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'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child
David Henderson's biography of Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child of the Aquarian Age -- first published in hardcover in 1978 -- was described by Greil Marcus of Rolling Stone as "[t]he strongest and most ambitious biography yet written about any rock and roll performer." The paperback edition was retitled 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix, and in this smaller format, extensive interviews from the original edition were omitted. Nonetheless, all previous editions sold more than 300,000 copies and created a new standard for writing about popular artists, especially musicians.
Henderson's biography helped to rescue Hendrix from an unfair, erroneous association with drug decadence and recognized him as a true musical genius. The Hendrix legacy still thrives, and Henderson has more to reveal and further insight to offer about the man who remains regarded as the greatest rock and roll guitarist of all time. 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child is the newly revised, updated, and expanded edition of the definitive, most beloved biography of the man behind the legend. It melds the original text, which featured Hendrix's voice in complete interviews, with new material -- to the extent that Hendrix could easily be described as the coauthor of this work.
Henderson now offers information that was initially difficult to obtain in the years immediately following Hendrix's death. With the passage of time, originally reluctant informants have come forward, and many of the coverups and legal battles have been resolved. All of this has shed new light on Hendrix's life, as well as on the circumstances surrounding his mysterious death. This edition includes more of Hendrix's personal writings, and goes more in depth about his romantic life and the music -- its creation, problems, and triumphs -- as scholarship and recognition of his importance have deepened over time. While revealing essential information about his untimely death, i reads like a grand adventure novel but so includes salient cultural, political, and historical background. David Henderson wrote this biography as the result of a promise he'd made to Jimi at Ungano's nightclub in Manhattan in 1969 to write something solely about him. The rock legend had read and liked Henderson's piece in Crawdaddy -- one of Hendrix's favorite magazines -- on his concert with Sly Stone at the Fillmore East. Little did either man know that they would forever be connected by this timeless and important biography.
Henderson's biography helped to rescue Hendrix from an unfair, erroneous association with drug decadence and recognized him as a true musical genius. The Hendrix legacy still thrives, and Henderson has more to reveal and further insight to offer about the man who remains regarded as the greatest rock and roll guitarist of all time. 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child is the newly revised, updated, and expanded edition of the definitive, most beloved biography of the man behind the legend. It melds the original text, which featured Hendrix's voice in complete interviews, with new material -- to the extent that Hendrix could easily be described as the coauthor of this work.
Henderson now offers information that was initially difficult to obtain in the years immediately following Hendrix's death. With the passage of time, originally reluctant informants have come forward, and many of the coverups and legal battles have been resolved. All of this has shed new light on Hendrix's life, as well as on the circumstances surrounding his mysterious death. This edition includes more of Hendrix's personal writings, and goes more in depth about his romantic life and the music -- its creation, problems, and triumphs -- as scholarship and recognition of his importance have deepened over time. While revealing essential information about his untimely death, i reads like a grand adventure novel but so includes salient cultural, political, and historical background. David Henderson wrote this biography as the result of a promise he'd made to Jimi at Ungano's nightclub in Manhattan in 1969 to write something solely about him. The rock legend had read and liked Henderson's piece in Crawdaddy -- one of Hendrix's favorite magazines -- on his concert with Sly Stone at the Fillmore East. Little did either man know that they would forever be connected by this timeless and important biography.
465 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1981
34 people are currently reading
737 people want to read
About the author
David Henderson
4 books2 followersDavid Henderson is an American writer and poet. Henderson was a co-founder of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s. He has been an active member of New York’s Lower East Side art community for more than 40 years. His work has appeared in many literary publications and anthologies, and he has published four volumes of his own poetry. He is most known for his highly acclaimed biography of rock guitarist, Jimi Hendrix.
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November 20, 2023I just saw in my feed someone adding a Jimi Hendrix bio, and it reminded me of this book. I read it back in the early eighties so I can't give a proper review. At that time I had found this to be very good, if that helps :)
June 23, 2013
This was the first Hendrix bio I ever read, long, long ago. I remember finding it difficult to get through and this time around was no different. Greil Marcus called 'Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky, 'The strongest and most ambitious biography yet written about any rock and roll performer,' which I can't agree with but, if you ask me, says a lot about a lot of things.
Henderson can definitely write but I think he could have used some heavy editing. He repeats himself, he jumps around like a little kid on a hot beach, he goes on for pages at a time about a single song and he writes sentences like; 'As Buddy Miles screams in the background a Delta moan, Hendrix lightly fingers the amp-busting guitar, his very touch emitting the cries of a woman beyond pleasure to the threshold of pain, the screams of electric fire, the loony cacophony of siren scream alarm pain plains in space bombing people screaming.' Okay.
And there's just an awful lot of speculation going on here. Henderson discusses in the afterward how he assembled information from many, many sources in a narrative, meaning he's making it up as he goes along and feeling fine about it because these scenes are based on fact. A guy like Erik Larson can do this and it works, it seems accurate. You get done reading 'Scuse Me... and wonder how much of it was fact and how much of it was well intentioned but ultimately uninformative fiction.
