"Stone Free" is a song by Jimi Hendrix, the first song he wrote.The Jimi Hendrix Experience first released it in December 1966 as the B-side of Hendrix's first single "Hey Joe". In December 1969 "Stone Free" was released as a single in the US, backed with "If 6 Was 9".

The song is one of the few songs by Hendrix played in standard tuning. It was written in one night, apparently inspired by a jam session in London. The bass line for the song resembles that of the Mar-Keys song "Philly Dog".

"Stone Free" was recorded after the Experience had signed with Track Records, and was paid for with the Track advance. Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp of Track had arranged for the label to be "underpinned" by Polydor Records, which distributed their releases. It was recorded in De Lane Lea Studios on November 2, 1966, and quickly became popular as "a counterculture anthem" with lyrics reflecting Hendrix's restless way of life.

The song, a staple of Hendrix's set list, slowly changed form and became looser and longer. Inspired by a long, notable performance in the Royal Albert Hall in February 1969 (released in 1982 on The Jimi Hendrix Concerts) Hendrix re-recorded it in April of that year at the Record Plant.

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest electric guitarist in music history, and one of the most influential musicians of his era despite mainstream exposure limited to just three years. After initial success in Europe with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, he headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback.

Hendrix helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, which he often used to deliver tonal exaggerations in his solos, particularly with high bends, complex guitar playing, and use of legato. As a record producer, he also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic phasing effects for rock recording.^{[citation needed]} He was influenced by blues artists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King and Elmore James,rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield and Steve Cropper, and the jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Hendrix began dressing and wearing a moustache like Little Richard when he performed and recorded in his band from March 1, 1964 through to the spring of 1965. In 1966, he stated, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice".

Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 1952 – 6 February 2011), was a Northern Irish musician, most widely recognised as a blues singer and guitarist.

In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teens, leading him to memberships with the Irish bands Skid Row and Thin Lizzy on three separate occasions. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King, Colosseum II, George Harrison and Greg Lake, as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high profile musicians, including a cameo appearance playing the lead guitar solo on "She's My Baby" from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.

Moore started performing at a young age, having picked up a battered acoustic guitar at the age of eight. He got his first quality guitar at the age of 14, learning to play the right-handed instrument in the standard way despite being left-handed. He moved to Dublin in 1968 at the age of 16. His early musical influences were artists such as Albert King, Elvis Presley, The Shadows and The Beatles. Later, having seen Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in his home town of Belfast, his own style was developing into a blues-rock sound that would be the dominant form of his career in music.

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.

In the mid 1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname "Slowhand". Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop." For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded by Derek and the Dominos, another band he formed and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by Cream. A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

Randy Hansen (born December 8, 1954 in Seattle, Washington) is a U.S. guitarist, best known for his "Rock Tribute Act" honoring Jimi Hendrix. Hansen performs such signatures of Hendrix's style as playing a guitar with his teeth or behind his back.^{[citation needed]} He composed 17 minutes of the soundtrack for the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now,(1980 Academy Award Winner for Best Sound) and his debut album was released in 1980 on Capitol Records.He also played in Family Entertainment comedy show with the late Sam Kinison in 1991.^{[citation needed]} Hansen's high energy guitar work has earned praise from fellow Dutch-American, legendary guitarist, Eddie Van Halen (in Guitar Player magazine), among others. He also was a good friend of Stevie Ray Vaughan (writing a song about him called "Texas Twister" from his Old Dogs New Tricks CD). He has toured and played with literally hundreds of famous musicians and groups.^{[citation needed]}

Hansen's Hendrix act first came to prominence with Randy Hansen's Machine Gun (1977–80), with Larry Epperly on bass guitar and Tim Kelliher on drums (Kelliher later did sessions for Daniel Jones in his band 7th Order, whose session personnel also included British guitarist Martin Pugh and veteran American rock guitarist Geoff Thorpe). All three had previously been in a band called Kid Chrysler and the Cruisers. Hansen's Machine Gun performed on bills with Heart, The Kinks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and others, and were written up by Rolling Stone and Guitar Player. There are now videos on a major website^{[clarification needed]} with Buddy Miles covering Hendrix tunes such as "All Along the Watchtower", with incredible playing by Hansen from 1997.^{[citation needed]}