My Son Jimi [Hardcover]

James A. Hendrix (Author), Jas Obrecht (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 1999

"He was an ordinary, run-of-the-mill kid coming along," James "Al" Hendrix remembers about his son, "but he had an imagination." Many books have been written about Jimi Hendrix's guitar techniques, amps and whammy bars, but none explores his humanity in the depth revealed here by his loving father. In this extraordinary biography, Al Hendrix shares stories, letters, never-before-seen snapshots, and previously unpublished artwork by his remarkable son. Essential for every Hendrix fan! 192 pages. bios: James "Al" Hendrix worked as a professional landscape gardener for nearly three decades and is now the chairman of the board of Experience Hendrix. Jas Obrecht was an editor at Guitar Player magazine for 20 years and is the primary author of Blues Guitar: The Men Who Made the Music. He is the 1997 winner of the W.C. Handy "Keeping the Blues Alive" Award in journalism. "So many books have come out over the past 25 years...Writers who've never talked with Jimi or me don't know anything about his childhood, and his childhood had a whole lot of bearing on who he became...I had to set the record straight." - Al Hendrix

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

James Allen "Al" Hendrix has outlived his son Jimi by 29 years, which must haunt him on every birthday. Al turns 80 on Father's Day, but he is not looking for anyone's sympathy or taking credit for Jimi's genius, as the biography's sappy promos suggest. Thankfully, no slick editors have touched Al's winding oral history of Jimi's family, Al's failed marriage to Lucille Jeter (Jimi's alcoholic, live-fast-die-young mother), Jimi's childhood, his premature death, and Al's legal battle for Jimi's estate in the 1990s. Al has also opened the Hendrix family photo album and Jimi's boyhood sketchbooks, which are full of cowboys and Indians, Elvis, car races, and rock'n'roll concerts. Although Jimi had the healthy imagination of a normal, happy kid, he did not come from such a secure background: Al worked like a dog while Lucille slept around, and Jimi was raised by his aunts, uncles, and grandmothers. Al makes no excusesAhe didn't spend enough time with Jimi, but he did buy him his first three guitars. An earnest tribute; recommended for all popular music collections.AHeather McCormack, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Guitar god Jimi Hendrix is the hook for his dad's story. But the rock-star portion of Jimi's life doesn't crop up until page 136, and before then, Dad's life in the Pacific Northwest is its focus. James A. "Al" Hendrix experienced incredible personal upheaval, casual but pervasive racism, and the economic challenges that upheaval and racism only intensify. Yet he persevered as a committed single father. He first heard the Jimi Hendrix Experience when the "hippies who lived next door" played Are You Experienced? loud enough to penetrate his walls. He was surprised to recognize his son's voice because "I'd never heard him sing before," but then, Jimi surprised a lot of people with that album. Folksy, uninhibited, highly readable, Al's book fleshes out the Jimi Hendrix story as it grittily portrays a strong African American father. Al now chairs the company that manages rights to Jimi's music, image, and licensing. He misses his son, but "when I hear Jimi's music today, it makes me feel good." Legions of rock fans agree on both counts. Mike Tribby

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Aljas Enterprises L P; 1st edition (June 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966785703
• ISBN-13: 978-0966785708
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,655,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed perspective on Jimi's life, August 7, 1999

By 

Robert B. Newman (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Son Jimi (Hardcover)

I bought this book yesterday and finished it today. I have always felt, for reasons I could never really explain, that Jimi had a kindred spirit with my own. His father's recollections on Jimi's early life let me know why. I'm so glad Mr. Al Hendrix wrote this book. The lies about Jimi are legion. I remember in the 60's that most of what I heard about him had to do with drugs. It's a real shame that you have to explore a person's life like a detective (in a country with a supposedly "free" press) to find out what they were really like. There is one thing I really liked about the Hendrix family the book revealed; their free and easy interactions with non-blacks. No wonder Jimi's music and message was universal. In a time when blacks and whites seem to be once again withdrawing into their own groups I found the Hendrix family to be very refreshing. Being black myself I totally reject the pressures brought against me to participate only in things stamped with the "black" seal of approval. And I'd like to salute Al Hendrix for being a real father and taking care of his family, even children he didn't sire. A lot of men today wouldn't do what he did. Jimi was very fortunate to have such a father and I think he knew it. Thank you Mr. Hendrix for sharing your life and that of your son with us on a more intimate level. I for one will always love Jimi and hold a fondness for him in my heart. And now for you as well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Al's 'Bad' Memory, September 18, 2007

By 

Dr. Steven Maddox (Berkshire UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Son Jimi (Hardcover)

I know it's wrong to criticise the dead, but this book is very much written through bright rosey red coloured spectacles. Al was getting on in years when he collaborated on this book and I suspect a lot of it was very much taken from one-to-one chats between Al and his 'ghost writer'; but unfortunately the book appears to have been very much influenced by the step -daughter from hell (and not a blood relative of Jimi)....one Janie Hendrix. Therefore, although Al's early memories of Jimi as a child and early adolescent are interesting and have some value, his assertions that Leon was not his child and how much Jimi was fond of his 'little sister Janie' devalue the rest of the book. Even if Leon was not Al's child, he was Lucille's son and that makes him Jimi's blood half-brother....which is a damn site closer to Jimi than Janie will ever be (he only met Janie on a couple of occasions)...........I suspect that Janie poisoned Al's mind at the time that this book was written with one thing in mind...Al's will and inheritance and the control of Jimi's music...which all spells one word......GREED. Unfortunately her scheming paid off, as Al effectively disowned Leon and gifted more or less evrything to Janie (including the rights to Jimi's music).

Finally, I am sure Al loved Jimi in his own way and I am sure Jimi had some affection for Al, but it is all overplayed in this book and Jimi told a lot of people that Al beat him quite badly when he was growing up and Kathy Etchingham in particular recalls a number of occasions when Al was not exactly a loving father..........however times were very hard for Al and Jimi (and Leon) and it is unfair to be too hard on Al in the early days....and to some degree in later life when I suspect he was slightly senile and therefore very susceptible to Janie's worm tonguery.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emotional Reading!!!!!!, August 24, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Washington - DC - USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Son Jimi (Hardcover)

I am a Brazilian artist visiting USA!!! I first had a contact with Jimi's life around 1969 when I was 17 y.o.and listened Are You Experienced??? Love in the first sight!!! The night he died I was in a teather in my home town (Belo- Horizonte) when the guitar player of this Wonderful brazilian band( Som Imaginario) came to the stage and did the announcement of Jimi's death and them he played " Power of SOUL" so beautifully that everybody there cried, even those who weren't aware of Jimi's ethereal music!!What a moment!!!I have many items in my collection, varying among posters, books, rare records, magazines, etc, but this book that I read like a prayer took me to the Jimi's soul!! Al's is a great man and deserve to see the image of his son restaured after many people used Jimi's life speculatively!!! Thanks my man for the beautiful words and the sensations that you put on this book!!!!If I stay longer I will go to Seattle to see and feel "Things" that surrounded Jimi!!! Let's fly like a Dragon Flies and catch the spirit of this incredible musician and a sensitive man!!! Thanks Al for raising Jimi the way you did, he's waiting for us one day in his Space ship adorned with Little Wings!!! Peace!!! Gute Brandao.