On that same note, I watched a Hendrix documentary while reading this. The documentary features interviews with family and friends and is ultimately more informative than this book is. I feel like, for all Henderson's countless interviews, he might have chosen his subjects better. It seems as if the only person he talked to was Al Hendrix, Jimi's father. Al paints a rather different picture than Leon Hendrix, Jimi's brother. During his interviews for 'Scuse Me..., Al sure as hell didn't mention Joseph, Jimi and Leon's brother who Al forced their mother to give up for adoption. 'Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky doesn't give the whole story.
The second half of the book is all over the place and that's where it gets tough to get through. There are pages of redundant or irrelevant scenes popping in and out seemingly without reason. Perhaps this was Henderson's intent, to give us a sense of how Jimi felt in his final days. I just found it rough going.
On the upside, reading this has generated a future sale for some lucky local bookstore because I'm going to have to read someone else's take on Hendrix's life as soon as possible.
Henderson can definitely write but I think he could have used some heavy editing. He repeats himself, he jumps around like a little kid on a hot beach, he goes on for pages at a time about a single song and he writes sentences like; 'As Buddy Miles screams in the background a Delta moan, Hendrix lightly fingers the amp-busting guitar, his very touch emitting the cries of a woman beyond pleasure to the threshold of pain, the screams of electric fire, the loony cacophony of siren scream alarm pain plains in space bombing people screaming.' Okay.
And there's just an awful lot of speculation going on here. Henderson discusses in the afterward how he assembled information from many, many sources in a narrative, meaning he's making it up as he goes along and feeling fine about it because these scenes are based on fact. A guy like Erik Larson can do this and it works, it seems accurate. You get done reading 'Scuse Me... and wonder how much of it was fact and how much of it was well intentioned but ultimately uninformative fiction.
On that same note, I watched a Hendrix documentary while reading this. The documentary features interviews with family and friends and is ultimately more informative than this book is. I feel like, for all Henderson's countless interviews, he might have chosen his subjects better. It seems as if the only person he talked to was Al Hendrix, Jimi's father. Al paints a rather different picture than Leon Hendrix, Jimi's brother. During his interviews for 'Scuse Me..., Al sure as hell didn't mention Joseph, Jimi and Leon's brother who Al forced their mother to give up for adoption. 'Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky doesn't give the whole story.
The second half of the book is all over the place and that's where it gets tough to get through. There are pages of redundant or irrelevant scenes popping in and out seemingly without reason. Perhaps this was Henderson's intent, to give us a sense of how Jimi felt in his final days. I just found it rough going.
On the upside, reading this has generated a future sale for some lucky local bookstore because I'm going to have to read someone else's take on Hendrix's life as soon as possible.
May 18, 2021
I read David Henderson's biography of Jimi Hendrix for the first time in the summer of 1986, when I became obsessed with Hendrix's music. I would often listen to my Hendrix albums while reading, picking up contexts along the way. For years it was a touchstone book for me--I picked it up frequently, and it was a primary reference for his life and music.
This is a freeform, full-color, psychedelic portrayal of Hendrix, dropping lyrics, setting moods, trying to capture Hendrix's elusive soul. It's insightful to a point, and then kind of drifts away, off to some other mood.
As I remember it, Henderson covers Hendrix's childhood pretty well. It's quite good at covering Hendrix's time on the chitlin' circuit and how he would constantly get in trouble for his wild performances with the Isley Brothers. It also covers his time in Greenwich Village well and gets a good feel for that time period. Much is made of Hendrix's processed hairstyle and, more appropriately, his obsession with Bob Dylan's music.
I think the highlight of the book is describing the travails of making the Experience's third album Electric Ladyland. During that album's frenzied production, Hendrix constantly put in night owl hours sitting in at local clubs, and also dealt with the difficulties of creating of his dream studio, Electric Lady. Hendrix seemed to be trying to live three lives at once. It was the most frantic time of his life in 1968, dealing with fame and trying to turn his fame and fortune into new avenues for his creativity. It was also his most creative and productive period, as well. Hendrix obsessively recorded his ideas and drafts, and those have been well documented in posthumous releases. For a musician who died so young, Hendrix gave us a wonderful gift of recorded music from this crucible period.
Later on, there's an interesting telling of Hendrix's performance at a street fair in Harlem in September 1969. At Hendrix's career peak, he was a dichotomy of black music mixed with white culture. There, he was unknown by the black kids who saw his flashy clothes and were fascinated with him, like he was an alien. Black radio rarely played Hendrix's music. It is the single strangest irony of Jimi Hendrix's career that he was embraced by white rock and roll fans but not by the black R&B community where he had learned and honed his talent.
The weak point of the book is Henderson's theory of Hendrix's death--the "ambulance theory." It is an assertion I accepted as truth for years, until I read other bios which effectively dispelled the theory as bogus. Hendrix had died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills well before he was taken out of that flat in London.
