Jimi Hendrix: The Man, The Magic, The Truth

Lately, I've been doing a lot of reading. The books I've reading have been reading have been primarily biographies and non-fiction books of historical events.

The latest read was Sharon Lawrence's 2004 biography on Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix: The Man, The Magic, The Truth (HarperCollins). Actually, the read was a revisit to the book. When the mood moves me and if I haven't read a book for a while, I'll pull it from my bookcase and read it again.

Lawrence started out as a United Press International reporter at the wire service's Los Angeles bureau. She met Hendrix at a concert at the Anaheim Convention Center in 1968. She became Hendrix's friend and confidant for the remainder of Hendrix's life. Her last conversation with him was within 24 hours of his untimely death on September 18, 1970 in London.

The book begins with her meeting Hendrix and goes through his childhood in Seattle, Washington, the highs and lows of his success as rock's premier guitarist, his death (she was one of the first to interview Monika Dannemann two days after Hendrix died in her flat in London), to all the legal battles of the Hendrix family members over rights to his music and contests over father Al Hendrix's will.

Above, Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

What makes this book important is that Lawrence kept notes and tapes of her conversations with Hendrix. He was a good-natured soul who only wanted to make music but was plagued by shoddy management and leeches claiming rights to his music. Hendrix had a bad habit of signing contracts with undesirable people that later led to numerous lawsuits. These lawsuits caused great anguish to Hendrix and may have led to his death. Lawrence thinks Hendrix may have given up and his death was suicide, not an accident.

Hendrix's father Al Hendrix and stepsister Janie don't come out very flattering in this book. Lawrence describes in detail how Janie manipulated Al Hendrix in putting her in control over the Hendrix's music legacy (she is described as using the family company, Experience Hendrix, as a personal "ATM machine" to the detriment of other family members). Al was more interested in the money when his son died. All these problems could have been avoided had Jimi Hendrix left a will.

By all rights, the two children of Jimi Hendrix, Tamika Laurice James and James Henrik Daniel Sundquist (a.k.a. Jimi Hendrix Jr.), are the rightful heirs to Hendrix's legacy. But they were screwed out of their inheritance.

If this book isn't the "definitive" book on Hendrix, it comes very close to it.

See this Guitar International interview with Sharon Lawrence by going here.