Becoming Jimi Hendrix: From Southern Crossroads to Psychedelic London, the Untold Story of a Musical Genius: 288 [Paperback]

I approached this one with caution. A book written so long after the event is going to need to demonstrate its credentials. And it is in danger of being lumped together with all the other "biographies". Further, given that it is written about the period before Jimi Hendrix became famous, it is likely that original sources are going to be harder to find.

Accordingly it is no surprise and a pleasure that one third of the book is spent justifying its provenance, including a detailed bibliography, including pre-1966 sessions, recordings, chronology and a useful index. I was also pleased to see only a single reference to "Experience Hendrix" as it is not clear to me that they have done a good job on focusing on the man preferring, it seems to me, the myth.

This book provides a fine-grained "warts and all" early history of JH with a quite complex exposition of him and his character and his development. The consequences of his social deprivation as a child (racism was to come later) were used to explain elements of the story. He wasn't always nice and he wasn't always nasty. And he was a bit light on his feet relationship-wise. The singular thread is his determination to make it in music, and there are a number of authentic sounding (not least because they were not always positive) anecdotes from various people he encountered along the way supporting this narrative.

Here we see some of the better known history of those he met and played with or supported but more detailed than I have seen before. One emerging theme was that he wasn't great as a team player in his drive for success.

It's a interesting, informing and entertaining book for those wondering about the "how" of Jimi Hendrix. And for all his undoubted talent, originality and drive it focuses again for me the conundrum: what would have happened if he hadn't met Linda Keith and she hadn't bumped into a Chas Chandler who was looking to get into management. (I'd love to hear more from Linda Keith, herself)

I never though I'd write these words again, but this book is an important contribution to the real Jimi Hendrix story. If you are interested in more than the music you will want to read this.

Yet another Hendrix book, can it really be worth buying?

Yes!

One of the very few books to look at Jimi's pre-1967 life and career in detail and demonstrate how those events influenced him and his career, this book is full of interesting history, interview extracts and reminiscences from friends, band mates and lovers. It paints a comprehensive picture of the man before fame.

It's not shy about Jimi's sexual appetite and drug use, which makes a nice change from the rather sanitised material we sometimes get from the Estate. There are some fairly lurid stories of course, but what really comes across is the poor lot of musicians who had to tread the 'chitlin' circuit'.

There is an extremely detailed discography, diary and bibliography which together comprise about a third of the book. I have no idea how accurate they are, but it seems to all make sense.

This is one of about half a dozen essential books on Hendrix. Steven Roby also wrote 'Black Gold', an excellent book about Jimi's music and where to find rare material, which is also recommended without reservation. Some of the material in Black Gold has been incorporated into this new release.

I loved it - a must read for Jimi Hendrix fans and anyone wanting to understand his origins. Sub-titled From Southern Crossroads to Psychedelic London the book tells us how he became Jimi Hendrix - whom many hail as justifiably Rolling Stone Magazine's Number One Guitarist of all time.
But he was much more than that as those who knew him well can attest. How and why he came to have such charisma, skill and showmanship, is revealed in this book.
The authors are legendary writer Brad Schreiber and (Stephen) Steve Roby, the best known authority on Hendrix's life. They have comprehensively researched Jimi's early years from growing up in Seattle, through the many bands he played for (and was sacked from) to his arrival in London via New York and the many people who helped and hindered his progress. When he took to the stage at Monterey, (on Paul McCartney's recommendation to the promoters), he was a complete unknown. When he played there the audience were transported into a fourth dimension where time stood still and space expanded. In the overused words of the era 'he blew their minds'. Like the people who heard him jamming in London at clubs like the Bag of Nails, or Scotch of St James, his performance was extraordinary and indescribable. Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend, The Beatles. the Stones and many others had already fallen under his spell. When he stepped off the stage at Monterey he landed a global superstar, embedded forever in the collective sub-consciousness.
Although he seemed to have happened overnight, as if arriving from outer space, in reality his is an extraordinary story of persistence and tenacity which this book outlines and helps us to understand. He was utterly single minded in his pursuit of the sounds and music one could coax from a guitar and everything else took second place. He played so much someone said that he was welded to his guitar. This book skilfully tells the story of those apprenticeship years. In writing this, the writers have left few stones unturned and carried out interviews with almost everyone alive who knew Jimi well, and for this we
give them big thanks. Jimi was not without challenges and problems sympathetically touched upon here in a balanced manner, a beautifully crafted and entertaining read, enlightening and fun - the first book written to date about the origins of the charismatic and magical Jimi Hendrix. I'm on my third read :)