Are You Experienced?: The Inside Story Of The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Paperback]

Noel Redding (Author), Carol Appleby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1996

The Jimi Hendrix Experience had one of the most dazzling and sensational careers of any band. Their roller-coaster ride through a schedule of sell-out tours and frantic recording sessions left them crazed with sex, drugs, stardom, and exhaustion; but at the same time they produced some of the most explosive, inventive, and inspired music ever heard. Now, for the first time, Experience bassist Noel Redding tells the whole story. He lucidly and wittily describes the making of the band's startlingly innovative music; how their phenomenal stage act, featuring Hendrix playing with his teeth and setting his guitar on fire, engendered a state of mass hysteria in the audience; and the scarring aftermath of legal hassles and corporate duplicity. Frank, funny, rich in anecdotes, and full of insights into Hendrix, his genius, and the way it has been exploited, Are You Experienced? is a no-holds-barred account of an unforgettable band and a musical legend.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A rock bio for accountants. ``Experienced'' with Redding, former bassist with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, means trounced and raped by the rock biz, not musically experienced. For ten years, Redding kept a detailed business diary that included his years with the Hendrix band (1967- 70) and schedules of every place the group played. In the 70's, deep into a downslide, he began this book, brought it quite a way along, then set it aside when publication seemed hopeless--Rolling Stone turned down the first draft because it lacked ``fan-type'' material. His housemate worked on the manuscript with him but finally gave up when the pages got too depressing to type. Now that it's done, was it worth it? Well, Hendrix fans will be better off with Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek's definitive Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy (p. 659) or the musicultural criticism of Charles Murray's Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and the Post-War Rock 'n' Roll Revolution (1990). Redding's is a truly dreary tale, thickened with drugs and legal troubles beyond belief. Once battered by post- Hendrix contractual cross fire, Redding becomes a monumental injustice collector, a put-upon St. Anthony bleeding from hundreds of bitter arrows as the posthumous ``$200 million'' Hendrix empire passes him by. How much did Redding's terrific drug-taking keep him focused on endless failures in court? He never says, but friends were estranged by his obsessive legal chatter. Most of the recording sessions described grow into huge, unproductive parties and drug orgies. Redding's descriptions of his early years as a struggling musician are lively, but he has nothing new to add about Hendrix's death, and most of the incidents Hendrix had on the road are already familiar. Mass hysteria, a long depression, and today a few smiles. (Fifty b&w photos.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Noel Redding started playing rock 'n' roll in 1958, at the age of thirteen; in 1966 he became Jimi Hendrix's bassist. He lives in Clonakilty, Ireland. Carol Appleby lived and worked with Noel Redding, Jimi Hendrix's bassist, for close to twenty years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First Edition edition (March 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306806819
• ISBN-13: 978-0306806810
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,057,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Perspective, April 7, 2004

By 

Mad Dog "maddog6969" (TimbuckThree, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Are You Experienced?: The Inside Story Of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Paperback)

I picked this up as soon as it was released in the US (which I thought was '92 but Amazon lists as '96). The lasting impression from the first read was all about the bitterness and misfortune Noel Redding had endured during and after his tenure with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Since that first read, I've occasionally used it as a reference, but only for the occasional spot-check.

After reading the new and exceptional Jimi Hendrix: Musician by Keith Shadwick, I knew it was time to give this and other core Hendrix books a fresh look. I'm glad I did. The nearly continuous bitterness, which I found stifling on the first go round did not irritate as much during this re-read. Thus I managed to get past that aspect and see more of the less obvious side of the book. This really is essential reading for those wanting to know more about Jimi and his music.

Noel was a dependable diary-keeper during his Experience days and thus has helped immensely to solidify the fact base for the groups lifetime. One one hand, you could argue that given the impressive record of substance abuse, how reliable are diary notes of the perpetually wasted and hung over but the answer is: more than historical comments made by those that weren't there. And therein lies the true value of this book: Noel was there. Although he may have had concerns about his treatment that added to the already mountainous stress endured by an overworked band, his perspectives, like those of Mitch and Jimi, have helped to frame the picture - to put the dirt on the soles of the work shoes as it were.

So the bottom line is that I encourage anyone interested in the real Jimi Hendrix story to read this book (and others as well). Sure, there is bias, but so what? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, especially the people that were THERE.

Rest in peace, Noel.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for any Hendrix fan and an real eye opener into the industry for any budding muscians out there., August 17, 2005

By 

Vodkabite "Vodkabite" (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Are You Experienced?: The Inside Story Of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Paperback)

Although this is indeed not a particularly well written book, (and I thought Jessica's review was hilarious), you have to bear in mind that Noel was a bass player, not a writer. This is Noel's story and pretty essential reading for any Hendrix fan. Noel clearly, dearly loved Jimi and understood him well and had a good perspective and balance on his character, and events that happened. But obviously he had his opinon.

What struck me most is that it's a real eye opener as to what being a successful musician is like. I also think any budding musician should read this-so they can find out exactly what they're letting themselves in for. It is so easy to imagine the life of a successful musician as glamourous when it's far from it. Even after The Experience were famous they were still going to gigs sitting in the back of a van on the top of the equipment, with their heads banging on the ceiling. Not the fur coat and limo people would perhaps envisage. Although it goes to show that despite no sleep, no time off, no money, and barely the chance of a decent meal, at least a man that looked like "Bob Dylan's grandmother" as Jimi called him, could get more action than Frank Sinatra probably ever did.

Yes, it's full of these boring detailed lists that Redding liked to make of various expenses, but despite this it's still a very entertaining book and the man has a great sense of humour. It's very unfair that Noel never got his money, but if you read this you can see in the end he had what money could never buy-real friends away from the sharks of the music industry, and the love and support of his family. I personaly wouldn't begrudge him a single penny he made from this book. I was very saddened when I heard he died a while back. RIP Noel.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Noel Reddings life as a musician and casualty of the business, August 4, 2006

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Smokey Lynx "music fan" (Toledo, OH United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Are You Experienced?: The Inside Story Of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Paperback)

I put off reading this for years due to hearing from friends who were turned off by the problems the late Noel Redding had getting paid for his contributions to the music of the Experience band. It was worth the read and is a good companion piece to Mitch Mitchell's book about his Experience years. As mentioned in other reviews the writing isn't the best and the last third of the book does go into mind numbing detail of how he was denied royalties on music he helped create that appeared on the 3 albums of JHE.
Noel is pretty honest about his over the top self medicating abuse but there is also there is some humor here in the life of a musican starting out. Some fascinating observations from someone who was there, such as his opinion that as much as everyone loved Jimi Hendrixes guitar playing; it was his intimate talk/singing vocal work that created an atmosphere that really drew people in. Noel probably weighed not a whole lot over 125 pounds and had a somewhat quiet and nasal singing and talking style, but here's a guy that took a bus to an audition as a very young man and was soon touring the world with 2 of the top musicians of the era and holding his own on bass with a dirty driving tone and plenty of inventive ideas of his own . If you like the intro to the song The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp, the title of the song Midnight Lightning or the guitar introduction to the song Freedom , they are just a few of the examples of the many things Noel brought to the party and did not receive credit for.
Noels comments that it was the 3rd tour that finished the JHE group off explain why the 2 shows I saw them do in 1968 were unfortunately just not that memorable musically although the first one was exciting. Plus it was way better than going to the high school homecoming dance the same night