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Publishers Weekly
Published on the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death at the age of 27, this uninspired chronicle of the evolutionary guitarist's formative years relies on previously available information and new interviews with surviving band members, friends, and former lovers to provide a dense, detailed glimpse into what is perhaps the least-explored period of Hendrix's short, eventful life. Revelations of Hendrix being sexually molested as a teenager may be news to some, but bawdy tales of drug use and epic sexual encounters will not. After being discharged from the Army in 1962, Hendrix played the blues and R&B circuit in the South, making his way to New York and London as little more than a backing musician whose penchant for stealing the spotlight cost him gigs before it made him famous. Roby (Black Gold) and Schreiber (Stop the Show!) are clearly fans, but write pedantic, stilted prose and include few direct quotes from their sources, rendering dull an exciting subject and period of American culture. To their credit, though, they end with an interesting and exhaustive account of Hendrix's sessions, discs, tours, and events between 1962 and 1966.(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Overview
Becoming Jimi Hendrix traces “Jimmy’s” early musical roots, from a harrowing, hand-to-mouth upbringing in a poverty-stricken, broken Seattle home to his early discovery of the blues to his stint as a reluctant recruit of the 101st Airborne who was magnetically drawn to the rhythm and blues scene in Nashville. As a sideman, Hendrix played with the likes of Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, the Isley Brothers, and Sam & Dave—but none knew what to make of his spotlight-stealing rock guitar experimentation, ...