Jimi Hendrix Blooper Reel: Laughter and Clowning from 'Third Stone from the Sun' Sessions

Surely even you casual fans of classic guitar rock have heard the garbled, slowed-down talking in the hidden corners of Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun," a super-psychedelic track from his 1967 debut album.

It's most noticeable in the song's quieter passages, especially near the beginning of the tune (which was so wonderfully covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan in the Eighties).

As it turns out, when this garbled talking is heard at normal speed, we can clearly hear Hendrix having a bizarre (and very funny) back-and-forth convo with his manager/producer Chas Chandler, who also was the Animals' bassist (Note: Back in the day, Chandler bore a resemblance to Beatles-era Paul McCartney—at least around the eyes).

Anyway, the outtakes of those vocal sessions—heard at proper speed—were released on the 2000 Jimi Hendrix Experience box set. As we stated above, it's some pretty funny stuff, full of laughter, clowning around, heavy-breathing and windy sound effects.

You can hear it all in the top YouTube player below. The bottom player features the original LP version (33 rpm) of the song, sped up to 45 rpm. Enjoy!

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Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.