Ten Songs That Make Me Cringe: Foxy Lady (#5)

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Thus far I've had a surprising number of agreements with me when it comes to songs that I would rather listen to a 24/7 loop of "Afternoon Delight" than ever hear again. Well, for the, ahem, "top" five, that's going to change, and drastically. Now I'm going into some serious iconic territory here. In fact, the next four songs (and maybe all five of the top five) will probably make me less popular than a bunch of politicians. (Deep breath) Here goes. #5: Foxy Lady - Jimi Hendrix Put the rocks down for a moment and allow me to explain. In 1967, when this song came out, I had a crush on Don Rich, Buck Owens' lead guitar player. I was listening to country music, the whole country music, and nothing but country music, so help me Chet Atkins. Listen to "Buckaroo," then this, and you'll see that one of them will make you puke. Most of you will find the upchucking comes at the expense of Buck and Don's instrumental, not the legendary rock and roll guitarist that nobody is supposed to dislike. When Hendrix put this song out in 1967 it peaked at #68 on the Billboard charts....so, when it was originally released, most people didn't like it, either. They say death is a good career move, so now this sexist piece of trash (if a guy recited any of the lyrics to this song to a woman he'd get his face slapped, the police called, a restraining order, or all of the above) is hailed as a masterpiece. I will say that, unquestionably, Hendrix's rendition of the National Anthem at Woodstock was amazing. He did all of those sound effects by himself, with no synthesizers or other gimmicky electronic devices to enhance it. His impersonation of "the bombs bursting in air" was pure talent. But from a country music fan's perspective, I didn't "get" the psychedelic era of rock. And I still don't. Sorry. And, PS -- this series was not inspired by watching Wayne's World. Foxy Lady (also released with the spelling Foxey Lady) Written by Jimi Hendrix Recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience From Are You Experienced, 1967 This is the music I was raised on, which probably explains why Hendrix's style never appealed to me.