Taking this down to three stars upon my third reading. While Henderson is poetic and colorful, he makes a number of mistakes--one of them is that he tries to approach Hendrix from an artistic point of view rather than biographic. Almost nothing is made of his significant professional relationships, such as with his trusted engineer Eddie Kramer, or his managers Chas Chandler or Michael Jeffrey. Henderson tries to be 'in the room' with Hendrix, even trying to imagine what Jimi was thinking about as he lay dying in September 1970.
Overall, it's good, even occasionally brilliant, but it's also a flawed and inconsistent biography of the greatest guitarist in rock and roll history.
This is a freeform, full-color, psychedelic portrayal of Hendrix, dropping lyrics, setting moods, trying to capture Hendrix's elusive soul. It's insightful to a point, and then kind of drifts away, off to some other mood.
As I remember it, Henderson covers Hendrix's childhood pretty well. It's quite good at covering Hendrix's time on the chitlin' circuit and how he would constantly get in trouble for his wild performances with the Isley Brothers. It also covers his time in Greenwich Village well and gets a good feel for that time period. Much is made of Hendrix's processed hairstyle and, more appropriately, his obsession with Bob Dylan's music.
I think the highlight of the book is describing the travails of making the Experience's third album Electric Ladyland. During that album's frenzied production, Hendrix constantly put in night owl hours sitting in at local clubs, and also dealt with the difficulties of creating of his dream studio, Electric Lady. Hendrix seemed to be trying to live three lives at once. It was the most frantic time of his life in 1968, dealing with fame and trying to turn his fame and fortune into new avenues for his creativity. It was also his most creative and productive period, as well. Hendrix obsessively recorded his ideas and drafts, and those have been well documented in posthumous releases. For a musician who died so young, Hendrix gave us a wonderful gift of recorded music from this crucible period.
Later on, there's an interesting telling of Hendrix's performance at a street fair in Harlem in September 1969. At Hendrix's career peak, he was a dichotomy of black music mixed with white culture. There, he was unknown by the black kids who saw his flashy clothes and were fascinated with him, like he was an alien. Black radio rarely played Hendrix's music. It is the single strangest irony of Jimi Hendrix's career that he was embraced by white rock and roll fans but not by the black R&B community where he had learned and honed his talent.
The weak point of the book is Henderson's theory of Hendrix's death--the "ambulance theory." It is an assertion I accepted as truth for years, until I read other bios which effectively dispelled the theory as bogus. Hendrix had died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills well before he was taken out of that flat in London.
Taking this down to three stars upon my third reading. While Henderson is poetic and colorful, he makes a number of mistakes--one of them is that he tries to approach Hendrix from an artistic point of view rather than biographic. Almost nothing is made of his significant professional relationships, such as with his trusted engineer Eddie Kramer, or his managers Chas Chandler or Michael Jeffrey. Henderson tries to be 'in the room' with Hendrix, even trying to imagine what Jimi was thinking about as he lay dying in September 1970.
Overall, it's good, even occasionally brilliant, but it's also a flawed and inconsistent biography of the greatest guitarist in rock and roll history.
October 13, 2021
David Henderson's biography of Jimi Hendrix is one part beat poem, one part journal entry and one part mythos. It paints a picture of Hendrix's childhood, military career, early musical life and sudden rise to superstardom.
What became clear from reading this is that Hendrix was totally isolated. He never learned to take care of himself and he had no one looking after him once he left his father and entered the service. Although he had friends and girl friends, these people were in it for the party or the payday and not really interested in his well being.
All of this has to be seen through the lense of the time. The 60's were a period of revolution in many ways. With the war in Viet Nam raging, the emerging counter culture and the abundance and variety of drugs available, people were, for the first time, confronting and questioning their role in society and their ability to change those prescribed roles. People were experimenting with Eastern Spirituality as they expanded their consciousness with various drugs. Jimi is painted here as a very spiritual man with ideas that went beyond what was normally accepted in his culture at that time in history.
We also have to remember that, when he died, he was only 27 years old. So he was not worldly or sophisticated in many ways. He didn't have the sense of self preservation one develops with age and experience or the connections that come with living and pursuing a craft. He did a remarkable amount of work in a very short time by being completely focused on one thing: creating music and playing guitar. At that he was brilliant, but lack of advisors, innocent trust in those around him and the slings and arrows of dealing with adult problems led to poor decision making and ultimately his death.
Although he may have lacked discernment, he had a bountiful talent that he'd spent years honing as a sideman with other peoples' bands. Starting in high school he played guitar in various bands and, after completing his military service, he went to New York and jumped into the big leagues, working, touring and recording with some of the biggest names in music at that time. Apparently, he learned a lot about being in a band, how to be a great showman, how to write and create appealing sounds, but he didn't learn the business side of the game so he was exploited by those who first recognized his talent.
Hendrix came from a loving home. His mother died when he was young and he was raised by his father. Admittedly uneducated, his father did his best to instill a sense of pride and a good work ethic in his son. The two of them fished together and worked as landscapers together while Jimi was in high school.
