Purple Haze - Jesus Saves

Posted by Warthog on February 21, 2005

In Reply to: Purple Haze - Jesus Saves posted by ESC on February 19, 2005

: PURPLE HAZE - JESUS SAVES - The working title of the Jimi Hendrix guitar classic" Purple Haze" was "Purple Haze - Jesus Saves" and was based on a long manuscript, according to the late Monika Dannemann ("The Inner Life of Jimi Hendrix"), "Hendrix's lover at the time of his death." In the manuscript Hendrix stated that the entire meaning of the song came from a dream he had. Ms. Dannemann said, ".he looked down on earth and saw an unborn fetus waiting for its birth.At the same time he saw spirits of the dead leaving earth. Later in the dream he went on a journey though the dimensions, and was walking under the sea. Part of the song was about the purple haze which surrounded him, engulfed him, and in which he got lost. He told me later what a traumatic experience this had been, but that in the dream his faith in Jesus had saved him.'" Other sources indicate that "Purple Haze" was inspired by science fiction. But Hendrix corroborated Dannemann's claim in a January 1967 interview with John King for "Music Express." "If 6 was 9" was inspired by Hendrix's interest in numerology. From "Take a Walk on the Dark Side: Rock and Roll Myths, Legends, and Curses" by R. Gary Patterson (Fireside Book, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2004) Page 192-200.

Thanks for that.

I'll keep an eye out for that book.

It is always difficult to find the truth, as celebrities are surrounded by image, lies, half-truths and spin. It is even worse when the celebrity is an icon.

There are a number of books kicking around which give different slants on Hendrix - some that should be authoritative appear to cause more uncertainty than they resolve. Some people exploited him when he was alive and some have done it to his memory. No wonder he recorded "Jealousy"...

WH.