Hear My Train A Comin Fire Castles Made Of Sand Jimi Hendrix

Hear My Train A Comin' Album: Blues (1969)
Fire Album: Are You Experienced? (1967)
Castles Made Of Sand Album: Axis: Bold As Love (1967)
by Jimi Hendrix

Hear My Train A Comin' is also known as "Getting My Heart Back Together Again," Hendrix often played this song live, but never released the song on an album. Hendrix first played it in studio on December 19, 1967. During a photo shoot session, he was given a guitar and asked to play something for the camera. The original tape was re-discovered in 1993 only and remastered by Eddie Kramer. You can hear it on the Blues compilation, released in 1994. On this album, you can also hear a live version played by Hendrix on May 30, 1970 in Berkeley.

The only Jimi Hendrix Experience studio recording of Hear My Train A Comin' crops up on the 2010 Valleys of Neptune album. Hendrix producer/engineer Eddie Kramer commented to Toronto's The Globe and Mail: "It shows a complete at-oneness with his instrument. Jimi had a thought in his mind, and in a nanosecond it gets through his body, through his heart, through his arms, through the fingers, onto the guitar."

The Hear My Train A Comin' version on Hendrix's posthumous album, People, Hell & Angels, was drawn from Jimi's first ever recording session with his old army pal, Billy Cox, and drummer Buddy Miles. He would later record the groundbreaking album Band Of Gypsys with the powerhouse rhythm duo. Co-producer John McDermott commented to Digital Spy: "Billy and Buddy understood how to set the tempo. If you listen to this recording, they play it the same way as they did on the Live At The Fillmore East album. They knew intuitively that the song should have a great, menacing groove; it shouldn't be old-school, old-tempo, four-bar stuff. They wanted it to have a totally different feel, and that's what makes it exciting."

The main lyrics in Fire ("let me stand next to your fire") came from a time when the band had just finished a gig in the cold around Christmas, 1966. They went to bass player Noel Redding's mother's house in Folkestone, England, and when they got there, Jimi asked Redding's mother Margaret if he could "stand next to her fire" to warm up. The family dog, a German Shepherd, lay by the fire, which inspired the line, "Move over Rover, and let Jimi take over."

The lyrical lightning bolt of Fire was a breakthrough for Hendrix, who had just started writing songs at the request of his manager Chas Chandler. Writing riffs was easy for him, and it turned out he had a talent for crafting lyrics as well, as he was able to turn a simple line into a fiery tale of lustful passion. (This story is verified in Mat Snow's Mojo story on Hendrix that ran in the October 2006 issue.)

Hendrix is legendary for theatrics like setting his guitar on fire and playing it with his teeth (not at the same time). Fire was the song he was (appropriately) playing when he set it on fire for the first time. It happened at a concert in London in March 1967, two months before the Are You Experienced? album was released. Hendrix was low on the bill (below Engelbert Humperdinck), and looking to garner some media attention. When he ignited his guitar, he created a buzz that grew to a roar as his career took off.

Hendrix set fire to his guitar once again at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. At that show, he didn't do the bit during "Fire," he did it after playing "Wild Thing."

The Red Hot Chili Peppers often covered Fire in their early years. They decided to play it again at Woodstock '99 in Rome, New York, but this was a very different festival than the one where Jimi Hendrix performed the song in 1969. The '99 crowd was violent and unruly; when RHCP launched into this song, they increased their level of mayhem, tearing the place up and setting fires (yes, Rome was burning).

Gary Moore covered Fire on his 1999 release A Different Beat.

In the movie Wayne's World, Wayne falls in love with the bassist from an all-girl band (Tia Carrere) after seeing them cover Fire at Gasworks.

Castles Made Of Sand is one of Hendrix' most autobiographical and personal songs. He hated talking about his past, and avoided it during press conferences and interviews.

Hendrix played all of the lead guitar parts backwards, then rewound the recording of the lead guitar parts to the song to get that effect you hear in the beginning and in the middle of Castles Made Of Sand.

Hendrix' mother was a Cherokee Indian, and in Castles Made Of Sand he identifies with his heritage as a Native American.

Hendrix read the words for Castles Made Of Sand as a poem instead of singing them.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were all big fans of Jimi Hendrix and often perform Castles Made Of Sand live.