Earlier this year I read Carlos Santana's biography. One can't help but compare Hendrix's life with Santana's. They came of age at the same time and even played Woodstock at the same time, yet somehow Jimi Hendrix fell prey to the dreaded 27 club, dying before reaching his prime, while Santana, who also grew up on the west coast in a dirt poor family, is still alive and thriving! One wonders what Jimi Hendrix may have accomplished if his mother had lived? Or if his "fiance" had called the ambulance at the first sign that Hendrix was in trouble? Was it the difference in culture perhaps, Santana coming from a large extended family that remained close even after he left home, while Jimi had only his father. After he left home it's not clear that he ever lived with his father again. What if Jimi had had competent legal advisors, if he'd been able to fully realize his vision, what a wonderful body of work he might have created over the long haul.
The author, David Henderson, is a poet and a journalist. His writing is lyrical and romantic, his book a labor of love that celebrates a great musical master. It's like reading a mythology filled with larger than life characters. It's evocative and filled with opinion and emotion that colors the interpretation of Hendrix life so that it reads more like an impressionist painting than a photograph.
What became clear from reading this is that Hendrix was totally isolated. He never learned to take care of himself and he had no one looking after him once he left his father and entered the service. Although he had friends and girl friends, these people were in it for the party or the payday and not really interested in his well being.
All of this has to be seen through the lense of the time. The 60's were a period of revolution in many ways. With the war in Viet Nam raging, the emerging counter culture and the abundance and variety of drugs available, people were, for the first time, confronting and questioning their role in society and their ability to change those prescribed roles. People were experimenting with Eastern Spirituality as they expanded their consciousness with various drugs. Jimi is painted here as a very spiritual man with ideas that went beyond what was normally accepted in his culture at that time in history.
We also have to remember that, when he died, he was only 27 years old. So he was not worldly or sophisticated in many ways. He didn't have the sense of self preservation one develops with age and experience or the connections that come with living and pursuing a craft. He did a remarkable amount of work in a very short time by being completely focused on one thing: creating music and playing guitar. At that he was brilliant, but lack of advisors, innocent trust in those around him and the slings and arrows of dealing with adult problems led to poor decision making and ultimately his death.
Although he may have lacked discernment, he had a bountiful talent that he'd spent years honing as a sideman with other peoples' bands. Starting in high school he played guitar in various bands and, after completing his military service, he went to New York and jumped into the big leagues, working, touring and recording with some of the biggest names in music at that time. Apparently, he learned a lot about being in a band, how to be a great showman, how to write and create appealing sounds, but he didn't learn the business side of the game so he was exploited by those who first recognized his talent.
Hendrix came from a loving home. His mother died when he was young and he was raised by his father. Admittedly uneducated, his father did his best to instill a sense of pride and a good work ethic in his son. The two of them fished together and worked as landscapers together while Jimi was in high school.
Earlier this year I read Carlos Santana's biography. One can't help but compare Hendrix's life with Santana's. They came of age at the same time and even played Woodstock at the same time, yet somehow Jimi Hendrix fell prey to the dreaded 27 club, dying before reaching his prime, while Santana, who also grew up on the west coast in a dirt poor family, is still alive and thriving! One wonders what Jimi Hendrix may have accomplished if his mother had lived? Or if his "fiance" had called the ambulance at the first sign that Hendrix was in trouble? Was it the difference in culture perhaps, Santana coming from a large extended family that remained close even after he left home, while Jimi had only his father. After he left home it's not clear that he ever lived with his father again. What if Jimi had had competent legal advisors, if he'd been able to fully realize his vision, what a wonderful body of work he might have created over the long haul.
The author, David Henderson, is a poet and a journalist. His writing is lyrical and romantic, his book a labor of love that celebrates a great musical master. It's like reading a mythology filled with larger than life characters. It's evocative and filled with opinion and emotion that colors the interpretation of Hendrix life so that it reads more like an impressionist painting than a photograph.
December 28, 2015
Henderson is a poet and a writer and knew Hendrix. He starts the book off with Hendrix's death which was very stark and graphic BUT I would have still stuck that at the end of the book.
Otherwise, the book was an enjoyable read in that being written by a poet it was way more descriptive and less journalistic then most biographies. Henderson nails the imagery of every song that Hendrix was playing live in concert or in the studio though the book is pretty heavy on the live work.
Henderson nails all the beats in terms of Hendrix's early life, loves, military history, major drug use, relationships, friendships, and most importantly the music. It is the music through which we gain the most in understanding Hendrix's life and what was going on with him at that time.
Otherwise, the book was an enjoyable read in that being written by a poet it was way more descriptive and less journalistic then most biographies. Henderson nails the imagery of every song that Hendrix was playing live in concert or in the studio though the book is pretty heavy on the live work.
Henderson nails all the beats in terms of Hendrix's early life, loves, military history, major drug use, relationships, friendships, and most importantly the music. It is the music through which we gain the most in understanding Hendrix's life and what was going on with him at that time.
November 22, 2020
I finally gave up. If I didn't have to request this through ILL, and if I were able to renew it, I might have kept trying, but I decided to just let it go. I never wanted to pick it up and I'd hit a part of the book that was a real slog.
