Hendrix on Hendrix

October 1, 2012

Here Roby (coauthor, Becoming Jimi Hendrix: From Southern Crossroads to Psychedelic London, the Untold Story of a Musical Genius) has compiled over 50 interviews Hendrix gave between 1966 and 1970 in which the iconic guitarist's story is told primarily through his own words. Using interviews from newspapers, magazines, underground publications, and transcripts from radio and television programs, Hendrix speaks here about himself, his history and musical roots, and his place within the culture of the 1960s. Hendrix is, by turns, philosophical, psychedelic, and deeply thoughtful in many of his comments, as well as aware of his own image as portrayed to the world. Roby presents the interviews chronologically with short contextual and historical introductions to the pieces, and the subjects covered range from the philosophical, cultural, and political to the specifics of recording, concerts, and technical aspects of guitar playing and songwriting. VERDICT This is a valuable and informative book for Hendrix and music fans. A great compendium of primary material on the musical culture of the late 1960s.--Jim Collins, Morristown & Morris Twp. Lib., NJ

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2012
It says something significant and not necessarily morbid when a pop-music fandom remains enraptured with the career and artistic prowess of a long-dead rock star who continues to be the subject of multiple books and other media 42 years after his tabloid-friendly drug-overdose-related death. Jimi Hendrix, the epitome of the dead rock star, is as hot, sexy, and dead as Jim Morrison, but unlike the Lizard King, Hendrix's commercially available recorded output has more than doubled since his death, no doubt attracting new fans to the legend of the flashy, left-handed guitar player who practically defined psychedelic music in the late 1960s. Roby presents a wide-ranging collection of interviews with Hendrix originally undertaken by diverse sources ranging from Swedish radio show Pop '67 Special to pop-music journals like Britain's Melody Maker from November 1966 through September 1970. Also included are transcripts of Hendrix's pretrial examination in a 1968 lawsuit involving management contracts and his July 7, 1969, guest appearance on The Dick Cavett Show. Unlike more recent coverage of Hendrix, these short pieces deal with the star at the height of his fame, with no limiting factors on his career evident. It's a refreshing addition to the Hendrix library, and lends context to serious discussions of the man as an artist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)