Umphrey’s McGee has once again topped the voting of Cover Wars by capturing a majority of the votes in last week’s Nirvana edition. Of note is that every artist earned at least one vote – which doesn’t happen frequently. This week we’re moving back to the glory days of Classic Rock, more specifically 1967 and Jimi Hendrix’s second studio album Axis: Bold as Love.

Spanish Castle Magic’s lyrics are inspired by a dance club that Jimi would frequent in his high school days called, wait for it…The Spanish Castle. Whether you’ve been a long-time Hendrix fan or just like the song because it was on Guitar Hero, hopefully you’ll enjoy at least one of the versions included this week as we’ve got a smattering of artists including: Other all-time guitar greats, alternative rockers and more…

(You must login/register with IMEEM to hear these tracks in their entirety.)

READ ON for more information and versions we could only supply via YouTube…

Karl Denson’s Tine Universe: On my first listen to this one, I thought I had downloaded the wrong track from The Archive, which I often do, but it turns out Karl just has his own little intro vamp to the song. Also in the arrangement is a horn line that plays nicely over the outro guitar solo. Check out the whole show on The Archive

KVHW: Yes, this is one of the shows Ray White was actually at. Those unfamiliar with the history of KVHW, it was: Steve Kimock on the guitar, Bobby Vega on the bass, Alan Hertz on drums, and Ray White on vocals and guitar…errr..sometimes. White missed a lot of shows, and the show we’ve got playing here (12-8-1999) is nine days before he would be kicked out of the group permanently for missing yet another appearance. Band drama aside, KVHW was a talented group with an interesting repertoire of Zappa tunes, Kimock instrumentals and other covers. You can check out the whole show on The Archive

moe.: Often times in these pieces, I need to do some fading in and out ’cause these darn jambands get all fancy with their segues. This track is a good example as it’s sandwiched between two moe. originals (Faker and Meat). Like last week, moe.’s contribution to Cover Wars is once again a cover they played only once. First verse is a little shaky, but they make up for it with strong improv. Want to hear what came before and after? Check out the whole show on The Archive

Porter, Batiste, Stoltz (PBS): To quote Brian Stoltz (who sings lead on this track) from their official bio on their website, “We all come from old school New Orleans. I grew up listening to the Beatles and Hendrix, but we still have that deep New Orleans background.” Stoltz certainly has the most similar performance tone to that of Hendrix of our contenders here this week. It’s a great recording, check out the whole show on The Archive as well as the band’s tourdates

RAQ: This self-described “High Performance Rock and Roll” band has an energetic and ripping cover here. I’m not sure who is singing lead, he does a good job and Chris Michetti certainly shreds on the guitar. Another nice tape here, check out the whole show on The Archive

Spin Doctors: The funky compilation that Chris Barron refers to is indeed Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. This version is coming to you from a 2002 show, if you’re looking for a live version a little closer to the Spin Doctors era of popularity, check out this show from 1995 at Wetlands.

Yngwie Malmsteen: I believe this is video of the performance that is available on Malmsteen’s 1989 release Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad. Yngwie is a unique guitar player on his own, so his covers of Hendrix are always interesting.

And that’s all we’ve got. As I like to do, here’s some great YouTube footage of the original artist performing the tune:

Woodstock ‘69:

Atlanta ‘70: