The Jimi Hendrix

by Jerry Hopkins

Chronicles the life and career of the rock guitarist, and examines the ongoing battle over his estate that has been waged since his death.

Genres: Music, Biography

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Jerry Hopkins was an American journalist and author best known for writing the first biographies of Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison of The Doors, as well as serving for 20 years as a correspondent and contributing editor of Rolling Stone magazine.

Reviews

[Greg Foss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly good! Well-researched, concise and well written. Stripped Hendrix bare and removed all the flowery bullshit from his legend, leaving a very troubled, completely self-obsessed and hardly likeable genius. You can never take away my appreciation for his music - he was an absolute virtuoso - but according to this read, the man himself is barely worth a second glance. This might have been the only biography on a musician I've read that wasn't written by a gushing fan - the result being a very trim and sleek history that covers a lot of ground without once being tripped up by excessive admiration and praise. In the end, I'm not even sure how Jerry Hopkins felt about Hendrix. What I do know is that Hopkins was a writer for Rolling Stone that crossed paths with the subject more than once, and possesses a keen understanding of the subject and the industry.

There were times that I felt like I had been gut-punched - that I had been so stripped of my naivety and illusion that it took a little time to process. But this book only inspired me to seek out more books on the subject so I could form my own educated opinion. Don't get me wrong - this book isn't some savage, tabloid tell-all, but it isn't seeking to air-brush Jimi gently into history, either. It feels like an objective, well-researched look at a man we all probably feel far more knowledgeful about than we actually are. For me it was a great place to start to learn about an iconic figure whose music I have loved for over 3 decades. Hopefully the next book I read on Hendrix will pay a lot more attention examining his discography in some detail, because this book did little to add to my appreciation of his music.

[Richard Block · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every Little Thing He Did Wasn't Magic

This thorough but somewhat dull account of the life and death of Hendrix spares no detail or praise. No doubt Jimi was an extraordinary guitarist and innovator, he burned out after 18 months. He put out a few good albums (and one great one - the first) and was innovative. He also stole like a bandit. He put out a lot of awful music too. He was not OK in the head, addled by drugs and booze. He was a terrible humping machine, women literally threw themselves at him. Jerry is not an awful writer but he is not great. He praises too much and analyses too little. If you know nothing about Hendrix this might be a decent interesting intro.

[Kevin]

Solid but not critical and not engaging. This is a biography written for a fan and certainly sketches the life of Jimi Hendrix. If you are looking for depth into Hendrix's style, inspirations, or thinking behind his process, this book isn't it.
There were a few sensationalized parts that felt a bit overdone.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jimi Hendrix was an incredible performer. He helped transform rock and roll. This work covers his poor childhood, army days and finally his superstardom-- which was filled with excessive sex, drugs and alcohol.

[RA · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does a good job wading through all the legal issues surrounding the career, death & posthumous activity concerning Jimi Hendrix. This is a decent biography of Hendrix with enough details to make it worth reading.

[Jimmy Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Garbage

[Hilary Cockshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Lisa Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book filled in a lot of the details I didn't know about Hendrix.

[William Dury · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many drug and sex stories, very, very little in the way of insight into Jimi as an artist. Not a bad book, but disappointing.

[Brett Owens]

I read the book The Jimi Hendrix Experience by Jerry Hopkins. The author’s purpose in writing this book was to entertain the reader and also share the life story of Jimi Hendrix. The author states his purpose directly in the book, because the book is very entertaining. It tells a great story about one of the best guitar players of all time. Some of the experiences this book shares with the reader are ones that I found to entertain me.
The theme of this book to me would be that even though Hendrix didn’t have any money as a child he still found a way to become one of the best guitar players to ever live. He couldn’t afford a guitar when he was a little kid so he made a guitar out of some household items that I wouldn’t have even thought about using. His dad finally got him a ukulele, but it only had one string. After a while of playing a one stringed instrument his dad bought him a five dollar guitar and he could barely afford that. That was pretty much all he had growing up and still made something out of that.
This story was written in a narration. The book was in chronological order from when he was born and went on telling his life story, and how he became famous and changed the way a guitar was played.
My opinion of this book, was that I really enjoyed reading this and learning more about Jimi Hendrix. It kept me wanting to read and learn more and more about Hendrix’s story. The only part that I disliked, was towards the beginning of the story was pretty slow but then it picked up and got interesting. I wouldn’t really change anything in this book, I liked the way that it was put together. I have also read a book on Jim Morrison that is similar to the book I just read.

[Dennis Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, it’s just there’s much better out there. The writing is decent but the depth is too shallow. Frankly, the most interesting part is the appendix which details the protracted legal battles over Hendrix’s recordings and estate.

[Kimmo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much new, style irritating at places

[Greg Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a Jimi Hendrix biography, and this one has some good stories. I ate it up.