"The Wind Cries Mary" is a

rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cu ...

written by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. Hendrix wrote the song as a reconciliatory love song for his girlfriend in London, Kathy Mary Etchingham. More recent biographical material indicated that some of the lyrics appeared in poetry written by Hendrix earlier in his career when he was in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Background and recording

According to his then girlfriend,

Kathy Etchingham Kathleen Mary Etchingham (born 18 June 1946) is an English writer known from the Swinging London music scene of the 1960s and her relationship with Jimi Hendrix. Early life Etchingham was born in Derby, the daughter of Charles Etchingham, an ...

's, account, he wrote the lyrics after an argument with her about her cooking lumpy

mashed potatoes Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American and Canadian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a ...

, using "Mary" (Etchingham's middle name). Etchingham suggested that the line in the song "a broom is drearily sweeping up the broken pieces of yesterday's life" represents Hendrix sweeping up the broken dishes she threw as a result of the argument. In a later interview, Hendrix commented that the lyrics represent "more than one person". Music journalist David Stubbs pointed out that Hendrix also used the line from the song “Somewhere a Queen is weeping / Somewhere a King has no wife" in a poem he wrote to another Mary who had been his girlfriend, Mary Washington.

Billy Cox William Cox (born October 18, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodstoc ...

, Hendrix's long-time friend and later bassist, has noted

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

's influence on the song. Hendrix performed elements or an early version in the summer of 1966 with his band

Jimmy James and the Blue Flames Jimmy James and the Blue Flames was a short-lived American rock group that was fronted by Jimi Hendrix, who was then going by the name "Jimmy James". The band was Hendrix's first extended foray into the 1966 Greenwich Village music scene and in ...

in New York City. The Experience recorded it at

De Lane Lea Studios Warner Bros. De Lane Lea Studios is a recording studio, based in Dean Street, Soho, London. Although the studios have mainly been used for dubbing feature films and television programmes, major artists such as the Animals, the Beatles, Soft M ...

in London in February 1967, during sessions for their follow-up single to "

Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is an American song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics tell of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooting ...

". Hendrix producer

Chas Chandler Bryan James "Chas" Chandler (18 December 1938 – 17 July 1996) was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He ...

commented on the recording: The single, backed by "

Highway Chile "Highway Chile" is a song by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, issued as the B-side to their 1967 third British single "The Wind Cries Mary". The song was written by vocalist and guitarist Jimi Hendrix and titled to reflect his pronunciation of "child ...

", was released in the UK in May 1967 and reached number six on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the United States, the song was first released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the "

Purple Haze "Purple Haze" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Ea ...

" single in June 1967. It was later included on the American ''

Are You Experienced ''Are You Experienced'' is the debut studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released in 1967, the LP was an immediate critical and commercial success, and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album feature ...

'' album, released in August 1967. More recent biographical material has indicated that some of the lyrics appeared in poetry written by Hendrix earlier in his career when he was in

. According to his previous girlfriend from Seattle, Mary Washington, the words "Somewhere a Queen is weeping/ Somewhere a King has no wife," were written in a love poem Hendrix had written for her.

Performance

Hendrix often performed the song live in 1967 and 1968. A recording from the

Monterey Pop Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix ...

was later released on ''

Jimi Plays Monterey ''Jimi Plays Monterey'' is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix released in February 1986. It documents the Jimi Hendrix Experience's performance at the Monterey Pop Festival on June 18, 1967. In 2007, it was superseded by '' Live at Monterey ...

'' (1986) and ''

Live at Monterey ''Live at Monterey'' is an album that contains the performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded at the Monterey Pop Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Montere ...

'' (2007); another from the Paris L'Olympia Theatre appeared on ''

Stages Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * S ...

'' (1991), ''

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

'' (2000), and ''

Live in Paris & Ottawa 1968 ''Live in Paris & Ottawa 1968'' is a posthumous live album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on September 5, 2008, by Dagger Records. The album contains songs from the band's performances at the L'Olympia Theatre in Paris on January 29, 196 ...

'' (2008). ''Stages'' also includes a 1967 recording from a Stockholm concert.

Impact and legacy

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine ranked "The Wind Cries Mary" number 379 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". A variety of musicians have recorded the song, such as

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

Xavier Rudd Xavier Rudd (born 29 May 1978) is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. Several of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as spirituality, humanity, environmentalism and the rights of Indigen ...

Richie Sambora Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwri ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Popa Chubby Theodore Joseph "Ted" Horowitz (born March 31, 1960 in The Bronx, New York City, United States), who plays under the stage name of Popa Chubby, is an American singer, composer, and guitarist. Life and career At age thirteen Horowitz began play ...

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

, and Caron Wheeler, and

Johnny A. John Antonopoulos (born November 14, 1952 in Malden, Massachusetts, United States), known professionally as Johnny A, is an American musician, guitarist, and songwriter. Early life Johnny A. was born in Malden, Massachusetts, of Greek heritage ...

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role ...

later reworked the song as "Mademoiselle Mabry" for

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

' album '' Filles de Kilimanjaro''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wind Cries Mary, The 1960s ballads 1967 songs 1967 singles The Jimi Hendrix Experience songs Track Records singles Songs written by Jimi Hendrix Song recordings produced by Chas Chandler Rock ballads