Testify (Part I) / Testify (Part II)

This 45 RPM vinyl single for the Isley Brothers’ “Testify (Part I)” backed with “Testify (Part II)” features one of the earliest released studio recordings featuring Jimi Hendrix on electric guitar. It was recorded in New York City and released in June 1964 as the debut release on the Isley Brothers’ T-Neck record label.  

Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who gained mainstream prominence in the late 1960s with hits such as “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze,” “All Along the Watchtower,” and “Fire,” and is now celebrated as one of the most influential electric guitarists of all time. 

During the early to mid-1960s, Hendrix toured the US as a sideman with a number of rhythm-and-blues bands, including the Isley Brothers. Of the recordings that include Hendrix's playing from that period, this single, which features Hendrix playing a Blues-inspired solo, provides some of the clearest evidence of his revolutionary style and technique before his rise to fame with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.