They say not to fall in love with your subject--whether you're a biographer or the creator of a fictional character--and I wish someone had said that to every dude who wrote about Jimi Hendrix, because they need to stop. David Henderson, at least, has clearly done a lot of very thorough research, but no one told him that a biography does not need to involve telling us about every single conversation Hendrix had in 1968 because YE GODS JUST GET ON WITH IT, MAN. A biography of Hendrix does not also need to involve the complete history of rock and roll, and while I am grateful for that knowledge, that's not the book I was looking for, and decidedly not what it says on the tin. If you want to write a history of rock, do that, but don't shove that 80 pages (plus) into a totally different book. The reader notices. YOU ARE NOT THAT SLICK.
Augh.
Maybe someday, in a distant future, when I feel like a deep dive into every street Jimi Hendrix trod from 1966 until his untimely death, I will pick up this book again. Until that day, I've given up.
tl;dr: WHITHER THE EDITOR?
They say not to fall in love with your subject--whether you're a biographer or the creator of a fictional character--and I wish someone had said that to every dude who wrote about Jimi Hendrix, because they need to stop. David Henderson, at least, has clearly done a lot of very thorough research, but no one told him that a biography does not need to involve telling us about every single conversation Hendrix had in 1968 because YE GODS JUST GET ON WITH IT, MAN. A biography of Hendrix does not also need to involve the complete history of rock and roll, and while I am grateful for that knowledge, that's not the book I was looking for, and decidedly not what it says on the tin. If you want to write a history of rock, do that, but don't shove that 80 pages (plus) into a totally different book. The reader notices. YOU ARE NOT THAT SLICK.
Augh.
Maybe someday, in a distant future, when I feel like a deep dive into every street Jimi Hendrix trod from 1966 until his untimely death, I will pick up this book again. Until that day, I've given up.
tl;dr: WHITHER THE EDITOR?
September 20, 2013
while this a very good book for those interested in Hendrix, I have to admit, I was appalled at the amount of detail put into describing his death. It almost seems a mockery. i have read a few other books on hendrix, and was disappointed, again, to find that all of the books had very different "facts" regarding things in and about his life and family.
May 8, 2017
Poet, musician, and college professor David Henderson took an unusual approach to the too short life of the greatest guitarist who ever lived: James Marshall Hendrix. Rather than compose a "just-the-facts, ma'm" narrative approach, Henderson choose to paint his own picture of Jimi Hendrix's life through a mixture of imagination, poetic license...and yes, actual, well-researched facts and quotations. As a result, "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix" is mixed bad of good, bad, and awful.
On the plus side, "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix" does contain a wealth of biographical information that is indeed quite interesting, such as the fact that Hendrix's parents were both dancers, and loved to perform in their youth, losing themselves in the art of performance.
This is something their son ended up doing in spades with the electric guitar. Henderson's detail on Hendrix's early life is impressively detailed, and fleshed out, to the point where one can get a strong grasp into who Hendrix really was, and how his personality developed. There's also terrific detail on Jimi Hendrix' final days, revealing things I never knew about it, such as the reason Hendrix stayed in England after the plug was pulled on his brief, 1970 European tour.
I also appreciated the author's use of "poetic license" to paint the impression of what it was like to actually be Jimi Hendrix, and take a trip inside his mind. It was a reach, for sure, yet Henderson clearly states at the end of the book that he based his creative prose on five years of interviews and research. His questionable narrative reachers were indeed "informed by facts."
When the author stayed on point, and did not veer too far off center, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jimi Hendrix's rise to stardom and worldwide acclaim, and his many friendships and associations he had over years, as well as the things that plagued his life. Hendrix was a genius guitarist, composer, singer, and performer. Though there were many factors in his life that worked against him, Hendrix's biggest enemy was also his greatest strength: himself.
If only Jimi Hendrix took as much care of his body as he did for his music, he would be alive today. Yet his inability to say no, his estrangement from from his management, his drug and alcohol abuse, and Hendrix's horrible habit of staying up for days at a time all lead to his frustrating early death at age 27, the same age his mother died. When reading "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix," I felt angry at all of the factors that contributed to the demise of someone so very talented, so very wise and brilliant.
Where the book stumbles is the author's tendency to wax poetic on the songs of Jimi Hendrix. I think it was Steve Martin who said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Music is beyond words, and any attempt to actually recreate music through words is both futile and foolish. Henderson, however, tortures the reader with pages full of song lyrics, accompanying passages like this color commentary for 1967's "I Don't Live Today," Henderson writes "The time is doubled as they take the song out on a long tag. The feedback has a beautiful feel in the upper registers. The surflike effects of the Sunn amps make the feedback sing in the upper ranges like a mezzo-soprano. Perfect sustained notes rolling out almost liquid..." Yuck. Just tell us about the song! Don't act out the song via letters, words, sentences and paragraphs! It turned me off to the book, and inspired me not so much to listen to the music but to put the book down for a while. Ugh.
That all said, "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix" was a book I picked up when I was 13 or 14 years old, and only skimmed through in the past, never reading the entire thing. With that in mind, despite my complaints, I am so very glad that I finally took the time to read "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix" cover-to-cover, and learn more about one of my heroes, the late, and forever great Jimi Hendrix.
