Third Stone from the Sun
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Third Stone From the Sun is a song written and originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix and released as "3rd Stone From The Sun" on the 1967 Are You Experienced album by Jimi Hendrix Experience. It is mostly an instrumental, but includes pieces of spoken word, performed by Hendrix, over the music.
Because the song mixes the styles of rock and jazz, it is often cited as one of the earliest examples of fusion. The title 3rd Stone From the Sun is a direct reference to Earth, which is the third planet away from the Sun in the Solar System.
The song features slowed-down voices and dialogues between Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler. They wanted to reproduce the spacy sounds from Star Trek. The word Stone in the title was a way to depict the Earth from an alien point of view.
This song, along with "Purple Haze," was frequently covered live by Jaco Pastorius. Part of the guitar chorus melody has been quoted on other records, amongst them The Amboy Dukes ("Baby, Please Don't Go"), Cozy Powell ("Dance With The Devil"), Weather Report ("Slang"), The Allman Brothers ("Mountain Jam"), DEVO (a cover of Hendrix's "Are You Experienced"), and Right Said Fred ("I'm Too Sexy").
The song also may have inspired the title of the TV show 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Guitarist Joe Satriani's 2002 album and music publishing company are both named "Strange Beautiful Music" which is a twist on a lyric from Third Stone From The Sun ("strange beautiful grass of green").
