"Bleeding Heart" (sometimes listed as "(My) Bleeding Heart") is a song written and recorded by American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician

Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...

in 1961. Considered "among the greatest of James' songs", "Bleeding Heart" was later popularized by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, who recorded several versions of the song.

Original song

"Bleeding Heart" is a slow-tempo twelve-bar blues that features Elmore James' vocal and

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

. It was recorded during one of his last recording sessions and has session musicians providing accompaniment, instead of James' regular band, the "Broomdusters." According to producer Bobby Robinson, it was his idea to record James with a "big band sound" and to hire band leader

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

to arrange the horn section. The song contains some of James' more memorable verses: Although recorded in 1961, "Bleeding Heart" was not released until 1965, two years after James' death. It was first issued as the B-side to the first pressing of "

It Hurts Me Too "It Hurts Me Too" is a blues standard, regarded as one of the most interpreted songs in the genre. First recorded in 1940 by Tampa Red, the song is a mid-tempo eight-bar blues that features slide guitar. It borrows from earlier blues songs a ...

," which became a

Billboard R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

hit and appeared in the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

. "Bleeding Heart" was later released with "Mean Mistreatin' Mama." These single versions were edited to 2:37; a 3:05 version later appeared on the ''Elmore James Memorial Album'' and various compilation albums, sometimes titled "(My) Bleeding Heart." Personnel *

vocals,

Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams (July 13, 1915September 14, 2002) was an American jazz and blues saxophonist, bandleader, and songwriter. His record " The Huckle-Buck", recorded in December 1948, was one of the most successful R&B records of the tim ...

baritone saxophone *

George Coleman George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master. Early life Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was ...

(probably)tenor saxophone *Danny Mooretrumpet *Dickie Harris (probably)trombone *Nehemiah "Riff" Ruffinguitar *Johnny Aceypiano *Unknownbass *Johnny or Earl Williamsdrums

Jimi Hendrix's version

Background and performances

Jimi Hendrix, who frequently cited Elmore James as an influence, recorded several different arrangements of "Bleeding Heart". An early performance with Hendrix on vocals and guitar, which follows James' version, was recorded with

Curtis Knight and the Squires Curtis Knight and the Squires were a New York band that was fronted by singer and guitarist Curtis Knight in the mid-1960s. Both Jimi Hendrix and sax player Lonnie Youngblood were members for a while. Background The band is referred to as a wo ...

in 1965 or 1966. In 1968, a live version of the song was recorded at a jam session at the Scene Club in New York and later released on several bootleg and gray-market albums, including '' Bleeding Heart''. Hendrix used some new lyrics, but the performance was marred by "a very drunken

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...

... burbling a combination of lyrics and obscenities over the jamming musicians" for half of the song. On February 24, 1969, a live version was performed by the

Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

for possible inclusion in a concert film. The film has not been released, although "Bleeding Heart" appeared on a purported soundtrack album, ''

Experience Experience refers to Consciousness, conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience i ...

''. Hendrix with the

Band of Gypsys ''Band of Gypsys'' is a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City with R&B musicians Billy Cox on bass and Buddy ...

recorded a live version of "Bleeding Heart" on December 31, 1969 at the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was Promoter (entertainment), rock promoter Bill Graham (promoter), Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue near 6th Street (Manhattan), East 6th Street on the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, ...

in New York. It appears on '' Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show'' (2016).

Studio versions

In 1969, Hendrix recorded at least three different studio arrangements of "Bleeding Heart" at the

Record Plant The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...

in New York that showed Hendrix moving away from an Elmore James-style blues arrangement and using different backing musiciansa more modern blues recorded March 18 appeared on ''

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

''; an uptempo version recorded April 24 that is featured on his 2010 posthumous studio album '' Valleys of Neptune''; and a slower funk-influenced version recorded May 21 which is included on ''

People, Hell and Angels ''People, Hell and Angels'' is a posthumous compilation album by the American rock musician Jimi Hendrix. The fourth release under the Experience Hendrix deal with Legacy Recordings, it contains twelve previously unreleased recordings of tracks h ...

''. With

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 when both were in the Army, then in 1969 with the interim g ...

and

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard (mag ...

, the basic track for a new studio version, which moved further away from the blues, was completed March 24, 1970, at the Record Plant, with additional recording at the recently finished

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer. It was completed by 1970. Hendrix ...

in June 1970. Further developments to the song were made, and Hendrix and engineer

Eddie Kramer Edwin H. Kramer (born 19 April 1942) is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, L ...

prepared a rough mix. This version was later remixed by Kramer and released on the 1972 album ''

War Heroes ''War Heroes'' is a compilation album by American guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Released in the UK in October 1972, and in December 1972 in the US, it was the third album of mostly unreleased studio recordings to be issued after Hendrix's death. The ...

'' and later on '' South Saturn Delta''.

Single and music video

The ''Valleys of Neptune'' version was released as the second single from the album on March 1 (digital download) and March 8, 2010 (7-inch single) and is backed with a previously unreleased version of the song "Peace in Mississippi." An alternative single that includes "Jam 292" from the

Dagger Records Dagger Records is an American record label based in Seattle, Washington. Dagger produces and releases, in conjunction with Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., and MCA Records, official Jimi Hendrix Bootleg recording, bootlegs and collections of rare studi ...

album ''

Hear My Music ''Hear My Music'' is a posthumous compilation album by Jimi Hendrix, released on November 30, 2004, by Dagger Records. The album contains instrumental studio jams and demos recorded in early 1969. Track listing All songs were written by Jimi He ...

'' (2004) was released. The music video for "Bleeding Heart," directed by

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll ...

, debuted on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

on February 25, 2010. Personnel Single version: *

vocals, guitars, production *

bass guitar *Rocky Isaacdrums *Chris Grimestambourine *Al Marks

maraca A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

* !-- This is a licensed stream for the song, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COsVgbAJ8B8 "Bleeding Heart" (official video) on Vevo ''Valleys of Neptune'' version recorded at the Record Plant, New York City, on April 24, 1969 {{authority control 1961 songs 1965 singles Elmore James songs Blues songs Jimi Hendrix songs 2010 singles Songs released posthumously Songs written by Elmore James Song recordings produced by Jimi Hendrix