On the plus side, "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix" does contain a wealth of biographical information that is indeed quite interesting, such as the fact that Hendrix's parents were both dancers, and loved to perform in their youth, losing themselves in the art of performance.
This is something their son ended up doing in spades with the electric guitar. Henderson's detail on Hendrix's early life is impressively detailed, and fleshed out, to the point where one can get a strong grasp into who Hendrix really was, and how his personality developed. There's also terrific detail on Jimi Hendrix' final days, revealing things I never knew about it, such as the reason Hendrix stayed in England after the plug was pulled on his brief, 1970 European tour.
I also appreciated the author's use of "poetic license" to paint the impression of what it was like to actually be Jimi Hendrix, and take a trip inside his mind. It was a reach, for sure, yet Henderson clearly states at the end of the book that he based his creative prose on five years of interviews and research. His questionable narrative reachers were indeed "informed by facts."
When the author stayed on point, and did not veer too far off center, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jimi Hendrix's rise to stardom and worldwide acclaim, and his many friendships and associations he had over years, as well as the things that plagued his life. Hendrix was a genius guitarist, composer, singer, and performer. Though there were many factors in his life that worked against him, Hendrix's biggest enemy was also his greatest strength: himself.
If only Jimi Hendrix took as much care of his body as he did for his music, he would be alive today. Yet his inability to say no, his estrangement from from his management, his drug and alcohol abuse, and Hendrix's horrible habit of staying up for days at a time all lead to his frustrating early death at age 27, the same age his mother died. When reading "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix," I felt angry at all of the factors that contributed to the demise of someone so very talented, so very wise and brilliant.
Where the book stumbles is the author's tendency to wax poetic on the songs of Jimi Hendrix. I think it was Steve Martin who said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Music is beyond words, and any attempt to actually recreate music through words is both futile and foolish. Henderson, however, tortures the reader with pages full of song lyrics, accompanying passages like this color commentary for 1967's "I Don't Live Today," Henderson writes "The time is doubled as they take the song out on a long tag. The feedback has a beautiful feel in the upper registers. The surflike effects of the Sunn amps make the feedback sing in the upper ranges like a mezzo-soprano. Perfect sustained notes rolling out almost liquid..." Yuck. Just tell us about the song! Don't act out the song via letters, words, sentences and paragraphs! It turned me off to the book, and inspired me not so much to listen to the music but to put the book down for a while. Ugh.
That all said, "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix" was a book I picked up when I was 13 or 14 years old, and only skimmed through in the past, never reading the entire thing. With that in mind, despite my complaints, I am so very glad that I finally took the time to read "'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix" cover-to-cover, and learn more about one of my heroes, the late, and forever great Jimi Hendrix.
October 8, 2020
I liked the way the narrative develops the sinister and the cynicism until the end. It took a while to get used to some of the text describing Jimi's thoughts as if the author was right there in Jimi's head but I let it go in the end which made the book less of a slog. It actually made for good reading in the end as it became more of a story about a real person's life.
I have no idea about the premise or possibility of a sinister end for Jimi but that is obviously the agenda the author wanted to push and he did a good job of that. It's quite sad as the same story was told again and again about others after 1970 and it's still happening today, although the 'rock music industry' feels like it no longer exists now.
I have no idea about the premise or possibility of a sinister end for Jimi but that is obviously the agenda the author wanted to push and he did a good job of that. It's quite sad as the same story was told again and again about others after 1970 and it's still happening today, although the 'rock music industry' feels like it no longer exists now.
October 17, 2024
This is the most enthusiast book about the famous guitarist, written by a fan, who was close enough to know intimate details of the almost bigger-than-life musician. If you're into descriptions that are almost over the top, but still make a point regarding the power of the compositions, the chaos behind the stage, and the bisnis behind the fame, this is the book to chose from. If you are a musician looking into Hendrix's influences and musical background, I would get 'Crosstown Traffic' by Charles Shaar Murray. If you're into a day-by-day detailed biography, get the 'Electric Gypsy' book by Shapiro and Glebbeek, known among Hendrix fan as the 'Hendrix Bible'.
Enjoy, and let this soulman's life inspire you!
Enjoy, and let this soulman's life inspire you!
May 1, 2018
Informative, though not always well written biography about the greatest rock guitarist ever. While I found it quite interesting, the author has an irksome habit of jumping from place-to-place or event without any segue at all. Further he commits the cardinal writing sin of switching tenses throughout the book. Any good writer learns in high school that this is a no-no!
The writer is also prone to conspiracy theories. First and foremost is his assertion that Hendrix was murdered rather than the generally accepted story that the artist died of an overdose of barbiturates. He does this without offering any substantive evidence of his theory.
The writer is also prone to conspiracy theories. First and foremost is his assertion that Hendrix was murdered rather than the generally accepted story that the artist died of an overdose of barbiturates. He does this without offering any substantive evidence of his theory.
