Customer Reviews

Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Disclaimer: Huge Hendrix worshipper! When this book appeared in 1992 it was (and still is) the most even-handed biography on Jimi. Previous bios were from either muckrakers who were trying to damage his legacy, or by people who never met him and were trying to make grand statements about his talent. In this book McDermott has taken the time to get first-hand accounts from those who knew Hendrix best, including bandmates and business associates. The most valuable asset here is engineer Eddie Kramer, who was Hendrix's close friend and trusted creative confidant. (However, it seems that Noel Redding was consulted less than other bandmates, possibly because he had a more unflattering story to tell).

Getting these valuable first-hand accounts gives us a very balanced view of Jimi's personality, and both sides of the coin are shown. You get the expected admiration for his talent, and the good sides of his personality. You also get the not-so-good parts, such as Jimi's paranoia, insecurities, and appallingly poor business sense. This book is not afraid to give bad reviews of Hendrix's poor live performances with the Experience when they were on the verge of splintering, or with the undeveloped Band of Gypsys. Also, his pathetic death (choking on his own vomit) is not dwelled upon and is treated as the senseless mistake it really was, rather than the noble, romanticized exit from this world (or even suicide) that you'll hear about in other accounts.

The excessive details about Hendrix's sloppy business arrangements provide valuable information, even though these passages get very long-winded and detract from the focus of the book - which is the man and his music. Also, be suspicious of character descriptions of people who are not around to give their side of the story. This doesn't apply to Hendrix himself, as described above, but to late manager Michael Jeffery. This man surely left plenty of evidence that he was paranoid and power-hungry, but the descriptions of his personality by the people in the book, most of whom didn't like him, should be treated with suspicion, as he's not around to have his say. To a lesser extent, the same applies to Jimi's sexy but dangerous girlfriend Devon Wilson.

The coverage of the posthumous Hendrix musical catalog is getting outdated (fortunately). Certainly after his death, the managers and record companies flooded the market with inferior material, most of which was either impromptu jam sessions or sub-par live performances which were never meant for release. Until the mid-90's this avalanche of so-called "lost" material blurred the brilliance of the smaller amount of official records that Jimi really tailored for the public. This situation has been mostly resolved since 1994 when the Hendrix family finally gained control of the musical copyrights. They've given us great reissues of the official albums, as well as the incredible "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" which consolidates the album Hendrix was creating at the time of his death. But with things like "South Saturn Delta" and "Live at the Fillmore East" the Hendrix family is almost as guilty of barrel-scraping as the bad guys were in the 70's.

This book shed a lot of light onto one of the greatest and most tragic figures in modern music. Much of what I knew about Jimi was based on rumors and vague interpretations about what he and his music stood for. However, this book presented a detailed look into his life. Through personal accounts from those around him, the author paints a detailed portrait of who Jimi really was. Although I have always been drawn to Jimi by his music, the book showed his personal side, which is equally as compelling. The weakness in my opinion was the lack of detailed information on his early childhood years. Although his father Al would play an important role in the Jimi Hendrix legacy (and still does to this day), their relationship (or lack thereof) is rarely mentioned. Also, there could have been more written about how much influence he had on music. The discography is very inclusive, but it lacks detailed commentary. Overall, I enjoyed the book a great deal and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about Jimi Hendrix.

This biography was written to, as the title states , set the record straight. After Jimi Hendrix's 6-year career wasw cut short by a drug overdose he was viewed as an anti-establishment, sex and drug addict. However, no one ever focused on his serious vision and path of his music. He started his career as a backup musician for such artists as Curtis Knight and the Squires, the Iskey Brothers, and Little Richard. After that he was signed by Chas Chandler ( formally of the Animals0 signed him and moved to England. There the Experience began. The book shows that Jimi spent hours and hours in the studio to get a song right and kept to himself alot. Totally unlike his stage personallity. I would recommend this book to any music lover. The other musicians' insight into Hendrix's talent and personality makes the book especially interesting. It provides an interestingperspective into the most unique period in music History

This is a pretty interesting book about a very interesting virtuso musician. There a lot of good information provided in a somewhat dry and detached delivery that somehow remains engaging somewhat like a Wall Street journal article.

My only issue with the book, the absolutely horrid photo on the cover aside, is the business orientation of the book which leaves questions about other issues, all of which interelate to each other.

