Overview
Reportedly, the song came into being after the band's producer Chas Chandler heard him playing the riff backstage and suggested that he write lyrics to go with it. There is some dispute about the lyrics: supposedly written in the dressing room of the Upper Cut Club on Boxing Day, 1966, it is also believed that he wrote the lyrics in Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill. Chandler claims that the lyrics were never cut in any way (though he admits that this was done on general principle with Hendrix's lyrics), while Hendrix stated that the original song contained much more text. Hendrix himself denied the drug relation of the song claiming it to be merely another love song. He said that the line "Whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me" is the key line to the lyrics.
The single was released in the UK as Track single 604001 in March 1967; it entered the charts at number 39 and peaked at number three, spending 14 weeks in the chart. It was released in the US as Reprise single 0597 in June 1967, where it peaked at number 65, spending only eight weeks in the chart.
In March 2005, Q magazine ranked "Purple Haze" at number one in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at number 17 in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and also at number 2 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
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