February 21, 2019
Incredible account of Hendrix's life. Henderson does a phenomenal job explaining in detail exactly how Jimi Hendrix became the icon he was and currently is. The book does feel like it's longer than it needs to be, with paragraphs detailing one guitar solo or the performance of one specific song. The biography would have held my attention better if it spent a little bit less time in the details of a specific song and a little more time on the historical and cultural context of Jimi's life.
December 4, 2024
This is one of the first in depth biographies of Jimi Hendrix, and one of the better ones. This author did extensive research and traveling and spoke to a variety of family, friends, musicians, and girlfriends who knew Hendrix well. There are a couple minor inaccuracies, and a few grammatical errors, but other than that, this is a great biography of the greatest guitarist ever!!!!
November 26, 2019
Good book but felt there were unnecessary things included
September 29, 2017
Excellent biography, this may be the best one on Hendrix. It covers his entire life and is well researched, especially his childhood and young life before fame. The only weakness is the the later part of his life, which is not as detailed. I wish the author had extended his exhaustive research into the how Jimi's creativity was evolving near the end, and the actual cause of his suspicious death.
January 13, 2012
The life of Jimi Hendrix is often misinterpreted, misunderstood and glazed over by false cliches. “Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky” by David Henderson is the only full story of Hendrix’s extraordinary life. Jimi was born with fireworks in the back round, his father raised him and really let him do his own thing. To Jimi, his guitar wasn’t just an instrument to him, it was a friend, and sometimes, his only friend. Jimi joined the army, but never went to war. His army companions thought he was very strange. He would sleep with and talk to his guitar. He would comfort it as if it were a person. Flash forward 5 years and Jimi is touring the world. Jimi, on stage in front of 400,000 on acid playing his heart out at Woodstock. Jimi rose to the top. There was a point where no band in the world would dare follow Jimi’s band, because no one was better. The crowd reaction was on par with the Beatles, if not crazier. In a flash, Jimi was the biggest man in Rock. On top of a thrown, no one could touch him. Jimi got into drugs, and not just marijuana or cocaine or lsd. Heroine, pain killers, alcohol and alcohol and more alcohol. Jimi began showing up to his shows drunk, weak and scared. Wobbling on stage and abruptly switching songs in the middle of another. Jimi was on a destructive path. “I don’t think I’ll live to be 28.” - Jimi Hendrix.
This book was extremely good. Henderson goes into full detail on everything he possibly can, without holding back at all. I thought I knew a lot about Hendrix before reading this book, having bought some documentaries, read a different book and gotten the ’69 Woodstock footage on dvd, but all of those combined gave me about 4% of the knowledge I got from this book. Henderson describes Jimi’s songs verse by verse with beautiful words that flow with the rhythm of a beautiful Hendrix guitar solo. The dark side of Hendrix isn’t talked about much, but this book gives you the full, unbiased story that many people have no idea ever happened. I was never bored reading this book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Jimi’s music. This book really gives you an idea for how extraordinary Hendrix was as a person and musician. If you play guitar, this is a really great book, and if you like biographies, this is the best one I’ve ever read. I’ve read biographies on a couple of pretty cool people with crazy stories, but this book really puts you in the shoes of a true rock star, going further than any biography I’ve read before. 10/10 easy, and I barely ever rate things with perfect scores, this book just really deserves it.
This book was extremely good. Henderson goes into full detail on everything he possibly can, without holding back at all. I thought I knew a lot about Hendrix before reading this book, having bought some documentaries, read a different book and gotten the ’69 Woodstock footage on dvd, but all of those combined gave me about 4% of the knowledge I got from this book. Henderson describes Jimi’s songs verse by verse with beautiful words that flow with the rhythm of a beautiful Hendrix guitar solo. The dark side of Hendrix isn’t talked about much, but this book gives you the full, unbiased story that many people have no idea ever happened. I was never bored reading this book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Jimi’s music. This book really gives you an idea for how extraordinary Hendrix was as a person and musician. If you play guitar, this is a really great book, and if you like biographies, this is the best one I’ve ever read. I’ve read biographies on a couple of pretty cool people with crazy stories, but this book really puts you in the shoes of a true rock star, going further than any biography I’ve read before. 10/10 easy, and I barely ever rate things with perfect scores, this book just really deserves it.
April 10, 2014
Henderson takes us on a trip through some very notable moments of the Hendrix’s life. The narrations are often so detailed that it feels as if we are present in the same room witnessing the events and conversations (private and otherwise) that transpires. While it would be difficult to validate the details and mood of many of these moments or to identify any liberties that potentially could be taken, it is clear that Henderson has compiled countless hours of research to paint his picture. Beginning and ending with the descriptive scene of his death, author chose to capsulate the events of Jimi’s life in this bookend manner. The choice presents an interesting artistic impact, as the meaning of the scene of his death changes in each position. As Henderson opens the book, the reader is lead to contemplate what is it in this man’s life that made his death so devastating (assuming one is not already well versed in the specifics of Hendrix biographical timeline); whereas the final account of the death scene present the troubling finality that death is and a greater question: What will the life of Hendrix mean following his death? Today, the answer to this question is obvious, but Henderson does a fine job of transporting us back to the event to put in that mindset of sorts. Overall, the text was a nice vision into the life that lead to Jimi’s tragic end.
