Hendrix: The Illustrated Story

by Gillian G. Gaar

Hendrix  is the definitive, illustrated biography of the man widely considered the greatest rock guitarist of all time.

Coinciding with what would have been Jimi Hendrix's 75th year on this mortal coil, this (incredibly) is the first full-blown illustrated gift book exploring the life and career of the man most consider the greatest rock guitarist of all time . Hendrix enjoyed the international limelight for less than four years , but his innovative and imaginative interpretations of blues and rock continue to inspire guitarists and music lovers across ages and genre.

Inside, Seattle-based music journalist Gillian Gaar examines the guitarist’s upbringing, his service as an Army paratrooper, his role as a sideman on the chitlin’ circuit, his exile in the UK, and his eventual reemergence in the US and the fame that followed until his untimely death in 1970. Featuring design as lavish as Hendrix’s music and carefully curated photography, posters, picture sleeves, and other assorted memorabilia, this is the ultimate Hendrix book experience.   

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, History

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2017

About the author

I write regularly about music, entertainment, and travel. I enjoy taking pictures for my articles and books as well. My very first book was "She's A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll," first published in 1992, and updated in 2002; Yoko Ono wrote the book's preface, and it still gives me a thrill to see her name on the cover. Other areas of expertise include Nirvana, the Beatles, and Elvis, all of whom I've written books about. I've also written for a variety of publications around the world, including Mojo, Rolling Stone, Goldmine (where I had regular Beatles and Elvis columns), and many others. I was also a senior editor at legendary Seattle music publication "The Rocket."

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always wanted to know more about Jimi Hendrix, only being about 10 years old when he passed. This illustrated book about him was an enchanting way to learn about his life, filled with lots of colorful pictures, posters, old concert tickets, records, and album covers. It was a time machine back to the 60's giving a broad stroke look into Jimi's life from start to sad early finish. It tells how he became interested in playing guitar, his various bands in all of their formations. Along with the many gigs they played, people they jammed with, sessions they worked at recording, and eventual records they put out. Oh my, and all of the women around. He sure played a lot of places, all over the US and Europe, constantly moving around. And women following everywhere. A very hardworking, driven man with a lot of passion for his music. Enjoyable for any Hendrix fan wanting to learn about his life and career, there's also a discography. I was given an ARC by NetGalley and the publisher for review.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a very informative book about Jimi Hendrix life. From his early child hood, through his time in the service and then into the music business. You totally get the behind the scenes of just how it is a business. His early beginnings playing back up and being fired, from one band to another. I did not know that his first producer was one of the former member of the group “Animals”. I did know about the Isley Brothers, but not all of the other bands which he did get credit for of course until after he died, and then some of those groups would put together bad music just to have his name. When I first heard him I was ten, and I had to sneak the record from my mother. I listened to it with my head phones knowing my parents would not like the music or album cover. I did not even let my younger sisters know I had his music for fear they would tell my parents. I still have all of those albums plus more, and I remember hearing as a kid his rendition of the star spangle banner and still being blown away by it today. Buying the 45, yes 45 from soda bottles even my friends didn’t get his music. This book puts it all together. You have drummer Buddy Miles who is a great rock and funk drummer who played drums and cox. You find out that his records at first sold more in the U.K. than over here and even his shows had more people over there as well. The author takes you through his drug problem, and women that leads up to his death. Then the last part goes into all of the legal happenings after he past and went on for many years. I found this to be a very good book and worth the read. I got this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Kevin Bergin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hendrix

Many great shots of Hendrix. Great for me as I saw him live many times. Notably at Sussex University in the 60’s not long after Chas Chandler had brought him across from New York and once at Bath Festival and Isle of Wight Festival in the early 70’s.

Even so I learnt things I didn’t know about Jimi like backing all those soul and Tamla Motown bands. Also that not only was he in the army but he played guitar in an army band, now that really blows my mind.

I love how accurate the meeting of Jimmi and Chas was, Chas says, “I thought immediately he was the best guitarist I’d ever seen,” he later recalled. “You just sat there and thought to yourself, ‘This is ridiculous—why hasn’t anybody signed this guy up?’”

I met Chas later when he was working with my brother and he had a lot of stories to tell, but often when speaking of Jimi it was with sadness or a sense of regret.

If you’re a Hendrix fan or love the history of Rock then the visual and written history portrayed here is second to none.

Kevin Bergin

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hendrix" is a gorgeous colorful book filled with top-notch photos, concert tickets, concert posters, album covers, and more. At the end can be found an incredibly extensive discography, lists of books and articles written about Hendrix and more. Even the pages without photos contain beautiful artwork surrounding the text. The photos and artwork alone are worth the price of admission.

