Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix [Turtleback]

David Henderson (Author)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (April 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606039112
• ISBN-13: 978-0606039116
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,424,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How authentic do you need to be?, February 17, 2006

By 

William J. Eichelberger "I will not go quietly" (Ft. Thomas, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky (Paperback)

As rock bios go, this one is the worst I ever made the mistake of buying. Being a Hendrix fan, I had a genuine interest in the subject at hand, but the "with it" 60's slang that David Henderson insisted upon using throughout the book was irritating, and worse, distracting. His use of "creative license" whereby he supposes himself inside Jimi's mind as he lay dying is not only disingenuous, but creepy. Avoid this one unless you're an acid casualty yourself.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Really, you must be joking!!!, August 29, 2005

By 

Debbie Salter (Mexia, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky: The life of Jimi Hendrix (Paperback)

In reading the other reviews of this "Biography", I have to wonder if they all read the same book that I did. Some even went so far as to state that this is the best biography about Jimi that they have ever read! Please! No way.

Perhaps I am being too harsh as it was written almost 25 five years ago, and it shows with the language that is used in the book. Alot of slang from the 60s. And I also found very wierd and disconcerting how Mr. Henderson writes as if he knew what was going through Jimi's mind when he lay dying, when he was arrested for drug possession in Toronto and when he was performing at his most famous concerts. I understand from reading something about Mr. Henderson that he knew Jimi, how well I couldn't really ascertain. He is also an African American. Now what importance you may attach to that, I don't know. I happen to believe that you don't have to be an African American to write a credible biography about Jimi because if that were the case, most of the biograhies about him would have remained unwritten. And just because Mr. Henderson is black does not give his book anymore credence than say the ones by Murray, Lawrence, Cross, Shadwick etc. I would say that Mr. Henderson wrote this book from his own perspective as a black man, but not from Jimi's. Yes they are both black but that should not mean that their experiences were the same. From what others who knew Jimi have said in other biographies, Jimi was only concenred about the colors in his music not the color of his skin or anyone else's. Not that he was unaware of racism, but that like any other problem in his life he simply believed that everything would turn out for the best. He was not militant, in fact most of his friends often noted how apolitical he was.

Also many of the "facts" is this book are incorrect which indicates to me that Mr. Henderson did not research his book very well. Some of the facts about Jimi's concerts, his feelings about the JHE, his various women, his friends are not correct. I would think that even ten years after Jimi's death (which is when Mr. Henderson wrote this book) most of these facts were known. He also does not include a Bibliography listing his sources. Mr. Henderson gives nary a mention about Kathy, his girlfriend in London, but goes on and on about Devon Wilson and her relationship with Jimi as if this was the only female relationship of worth that Jimi ever had. It is true that Jimi knew Devon for at least 4-5 years, but he also knew Kathy since he went to London in 1966. Also this is just a minor detail, but the song lists of various concerts are often incorrect, such as the one for Monterrey Pop. He also noted that the Grateful Dead went on after JHE but as everyone knows they played between The Who and JHE.

To me, Mr. Henderson wanted to portray Jimi as some sort of hip, antiestablishment "Superspade". This is a disservice to Jimi as he was much more than that. In fact he was such a complex, enigmatic, and original person that even the best biographies about him cannot adequately portray him.

I wanted to read this biography because it was one of the very first ones ever written about Jimi, so I do not regret buying it, but there are much better biographies about Jimi out there, like ELECTRIC GYPSY, JIMI HENDRIX MUSICIAN and the ones by Sharon Lawrence, John McDermott, and Charles Murray.

I will agree with one reviewer that stated Mr. Henderson should have written a novel about Jimi, but as a credible biography about Jimi Hendrix, this book just doesn't make the cut.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, May 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: 'scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky (Paperback)

Frank Zappa once said, "Rock and roll journalism is stuff written by writers who can't write, about musicians who can't play music, for readers who can't read." This is an exception, in that it is a highly readable and well-written book. The author has very good academic writing credentials, the like you almost never see among rock journalists. A fat book, that I read quickly.