As one example, the issue of drug use is treated in a very shallow fashion. While I am not looking for sensationalism, it seems clear that but for his drug use Hendrix would never have gotten behind the contractual eight ball so far - which the book implies the monetary impact of which had some effect on his eventual death.

On the other hand, I have learned quite a bit about Hendrix, his business deals, and perhaps most importantly, about his music. I was never aware of some his side projects including the Gypsys Suns & Rainbows or his all too brief session work with John McLauglin. There are also some interesting photos included in the book.

Cover photo aside, this book is probably the best $ I've spent in a long time.

The first time I read this book was back in 1997. I was already a huge Hendrix fan and this book opened up many things about him and his music that I was unaware of, for the most part. At that time I would have given this book 5 stars. But after recently picking up Electric Gypsy by Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek, which blew me away, I reread this book and I give it 3 1/2 stars.

My main gripe is that it focuses too much on the business side of Hendrix. Sure that stuff is interesting and informative, but it makes for a slow read, in my opinion. And it takes away from the flow and the excitement of his music and touring. I think that they could have made a couple of chapters exclusively for the business side of things and kept the other chapters more musically focused and it would be a much better read. My next biggest beef, is that they continually refer to Voodoo Child (Slight Return) as Voodoo Chile. Those songs are very different, any knowledgeable Hendrix fan knows that and would be bugged by the 15 mentions of it, instead of the correct Voodoo Child (Slight Return.) Minor yes, but if Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's long time famed producer and friend, helped write this book, then why didn't they catch that glaring error?

Still it is a good book, but if you know a lot about Hendrix, it will not fill your needs and I would suggest the afore-mentioned Electric Gypsy. For one thing Electric Gypsy has FAR more interviews from Hendrix, which are always entertaining and revealing. And it has far more about the music and what went into it as far as inspiration and song meanings. For those two reasons alone that book blows away Setting the Record Straight. Also Electric Gypsy has many of Hendrix's song lyrics in the book, which is truly great. Also Electric Gypsy has a part in the back where it shows a list of every guitar Hendrix ever played and all the effects he ever used, all the bands he was in, a discography and much, much more.

Don't get me wrong Setting the Record Straight is a good book, but I would suggest to all Hendrix fans new and old, get Electric Gypsy first, then if you still want more, get Setting the Record Straight.

Many half-truths and inaccuracies exist about the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. In trying to "set the record straight", the authors attempted to offset decades of lies and manipulation of the Hendrix estate. To some degree, they succeeded.

The authors do not devote nearly enough space to the life and music of Hendrix. Instead, the book seems to focus on the cast of characters that surrounded his life. It seems that any of the managers or promoters that worked with Hendrix sought to take credit for his success. It was as though the presentation were more important than the talent of Hendrix. Perhaps this is a fitting way to remember his life since his lack of friendship and the constant manipulation of those around him factored into his drug use and eventual death. The circumstances surrounding Hendrix's fatal oversdose suggest that a friend rather than a business associate would have phoned for the help that he needed to save Hendrix's life.

The book does not devote nearly enough time to Hendrix's pre-fame days (approximately 20 pages), and focuses more on the business aspects of the music industry rather than Hendrix music itself. There is no doubt that Hendrix made some bad business deals. Yet this should never overshadow all of the great music made by Hendrix. Pages could be spent discussing the making and meaning of songs. Once the author mentions a song, the reader may not see it mentioned until dozens of pages later.

Hendrix's premature death left his estate in debt. For this reason, unfinished recordings of his music were released that Hendrix would have never wanted released. We never got to see the full potential of Hendrix's genius. Those that exploited him in life, exploited him in death.

The real Jimi Hendrix was not the same person as the flamboyant guitar player people saw on stage. Much of his stage act, including setting his guitar on fire, was coaxed. This book gives real insight into the real Jimi Hendrix. Yet, I can not help but think we are far away from knowing the real legend.

This is the first and only hendrix book that is the most factual, it describes the actual life and times and troubles of jimi. The research give a reader a closer look inside the music and the complex side of his life. Paul Mc Cartney was right ,this book is Hendrix

I've read all of the Jimi bios over the years and to me, this one is the best. Maybe the act of helping Jimi get the sounds he envisioned helped Eddie to get into his head just a little bit. Reading the book, I found myself sucked into the making of the music and my appreciation of the music has grown as a result.

