The Rough Guide to Jimi Hendrix 1

by Richie Unterberger, Rough Guides

The Rough Guide to Jimi Hendrix is a thorough reference book about the life and music of the greatest rock guitarist of all time. It covers all the key events throughout his metamorphosis; from a misfit youngster growing up in poverty to his rise to international stardom, and from his days as a starving backup musician in the early 1960s to his triumphant appearances at the Monterey Pop and Woodstock rock festivals, not to mention his mysterious and sordid death in 1970. Special chapters are devoted to vivid description and critical evaluation of all his important studio and live albums and best thirty songs, as well as all major live and documentary Hendrix videos; his myriad musical influences from blues, soul, rock, and jazz; Hendrix-related sites and shrines; and his spectacular arsenal of guitar techniques and effects. Also including special features on overlooked aspects of his art ranging from his love of Bob Dylan''s music to his relationship with the Black Power movement, The Rough Guide to Jimi Hendrix documents all dimensions of this one-of-a-kind musical genius.

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

Richie Unterberger's book "The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film" details the incredible wealth of music the Beatles recorded that they did not release, as well as musical footage of the group that hasn't been made commercially available. His other books include "Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll," the two-volume 1960s folk-rock history "Turn! Turn! Turn!"/"Eight Miles High," and "The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience." He's also a frequent contributor to the All Music Guide and MOJO magazine, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area."

Reviews

[Michael Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great. Wish a 2nd edition would update the recording section

[Ed Wagemann · Rating 2 out of 5]

0ne day in late 2009 I was browsing the biography section of my local library and I came across The Rough Guide To Jimi Hendrix written by none other than our friend Richie Unterberger. Ofcourse the first thing I do is check the back cover to finally get an image of this Unterberger guy. And what I see-I hate to say this--someone who resembles a toad. A middle-aged toad with a hair do (or should I say hair don’t) reminiscent of Larry from the Three Stooges, plus he has oversized horse teeth, Mick Jagger lips, a unibrow and the general overall appearance of walking, breathing douche-hat. I immediately realized that I had given this guy way too much credit. I could only wonder now why the hell had I assumed that Unterberger actually knew any of these Rock icons that he had written about? Why had I thought that he was part of their posse, that he hung out with them, swapped groupies with them, pulled bong hits with them, etc. I mean this guy was in the second grade when Hendrix died, yet he wrote about Hendrix with such an air of authority that you would have sworn he had been side-by-side with Hendrix as Hendrix went through life setting his guitar on fire and doing lines of coke off of teenage girls buttocks. Unterberger wrote things like:

“…for all his shyness, Hendrix also had a burning, competitive ambition”.

How the hell does Unterberger know this? Maybe if he would have given concrete examples of this, or maybe if he would have cited sources who were actually close to Hendrix or at least knew Hendrix, THEN that kind of statement might have had some authority to it. Instead Unterberger comes off as trying to pretend to have been a close confidant of Hendrix. And that really irked me. Why was Unterberger talking about Hendrix as though he is at a family gathering talking about a wild uncle who shows up late.

As I read on, I found an assortment of these kinds of assumptions/opinions. For instance later in the book Unterberger is talking about how Hendrix caused tension in the recording studio:

“Hendrix always had a hard time saying no to or getting rid of people who wanted to get to know him better, get high with him or generally feed off his aura, whether due to his innate shyness or an inability to assert himself.”

Then a few sentences later Unterbeger writes:

“…at times the Experience felt cluttered and hemmed in when too many of these musicians showed up, or their additions were superfluous or led to unproductive jams which were a distraction from the songs they were working on”.

Again, how does Unterberger know any of this? He doesn’t include any quotes, he doesn’t give any detailed examples. He wasn’t there but he is making these assumptions—assumptions that are lazily wired into the accepted, mainstream, iconic caricature of Hendrix. Unterberger is judging Hendrix’s methods based on the trappings of old school Rockism standards. And this was really what was starting to bother me about Unterberger.

Unterberger’s allegiance to old school Rocksim is revealed in this passage as well:

“Unfortunately [emphesis added], the jam with which listeners are most likely to be familiar with is one in which a drunken Jim Morrison was inspired to slur along with Jimi, as the results found their way onto releases of dubious legality, the most notorious of which was titled Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead”.

Why the fuck is this unfortunate? Why is it BAD for a couple of guys to get together, get drunk, stoned and make some music? Why shouldn’t Rock fans listen to that? Documents like that are an important part of Rock history. Whether the creepy political correctness cops think such endevours should be censored from Rock history or not—it is jams like that which are a part of the reality of Rock, much more so than the public relations image that the record companies, corporate magazines and mainstream media have concocted and construed for marketing purposes. And that Unterberger bought into this entire bullshit and then regurgitated it back was making it very difficult for me to continue to read his words.

[Phil Overeem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast but very informative read. Unterberger, while not a scintillating stylist, is exceedingly balanced, possessed of a wry sense of humor, and so well-versed in the history of rock that he's a perfect fit for the "Rough Guide" crew. You'd think not much more could be done in the way of revealing new vistas for Hendrix enthusiasts, but Unterberger's dogged weeding through of what's out there, and exemplary organization, shines a light on (especially) useful compilation tracks and DVDs. Complaint: no mention of Hendrix the sideman AFTER he started his solo career, especially his stellar appearances on tracks by Lightning Rod ("Doriella du Fontaine") and Love, or of VERY interesting unfinished guitar feast like "Peace in Mississippi," "Captain Coconut," or "Pali Gap." Still, recommended