The story of Hendrix's life is presented in meticulous fashion. This book, if anything, is clearly the product of extensive and painstaking research. A real effort was made to provide a plethora of detailed information, including descriptions seemingly every gig Hendrix ever played. At its best, the text shines when it provides anecdotes about his childhood and his concert tours such as the beef with Townsend at the Monterey Pop. It could have been even better with more anecdotes which would have brought things more to life. I had also hoped for more insight into Hendrix musical genius and into his lyrics.

Thanks to Voyageur Press for an advance copy.

[John Plowright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given his early death, a mystique has grown up around Jimi Hendrix that he was a tortured, tragic soul. ‘Hendrix The Illustrated Story’ puts the lie to that image by providing abundant photographic evidence of Jimi laughing and smiling, although there are also plenty of facial contortions as he plays guitar.

This book is apparently the first full-blown illustrated book telling the story of Jimi’s life and is certainly an appealing volume, featuring many pictures of Jimi and those who played a significant part in his life, as well as many reproductions of associated memorabilia, such as posters, records and record sleeves.

There are, however, some surprising omissions. Jimi’s father Al is pictured twice, as a young and an old man but there’s no photo of Jimi’s mother. Yes, it was Al who really raised him but it would still have been nice to include Lucille. Similarly, although there are several photographs of Jimi playing in various bands or supporting various singers, one is sometimes provided with pictures of these without Jimi himself present. Paul McCartney is also pictorially absent, although the text mentions him championing Hendrix, most notably in recommending him to play at the Monterey International Pop Festival.

In general the text, supplemented by a list of selected live appearances 1966-1970, a select discography and a bibliography, does a very good job of explaining how Jimi came to be a towering figure in 1960s popular culture without having an ego to match, and how he could be self-deprecating in private conversation but supremely confident on stage.

Thus notwithstanding its limitations this is a volume which should delight Hendrix fans.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Hendrix: The Illustrated Story' by Gillain G. Gaar with Dave Hunter, Harvey Kubernik, Chris Salewicz and Jaan Uhelszki (with numerous other sources), is a coffee table book filled with pictures timed with what would have been Jimi's 75th birthday.

Jimi didn't live on this earth long, but he had a profound effect on music that is still felt to this day. Considering how addicted he was to drugs and women, that is a pretty amazing thing. This book tells the story from Jimi's childhood to the early bands and on into his fame. There are contracts and friendships broken. There are lots of destroyed guitars. There is a death that was far too soon.

Among all the facts (and some speculations), are photos of Jimi, and photos of bands Jimi was in (sometimes without Jimi in the photo). There are pictures of concert photos and tickets and album covers. The end of the book spends a lot of time on what happened with Jimi's estate and the fighting that occurred over it. It is part of the story, but I don't know how I feel about it being part of this book.

There are certainly lots of opinions about Jimi Hendrix and there is a lot of vague truth. This book is not bad given it's length, but for serious study of this life, there are probably better books out there (some of which are quoted from throughout this one). The photos in this book are worth the price though.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Voyageur Press, Quarto Publishing Group, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hendrix The Illustrated Story by Gillian G. Gaar Even if you have never listened to Rock and Roll you know who Jimi Hendrix is and have heard at least some of his music. Jimi Hendrix was one of the greats. More so after his death September 18, 1970, then before. His music is still played all over the world to this day, 47 years after his death. Jimi is a self taught guitar player who many musicians after years of training will never accomplish what he did.
 
This amazing book takes you on a tour through Jimi's early life to his death. The pictures and there are a lot of them are amazing. There is a discography towards the end of the book showing all of his albums which are still being released to this day.
 
The story of Jimi's life was very well written. There are some little known facts as well as things everyone knows. I was very happy to have been given a copy of this book from Netgalley. I really enjoyed this book.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book that was jam packed with everything you would need to know about Jimi. I learned so much about his childhood, his career and more. The graphics were also amazing. I was quite fond of the book cover as well with a velvet feel and it’s colors. I would would recommend this to those who like reading about stars in the music industry or Jimi himself. This is a great coffee table book or resource reference.

I received this book free through a Goodreads giveaway.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hendrix: The Illustrated Story from Gillian G. Gaar is an excellent book for what it is, which is an informative book about Hendrix' life heavily supplemented by a lot of wonderful photographs and memorabilia. This is not intended to be the definitive biography so to judge it against that standard makes no sense. This is an oversize coffee table book which happens to also be a very good read.

While this includes some photos you don't find everywhere, which makes it interesting to a student of music history this is primarily aimed at the fan. I think the writing will satisfy both the fan who remembers Hendrix (that would be old folks like me) as well as the younger fan who knows only a few of the myths about his life.

I would recommend this to anyone who is either a fan or a student of Hendrix and the early/early-mid period of the rock era. The pictures will enthrall and the writing will either inform or remind. The nostalgia is strong with this one.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.