Song · Jimi Hendrix
“Voodoo Chile” by Jimi Hendrix
Released 1970
“Voodoo Chile” by Jimi Hendrix appears on 12 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1976 and 2025. It was first released in 1970. Its best result is #16 on the John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1976). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,448 alternative song of all time.
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"Voodoo Chile" is the long, smoky blues at the center of Electric Ladyland, the third Jimi Hendrix Experience album, cut in 1968 at the Record Plant in New York City after a jam that ran deep into the night. Hendrix took Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" as his starting point and wrote his own words and music over it, then stretched it out to 15 minutes, the longest studio recording he ever made.
It plays like the after-hours session it was: Mitch Mitchell on drums, Steve Winwood on organ and Jack Casady on bass, everybody leaning into the groove while Hendrix wails. The very next day the Experience turned it into "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", and when that one came out as a UK single in 1970 it was titled "Voodoo Chile", which has kept people mixing up the two ever since.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 16 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1976) | 50 |
| 1991 | 613 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 2001 | 412 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 105 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2004 | 834 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) | 923 |
| 2005 | 242 | Virgin Radio | Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 500 |
| 2007 | 75 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2012 | 68 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
| 2014 | 85 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) | 400 |
| 2014 | 56 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2022 | 195 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) | 1025 |
| 2025 | 83 | 102.5 WDVE | DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) | 500 |
Also listed as: Voodoo Child.
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