Jimi Hendrix: Sessions: The Complete Studio Recording Sessions, 1963-1970 [Paperback]

John McDermott (Author), Billy Cox (Author), Eddie Kramer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

Jimi Hendrix is universally recognized as the greatest rock 'n' roll guitar player of all time. But until now, the story of how he made his amazing music has never been told. Jimi Hendrix: Sessions is the first book to take us inside the studio and reveal, album by album and track by track, how his songs were born and shaped into the classics they would become. Hendrix biographer John McDermott, working with Hendrix's producer Eddie Kramer and bass player Billy Cox, recreates in extraordinary day-by-day detail the making of every one of Hendrix's songs. Based on firsthand accounts by people who were there and on hundreds of hours of unreleased tapes, this book reveals what went into the creation of "Purple Haze", "Foxey Lady", "All Along the Watchtower", and Hendrix's many other masterpieces. It explains how Hendrix manipulated the primitive studio technology of his time to achieve his unprecedented sounds, and it shows the new heights toward which he was reaching at the time of his death. Beginning with Hendrix's legendary journeyman sessions for the Isley Brothers and other soul greats, and continuing through his last work, this is the authoritative treatment of Hendrix as musician that admirers have long awaited. Illustrated with over one hundred photographs, handwritten lyrics, and studio memorabilia, Jimi Hendrix: Sessions is a loving and timeless tribute to the electric guitar's greatest master.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The authors trace the musical development of rock guitar master Jimi Hendrix through a detailed examination of the guitarist's studio sessions. Producer of the Hendrix tribute CD, Stone Free, and the author of Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight (Warner, 1992), McDermott begins in 1963 with the session work Hendrix did for such performers as Curtis Knight and the Isley Brothers. He continues with Hendrix's classic, most popular work such as "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze," progresses through the Band of Gypsies era, and ends in 1970 with the guitarist's untimely death. Though McDermott sheds little new light on the much-examined guitarist, his restraint in concentrating on Hendrix's musical development and lyrics is refreshing. McDermott offers a well-written, well-researched book with a selective discography and 100 photos that will serve well as a companion to his earlier book and Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeck's definitive Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy (LJ 7/91). Recommended to anyone interested in the music of Jimi Hendrix.?David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316555460
• ISBN-13: 978-0316555463
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.5 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,866,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Serviceable Resource, April 21, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Jimi Hendrix Sessions: The Complete Studio Recording Sessions, 1963-1970 (Hardcover)

I'm stretchiiingg here to make it to 4 stars. 3 to 3.5 is probably more accurate. I found the 2 stars of the previous review to be excessively harsh, so I poured on a little bit of extra love for the authors. I simply don't find this book to be all that bad - it's a decent resource. Had it been combined with Steven Roby's Black Gold, it would have become a bonafide winner. Alas, instead I fear that much of the intimate details the previous reviewer yearns for has been lost into the purple haze of time - and perhaps that aspect should have been captured more clearly. I remember reading elsewhere (Guitar Player? Guitar?) an interview with a player on Electric Ladyland, maybe Jack Cassady. Anyway, he mentioned that during an all-night session, the engineer fell asleep twice at the console and of the tape reel ran out while the band played on. Apparently Jimi gave him a real chewing out the second time. It would be nice to have more of that history, but as mobile as Jimi was on tour, he was equally mobile as a recording artist. For the shortness of his career, he certainly recorded at a huge assortment of studios. When you think of that, it makes it all the more reasonable to dredge up the history, with so many people involved, many of them transient and some now passed on.

So the bottom line is that I find this to be a pretty good book. Not necessarly the be-all and end-all tome it might have been, but considering the time period and the circumstances, really, a decent quality, well written book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing to get excited about..., January 15, 2002

By 

james (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jimi Hendrix Sessions: The Complete Studio Recording Sessions, 1963-1970 (Hardcover)

Most fans of Hendrix will be aware of John McDermott, and his involvement in recent years with 'Experience Hendrix', the company created to direct Hendrix's releases following the legal battle with Alan Douglas. Whilst McDermott has contributed liner notes to the re-released Hendrix albums, his major work on Hendrix (Hendrix: 'Setting the Record Straight') is an excellent examination of the man's life - although heavy on legal details and the contractual binds Hendrix suffered throughout his career. Along with 'Crosstown Traffic' by Charles Murray, it's the best book available on the man ('Electric Gypsy' has its moments, but stands as the 'No-One Here Gets Out Alive' take on Hendrix).

'The Complete Studio Recording Sessions' should be a monumental work - and the supreme testimonial - to Hendrix, but it is not. Unlike the similar, yet incomparably superior Mark Lewison book on 'The Beatles' recording sessions, which is packed with information, photographs and exceptional anecdotes, McDermott's book has little information other than what song Hendrix recorded - when, where and with whom. There is very little information on studio techniques, recording equipment, gear setups, Hendrix techniques or style, songwriting, etc. The book labours to account for every Hendrix recording session (a difficult task, given Hendrix's love of jamming and recording with other artists), but does not provide any in-depth information on the sessions themselves (and most of what is supplied was published in 'Setting the Record Straight' - disgraceful). For these reasons the book is a totally disappointing purchase. With the wealth of information (and speculation) on Hendrix out there, McDermott owed it to the man (and to the fans) to provide the definitive examination of Hendrix in the studio. He failed pretty spectacularly.

If you want to hear about Hendrix in the studio, find the 'Classic Albums' episode on 'Electric Ladyland'. Whilst far too short and simple, it is a much more enjoyable look at one of the greatest, and still misunderstood, American artists of the 20th century than this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth having, but slightly disappointing, July 19, 1998

By 

Michael Parker ([e-mail]) (Bakersfield, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jimi Hendrix: Sessions: The Complete Studio Recording Sessions, 1963-1970 (Paperback)

I was excited about getting this book, because I'd read Lewisohn's similar book on the Beatles. I love chronological order, and I tried to put a date to each song on Hendrix's first three albums. But what was disappointing was that McDermott seemed to forget to mention several song and their recording dates. But the text is otherwise great reading, and the photos are wonderful. I just wish it truly was "Complete" as the Lewisohn book seems to be.