- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; New ed edition (16 Jun 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571227228
- ISBN-13: 978-0571227228
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 124,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Winner of the Ralph Gleason Music Book Award on publication, "Crosstown Traffic" was immediately hailed as the ultimate book on Hendrix and his extraordinary musical legacy. Charles Shaar Murray's examination of Hendrix's influence on the culture has, if anything, grown in stature with the intervening years.
About the Author
Charles Shaar Murray wrote for Oz and the NME before writing his book on Jimi Hendrix, Crosstown Traffic, and a biography of John Lee Hooker, Boogie Man.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an amazing book. It does all the things you might expect from a biography of Jimi Hendrix, and then does something must authors would be scared of attempting... placing it up against huge amounts of contextual but possibly quite background information. Perhaps I shouldnt have written that because that sounds boring- it isnt at all. An example of this: CSM suggests that JH was getting really very bored with hard rock and was looking towards jazz, and particularly Miles Davis for future inspiration- a feed for CSM to talk about the state of jazz at that time and how JH might have fitted in, if he had lived longer. Oh, and there is a totally masterful chapter on JH and Robert Johnson. I got this book when it came out and ever since, every so often, I get drawn back to it to read a chapter- to savour the subject and the writing. Awesome, just awesome.
Format:Paperback
This is by far a better book about Jimi Hendrix than most other biographies and hagiographies on the market. Murray is a superb rock writer and here he examines in some depth the musical and cultural influences on Hendrix the artist - jazz, soul and blues - as well as the cultural and technological revolutions that helped shape the 1960s as the most significant decade in the history of popular music. In a series of well argued and very informative chapters he explains how Hendrix went from talented session man to godfather of psychedelic rock guitar in the space of 4 years and how his musical sensibilities originated in the Delta and Chicago blues of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, the bop jazz of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis and the soul of Ray Charles and Sly Stone. The book closes with a rather interesting chapter on the development of electric guitars by Gibson and Fender and, for Hendrix fans and collectors, an excellent detailed discography. Here Murray sums up in elegant prose the significance of Hendrix's epoch making rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock in 1969 "..That clear pure tone - somewhere between a trumpet and a high pealing bell - is continually invaded by ghostly rogue overtones; the stately unreeling of the melody derailed by the sounds of riot and war, sirens and screams, chaos and alarm....Hendrix presented a compelling musical allegory of a nation bloodily tearing itself apart, in its own ghettos and campuses, and in a foreign land which had never done anything to harm its tormentors".
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book with some trepidation due to the author. Charles Shaar Murray always comes across to me as the legend in his life and as a result it seems that it is all about him at times. This book is not written for the reader but for his own gratification. It is not so much about Hendrix as about CSM, his life, his thoughts, who and what he can quote and his ability to stretch sentences out for as far as possible. It comes across as an attempt to gain some kind of peer admiration and acknowledgement for using long words in what he describes as almost his life's work and having been subject to much editorial input you would think it would be more concise, focussed and readable. Good authors know how to write for reading and enjoyment but they don't tend to be journalists.
However, buried within the CSM self-indulgence there is an account of the political, social and musical landscape in the US and England before during and after the 1960's, after all the title is "Crosstown Traffic Jimi Hendrix AND post-war pop". At times Hendrix is left behind in favour of CSM and the post-war pop bit which made me feel that CSM is trading on the Hendrix name. For Hendrix fans two books may have been better but there is some interesting stuff on music.
In summary, it is worth putting up with the writing style and self-indulgence as long as you understand that the book reflects the title and is not focussed on Jimi. As an avid Jimi fan I had to read it and I am glad I have, there is enough there to make it worth while. If I had approached it as a book about post-war pop with a bias towards Jimi some of my views may have altered and it would still be worth reading despite the CSMisms. Worryingly though, having written this, reading the book may also influence your use of long words and sentences!
However, buried within the CSM self-indulgence there is an account of the political, social and musical landscape in the US and England before during and after the 1960's, after all the title is "Crosstown Traffic Jimi Hendrix AND post-war pop". At times Hendrix is left behind in favour of CSM and the post-war pop bit which made me feel that CSM is trading on the Hendrix name. For Hendrix fans two books may have been better but there is some interesting stuff on music.
In summary, it is worth putting up with the writing style and self-indulgence as long as you understand that the book reflects the title and is not focussed on Jimi. As an avid Jimi fan I had to read it and I am glad I have, there is enough there to make it worth while. If I had approached it as a book about post-war pop with a bias towards Jimi some of my views may have altered and it would still be worth reading despite the CSMisms. Worryingly though, having written this, reading the book may also influence your use of long words and sentences!
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