October 13, 2007
David Henderson brings you right there with James every step of the way you get so soaked in you almost forget about what's coming in the end. I think everyone should really understand Jimi Hendrix and all the pain he endured and love he had to give. Especially his love for his guitar, his soul and music as a whole. He was a deep man with many issues and isn't some crack head with a guitar who made a coupld catchy tunes. He's a symbol for oppression in america having to make his debut in britian and makes americans look like idiots but makes the people the idiots think are scum legends.He can't quite overcome everything but damn did he try. The book is real thorough and reads well i think anybody and there mom should read it and if you don't like it go read something else.
January 16, 2008
This is the second book I've ever read, so this book came out before 1983. I was never much of a book reader unless it was a biography or music oriented. I was almost 15 when I read this book and I always did love the Jimi Hendrix Experience even when I was younger. I have read a few more books about Jimi's life since then but this book paved the way for me to read more biographies. Some people's first book was like "That Was Then, This Is Now" or "On The Road" or "The Outsiders". Not me. I wish I was interested in fiction but it just isn't in me. This book is factual but there are many more out there about Jimi Hendrix so if you love him like I did, read more about him.
May 1, 2015
Hendrix's life was full of ups and downs. 'Scuse me While I Kiss The Sky follows everything from is birth to his untimely death. The story follows him to his beginning in local clubs in the US and to his epic concerts in England. He started playing guitar when he was a young adult and with determination made it to the top. Jimi met famous bands and guitarists during his journey and even made friendships with some. Even though he had some bad habits he balanced them out with his good ones. I would recommend this book to people who like biographies and Jimi Hendrix since this whole book is about him. So strap in and get ready to have the Jimi Hendrix Experience!
March 8, 2013
While my hardcover version of this book has a much cooler cover than the one pictured it's notable that this book has been published in 1978, 1981 and again in 2008. Author David Henderson explores the night Jimi died and his death in gruesome detail with some possible theories on how he died. Henderson, a member of an influential group of poets and writers driving the Black Arts Movement explores the issue of race in Hendrix music and his life. Interesting viewpoint taken by the author and a well written book but need to read other Hendrix biographies to get a full perspective.
January 21, 2016
'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix by David Henderson (Bantam 1981) (Biography). Jimi Hendrix revolutionized the world of the electric guitar. He was adjudged to be the first man to be able to harness feedback and control it as part of his playing. This is his biography from his childhood in Seattle through his death by drug overdose at the age of twenty-seven. My rating: 7/10, finished 1983.
October 5, 2024
Hmmm. After reading Wild Thing, I'm wondering exactly how well researched this book is. Anyway, I don't need them both, so I'm going to keep Wild Thing and donate this one. This book is a great starter, but the terms of his death and the early years details are where I saw the biggest divergences.
This book does get this right: there was Jimi Hendrix, and there was everything that came after him.
This book does get this right: there was Jimi Hendrix, and there was everything that came after him.
May 7, 2020
Too many masturbatory descriptions of songs, lyrics, and live shows, like "Jimi's guitar then explodes with color, shining a beautiful light over the stoned crowd, awing them with its majesty."
I just made that up, but you get the idea.
I easily skipped about a quarter of this book just by passing over these inane descriptions.
I just made that up, but you get the idea.
I easily skipped about a quarter of this book just by passing over these inane descriptions.
July 27, 2008
I started reading this book during a drug study more than a year ago. I got about halfway through it and gave up. I figured that if I hadn't finished it in a year, I never would. So now I am offering to give it away on BookMooch.
I don't know how, but the author made Jimi Hendrix's life seem kind of boring.
I don't know how, but the author made Jimi Hendrix's life seem kind of boring.
September 3, 2009
Hendrix was a musical genius on the guitar, but a sad story of a dysfunctional childhood that many can't shake; a story of again how power corrupts as Hendrixgets out of control with his LSD use. The book has too many meaningless documentation of Hendrix talking nonsense. The author is too poetic in his descrpition of Hendrix's songs for my liking.
August 26, 2009
Apart from being a thorough biography, the music is described in both musicological terms and with passionate sensory/imagic descriptions set in their performance contexts. The narrative of Hendrix' life is told within that of racial politics/experience in the US and England. Insightful and provides an ethnographic sense of being there.
September 7, 2009
I read this book when I was a HUGE Hendrix fan. I have always been interested in learning more about the work ethic of artists, athletes, and politicians. Henderson does a great job describing Hendrix's work ethic, taking readers inside the recording studios for marathon sessions with this uber-talented musician.
October 24, 2013
Liked it, very informative on the FACTS section but....massively flowery descriptions of songs, Jimi´s staccatto, dive bomb whammy bar. blah blah blah. Skipped that. Also too many interviews included where Jimi was obviously ripped to the gills. And we are to believe that he DIDN´T die of an overdose?
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