Product Description

Fusing blues, jazz and psychedelia with an outrageous personal style and image, Hendrix is still revered as the most important instrumentalist in the history of rock. He died aged 27 from drugs and alcohol. Capturing the essence of Hendrix's intense, apocalyptic and ultimately tragic life, the author covers Hendrix's boyhood in Seattle, his years in the US Air Force, his reputation as the best sideman around, his manic trip to London and superstardom, the songs, the concerts, the flaming guitars, the drugs, the booze, the women and most important, the incomparable legacy he left behind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107062 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
'The strongest and most ambitious biography yet written about any rock and roll performer.' ROLLING STONE 'never less than accomplished and, as an appreciation of Hendrix's cultural significance, it has dated reassuringly little.' MUSIC WEEK

Customer Reviews

Wow
As a fan of the music of Jimi Hendrix i was delighted to find this book. I wouldn't bother with any other Hendrix book as this one has it all! It starts off in Seatle with his birth. It chronicles his carear in the army and then it all kicks off with Jimis venture to New york. It thn goes into his 'experience' days. The strongpoint of this book is the way David Henderson Writes in detail about each song. This bok is recomended for anyone who has even a brief interset in Hendrix

Yes, but WHAT WAS HE LIKE?!
As a huge music fan, I am always interested to read about the characters behind the music, whether I am a fan of their music or not. I am pretty ambivalent in my feelings to Hendrix, but that is not the reason why this book is such a disappointment (I read Sting's book too, and was hugely entertained, despite the fact that I'm far from keen on his records).

No, the weakness of this book is that it never really gets you close to who Hendrix was - How did he treat the women in his life? What effect did drugs have on his personal and creative life? what was he like to work with/ for? Etc etc.
What we get instead is passage after passage describing various songs and performances. Trying to describe music is like trying to explain to a blind person the difference between two colours - you gotta experience it for yourself for it to make any sense. If you want to know what the songs were like, LISTEN TO 'EM!!!!!
Aside from that, there are several transcripted interviews where Hendrix is either very, very stoned or, quite frankly, talking nonesense. The language he uses is very late-sixties, which is fair enough, but no effort is made by the author to question the psychobabble - or to try to explain what they could mean. So, Jimi tells an interviewer that he is from an asteroid just outside Mars, and the comment is not picked up on as evidence of drug misuse/ the trendy mysticism of the day/a bored rock star trying to fool around with yet another interviewer/ mental health issues... There is no critical voice to balance the gushing praise.
Likewise, the author states that he believes Hendrix was murdered, but offers no reason his hunch, nor any substantial theory as to who did it or why they would want Hendrix dead.

Overly excitable in his praise of the music, far too vague about the man himself. Avoid.

On the other hand, "Dear Boy - The Keith Moon Story" shows how a biography SHOULD be written

Read this book!
Never mind if you are a fan of Jimi Hendrix or not. Never mind if you like music or not. This book transcends those barriers of like and dislike.

If music has never touched your soul, you are in desperate need to read this. If it has, and you have cried simply because of the sheer power and beauty of music, you will feel right at home.

The book goes beyond the man Hendrix, and beyond the music of the genius Hendrix. Have you ever wondered about the spirituality of music, especially the blues? Then come on in, you're among friends.

There is just no way this book could have been written by a white man. But be warned: this will change the way you listen to music for EVER! Why this book hasn't received 150 prizes is totally beyond me.

Just get it, read it, and be flipped over. All the good things all the other reviewers have written about this book are true. There is no way one can overestimate writing like this.