Axemen Cometh: Hendrix, Clapton, King or Richards Quiz

Answer: Eric Clapton

"Slowhand" co-wrote the song about his four-year-old son, Conor, who died in 1991 after falling from the 53rd floor window of an apartment in New York City. The other song-writing credit goes to Will Jennings.

This was one of two songs they wrote for the move "Rush". Clapton had been unsure whether it should be released as a single, but was persuaded by Lili Zanuck, the director. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, number five in the UK and number one in Canada.

In 2015, "Rolling Stone" published a list of its "100 Greatest Guitarists" and placed Clapton at number two.

Answer: Jimi Hendrix

Even Dylan was said to be impressed by how Jimi Hendrix sang "All Along The Watchtower" and ever after his own renditions leaned heavily towards that Hendrix cover.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded the song in London to promote his 1968 album "Electric Ladyland". It reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1995, Dylan told the Fort-Lauderdale "Sun Sentinel":
"It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn't think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day."

In 2020, "Far Out Magazine" placed this at number one on its countdown of "The 20 best Bob Dylan covers ever".

In 2015, "Rolling Stone" published a list of its "100 Greatest Guitarists" and placed Hendrix at number one.

Answer: Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon wrote "Layla" for the album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" by Derek and the Dominos. In 1972, the single reached number seven in the UK and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song is about George Harrison's wife, Pattie, with whom Clapton started living in 1974. They married in 1979. Despite the potential for animosity, Clapton and Harrison remained friends and Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr played at the wedding.

Answer: Keith Richards

Although noted mainly as a player rather than a lead singer, Keith Richards wrote and sang lead vocal on "Happy". It was recorded in the south of France by the Rolling Stones for their 1972 "Exile On Main Street" LP. Mick Jagger sang back-up. Richards also played bass guitar.

In 2015, "Rolling Stone" published a list of its "100 Greatest Guitarists" and placed Richards at number four.

Answer: B. B. King

In 1952, B B King came to fame with "Three O'Clock Blues", which had been written as a country song by Lowell Fulson. King transformed it into a storming R&B number with a horn section and Ike Turner on keyboards. It spent five weeks at the top of the R&B charts.

In 2015, "Rolling Stone" published a list of its "100 Greatest Guitarists" and placed King at number six.

Answer: Jimi Hendrix

In fact the three Hendrix songs in this quiz were the top three according to the readers in 2013.

The proper title is "Voodoo Child: Slight Return", to distinguish it from the similarly named "Voodoo Chile". It was released as a single after his death and reached number one in the UK, without charting on the US Hot 100.

Answer: B. B. King

The song was written and first recorded in 1951 by bluesman Roy Hawkins. King tried his hand at recording it but was dissatisfied with several takes before producer Bill Szymczyk suggested adding some strings. King agreed and it was to be his biggest hit.

Answer: Eric Clapton

Clapton admitted he wrote the song in the style of American guitarist J J Cale. The co-writers were his back-up singer Marcy Levy and guitarist George Terry. It was the first track on Clapton's 1977 album "Slowhand".

Answer: Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix wrote "Little Wing" about the experience of playing at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He said he had had a feeling of "Everybody really flying and in a nice mood."

Hendrix, being Hendrix, could not just do an ordinary music track; his complicated guitar playing on the song was much admired by other axemen.

Answer: Keith Richards

Richards wrote "Hurricane" in Paris on the first anniversary of 9/11. It was released as a non-album single in 2005. Those who who donated money to the Red Cross during the Rolling Stones' 2005 tour were given CD copies of the song, with handwritten lyrics. Richards later said: "It's the best short song I've written...because there's nothing more to say."