Let's give this one 6 stars.

I've read three different Hendrix biographies and each came at the subject of Jimi Hendrix from a different direction. Setting the Record Straight is good because there is a lot of input from people who were close to Hendrix, especially people who were part of his organization, but who were not particularly well known. Like all of the Hendrix biographies, this book does have its faults, I mean, how many times should an author state that Jimi was growing wary of Michael Jeffries, Jimi was trying to keep his distance from Michael Jeffries, Jimi was avoiding Michael Jeffries. I found one spot where there were at least 4 references in a 2 page span about how Jimi as getting tired of Michael Jeffries. Ok. We get it. Yawn.

The book is very good in explaining how the Hendrix "image" was deliberately created to be controversial (most of us grown-ups had already figured that one out). It tells us how the "real" Jimi started to emerge after the release of Electric Ladyland. It tells us the story of the Electric Lady studio and how it came about from the initial idea of creating a club much like Steve Paul's Scene club. It also tells us about when and why Chas Chandler excused himself from the organization. Actually Chas turns out to be one of the few really classy people in the Hendrix organization.

You also learn about a host of disasterous gigs and shows where Jimi just didn't want to play. In some ways you feel sorry for him and in other ways you begin to understand that the guy's work ethic really sucked. If you lived through the era I guarantee you will end up feeling pretty embarrassed about your generation's behavior.

Unfortunately, this book doesn't tell some of the stories that I am interested in. I wanted to read about the jam session in the studio that produced Voodoo Chile for example. There really isn't much emphasis about how the music was made. In my opinion, when it comes to Hendrix, that's a no-brainer; that's what people want to read about.

From a musical perspective, I would have to say that Crosstown Traffic is a much better biography as it does much to show Jimi's importance within the context of American art and culture. Really, I don't care about Jimi's business and I don't care about his depraved social life either. I just love his music. Setting the Record Straight is really more about the business side of Jimi Hendrix and the Hendrix "product". Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky is probably the least interesting of the three I've read, it's more about Jimi's social life than anything. That particular book tries to be sensational by asserting that Jimi was murdered and then downplaying that idea in the same paragraph. That was rather like when a lawyer coaches a client witness to blurt something out on the stand that they know the judge is going to strike down, but the jury is going to hear it anyway. Shabby.

I would pick up both Setting the Record Straight and Crosstown Traffic if you really want to get to know Jimi and his signficance with respect to American art and culture.

Oh yeah, one little factual nugget I finally learned after years and years and years (decades really) of wondering... It was Jimi who played the freaked out recorder solo at the end of If Six Was Nine. Hooray! Mystery solved! That was driving me nuts!

This book takes an inside look at the life and legend of the man that was James Marshall(Jimi) Hendrix. His troubled youth and how he had to suffer tremendous hardships just to be noticed. His love affair with blues music and his affinity for the guitar are also well intact. What puzzles me is why so many people would want to drag Jimi's name through the mud and desecrate his legacy and good fortune with lies and deceit. Why couldn't people have respect enough for Jimi and his music to take it seriosuly and treat it like gold, instead of commercializing for their own personal gain and profit? Jimi was a serious artist and this book certainly attests to that. He wasn't in it for the money or fame or recognition. He was simply in it for the music.
He deserved to be treated better by people who called themselves "His Friends." Jimi was a incredible man and amazing guitar player as well, but he was also very human. He had a very vulnerable side to him as well. He had enough problems without people wanting him to be everything to them. He couldn't do that.
He needed someone to love him and someone to respect him and take him at face value instead of having him always be Mr. Rock guitar god. he wanted people to listen to his music and be taken seriously. He was sick and tired of doing the same theatrical tricks that he had done with the guitar night after night, and now he just wanted people to listen to him, and not look at what he was doing with his guitar. he didn't need to prove anything anymore. he'd already done it. it was time for him to move into a new direction. Unfortunately, that new direction was never fully realized during hendrix's lifetime. Only now, after his death do we fully know just exactly what he was trying to achieve. Some things we'll never know. That was the genius of Hendrix. To keep people guessing. He'll never know how much of an impact he has had and continues to have on people's lives even to this day. God Bless You, Jimi. We Love You, Man!!!