Synopses & Reviews
David Henderson's biography of Jimi Hendrix,
Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child of the Aquarian Age -- first published in hardcover in 1978 -- was described by Greil Marcus of
Rolling Stone as "[t]he strongest and most ambitious biography yet written about any rock and roll performer." The paperback edition was retitled
'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix, and in this smaller format, extensive interviews from the original edition were omitted. Nonetheless, all previous editions sold more than 300,000 copies and created a new standard for writing about popular artists, especially musicians.
Henderson's biography helped to rescue Hendrix from an unfair, erroneous association with drug decadence and recognized him as a true musical genius. The Hendrix legacy still thrives, and Henderson has more to reveal and further insight to offer about the man who remains regarded as the greatest rock and roll guitarist of all time. 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child is the newly revised, updated, and expanded edition of the definitive, most beloved biography of the man behind the legend. It melds the original text, which featured Hendrix's voice in complete interviews, with new material -- to the extent that Hendrix could easily be described as the coauthor of this work.
Henderson now offers information that was initially difficult to obtain in the years immediately following Hendrix's death. With the passage of time, originally reluctant informants have come forward, and many of the coverups and legal battles have been resolved. All of this has shed new light on Hendrix's life, as well as on the circumstances surrounding his mysterious death. This edition includes more of Hendrix's personal writings, and goes more in depth about his romantic life and the music -- its creation, problems, and triumphs -- as scholarship and recognition of his importance have deepened over time. While revealing essential information about his untimely death, i reads like a grand adventure novel but so includes salient cultural, political, and historical background. David Henderson wrote this biography as the result of a promise he'd made to Jimi at Ungano's nightclub in Manhattan in 1969 to write something solely about him. The rock legend had read and liked Henderson's piece in Crawdaddy -- one of Hendrix's favorite magazines -- on his concert with Sly Stone at the Fillmore East. Little did either man know that they would forever be connected by this timeless and important biography.
Review
"andlt;iandgt;The New Journalismandlt;/iandgt; began on the Lower East Side in the mid-sixties when poets and fiction writers became reporters for andlt;iandgt;The East Village Otherandlt;/iandgt;, mother of the andlt;iandgt;Underground Pressandlt;/iandgt;. David Henderson was one of the pioneers of the style. He combines his gifts as a poet and a reporter in andlt;iandgt;'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky,andlt;/iandgt; and the result is a rewarding and unique reading experience. It is part thriller and part lament for some tragic lives who enlivened an exciting decade."andlt;BRandgt; -- Ishmael Reed
Review
"A harrowing and exhilarating story...Making sense of Hendrix's life, career, and art with such moment-to-moment intensity, one comes away convinced that we caught no more than a glimpse of Hendrix while he was here to see in the flesh..."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;iandgt;Rolling Stoneandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"Henderson hasn't just given us Hendrix complete. He has also written a fascinating study of the development of rock."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;iandgt;The Phoenixandlt;/iandgt; (Boston)
Review
"The most thorough and consistently excellent biography of any rock music figure."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;iandgt;San Francisco Examiner/Chronicleandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"No one who wants to assemble a coherent version of Jimi's story can afford to be without this book -- it is not only the best version, it is the only complete one."andlt;BRandgt; -- Dave Marsh, author ofandlt;iandgt; Born to Runandlt;/iandgt;
Synopsis
The newly revised, expanded, and updated edition of the most beloved biography of music legend Jimi Hendrix includes 40 percent new text and rare and unpublished photos.
Synopsis
The expanded edition of the definitive, critically praised, and most beloved biography of music legend Jimi Hendrix including previously unpublished photos.
Originally published to great acclaim in 1978, Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky was written by poet, scholar, and Hendrix friend David Henderson as a personal favor to Jimi. Since then, it has garnered rave reviews and sold over 500,000 copies, reaching the legions of Hendrix fans worldwide.
This most thorough update on the book in ten years is filled with brand-new photographs and fresh revelations. It includes more of Jimi s personal writing, more details about his romantic relationships and sexual encounters, and more in-depth research by the author into Jimi s music and creative life. At once a grand adventure and a vivid record of 1960s culture and politics, Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky shows Hendrix as a member of the Flower Power and the Black Power movements.
With new access to old documents once covered up by legal barriers Henderson is now free to tell about Jimi s opposition to the Vietnam war and his controversial support of the New York Panther 21. With his music selling off the shelves, Hendrix is a rock immortal and this is the only book to tell his whole story now ready to reach more readers in this paperback edition."
Synopsis
The expanded edition of the definitive, critically praised, and most beloved biography of music legend Jimi Hendrixand#8212;including previously unpublished photos.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Originally published to great acclaim in 1978, and#8217;Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky was written by poet, scholar, and Hendrix friend David Henderson as a personal favor to Jimi. Since then, it has garnered rave reviews and sold over 500,000 copies, reaching the legions of Hendrix fans worldwide.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;This most thorough update on the book in ten years is filled with brand-new photographs and fresh revelations. It includes more of Jimiand#8217;s personal writing, more details about his romantic relationships and sexual encounters, and more in-depth research by the author into Jimiand#8217;s music and creative life. At once a grand adventure and a vivid record of 1960s culture and politics, and#8217;Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky shows Hendrix as a member of the Flower Power and the Black Power movements.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;With new access to old documentsand#8212;once covered up by legal barriersand#8212;Henderson is now free to tell about Jimiand#8217;s opposition to the Vietnam war and his controversial support of the New York Panther 21. With his music selling off the shelves, Hendrix is a rock immortal and this is the only book to tell his whole storyand#8212;now ready to reach more readers in this paperback edition.
Synopsis
Jimi Hendrix, one of the great instrumentalists in rock history, pioneered amplified sound that extended the scope of the guitar into the urban landscape. In this book, Marie-Paule Macdonald situates Hendrixandrsquo;s trajectory through the places he made music, translating an innovative sense of space into his songs.
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Macdonald follows Hendrix from the Pacific Northwest to the California coast to New York City, from his musical beginnings as a youth in Seattle to his launch, touring career, and up until his last weeks in London. She charts the surroundings of a genuine inner-city dweller, a nighthawk and wanderer who roamed the streets and alleys of everyday neighborhoods and haunted seedy basement bars and intimate clubsandmdash;as performer or audience member. She explores how the rumble, uproar, babble, and discord of urban life inspired Hendrix to incorporate noise into his powerful repertoire. Tracking the variety of places where Hendrix playedandmdash;from open-air stages to dilapidated ballroomsandmdash;she shows how space eventually became a process, as Hendrix would eventually commission an architect and sound engineer to build an urban recording studio that would capture the reverberation, bounce, sustain, and echo that he heard and played.
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Crackling with the electrifying sound of explosive creativity, Jimi Hendrix explores place and space to offer fascinating new insight into Hendrixandrsquo;s resounding talent.and#160;
About the Author
The poet and writer andlt;bandgt;David Hendersonandlt;/bandgt; was a founding member of the Umbra Poets, an influential collective of poets and writers who were central to the Black Arts Movement. His books include andlt;Iandgt;De Mayor of Harlemandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;Iandgt;Neo-California.andlt;/iandgt; He has been widely published in anthologies and magazines, including andlt;Iandgt;The Def Jam Poetry Reader, The Paris Review,andlt;/iandgt; and andlt;Iandgt;Essenceandlt;/iandgt;. He has read from his poetry for the permanent archives of the Library of Congress. Born in Harlem and raised in Harlem and the Bronx, Henderson now lives in downtown New York City.