Hendrix: The champion

London, Nov. 27: Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix has been named the greatest guitar riff of all time, more than 40 years after he first recorded the classic jam.

Late guitar guru Hendrix, who topped the singles chart with the track in 1970, triumphed in a poll of musicians. The track — full title Voodoo Child (Slight Return) — edged past Guns N’Roses song Sweet Child ’Mine which finished second in the poll by musicians’ website MusicRadar.com.

When the site’s sister magazine Total Guitar last conducted the survey five years ago, the list was headed by the G N’R song.

The list shows that the older riffs are the best. Just two from the past decade make it into the top 20 — Muse’s Plug In Baby at 11 and The White Stripes’s Seven Nation Army at 15.

Michael Jackson’s Beat It, with its Eddie Van Halen guitar part, props up the top 20.

Voodoo Child — with its distinctive “wah-wah” opening — was first released on Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland album and led on from an earlier track, Voodoo Chile, which was a 15-minute blues jam. Confusingly, by the time it was released as a single in 1970 it too had been named Voodoo Chile.

MusicRadar.com’s editor-in-chief Mike Goldsmith said: “Nearly 40 years after his death, Jimi Hendrix is still the undisputed heavyweight champion of rock guitar. Of the current generation of six-string stars, only Jack White of The White Stripes and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy feature in the higher echelons of our list.

“No surprise given both Bellamy and White share Hendrix’s blend of experimental instincts and white-knuckle showmanship.”