tune. It's all done with a Stratocaster, volume and hands rather than studio tricks, which makes it even more startling. The performance became one of the defining images of the late 1960s and changed how guitarists thought about noise as a form of expression. Listen for the passage around 'the rockets' red glare', where the melody dissolves into sound effects before snapping back into place.

Star Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix is ranked #115 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Jimi Hendrix and the song was released in 1969. It appears on 4 lists, placing as high as #43 (Guitar World).

In our lists

• The 25 Greatest Psychedelic Guitar Solos — #10
• The Pioneers: 1950s & 60s — #19
• Greatest Live Solos — #5
• Whammy, Fuzz & Feedback — #8
• Instrumentals — #13
• Best of Jimi Hendrix — #6
• The Best Jimi Hendrix Guitar Solos — #7

Sources

• Guitar World: Readers' Top 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — #43
• Bombay Lives (Substack): 100 Greatest Guitar Solos — #52
• Topito (now 10h26.com): Top 100 des plus grands solos de guitare de l'histoire (Benoit Floyd) — #52
• Guitar Tricks: 200 Best Guitar Solos of All Time — #64