Jimi Hendrix: London

by William S. Saunders

Describing how the city of London helped transform a little-known musician named Jimmy James into rock legend Jimi Hendrix, this revealing volume details how Hendrix helped transform London into a dynamo of popular music and social rebellion. The book examines Hendrix's impact on London's leading musicians—including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton—and follows Hendrix as he acquires a savvy manager, a tight band, and a forgiving girlfriend and launches himself into a breakneck career that whisked him from dingy clubs to Woodstock and recording and television studios. Each chapter introduces unforgettable characters and takes readers on a trip through the psychedelic era, concluding with Hendrix's tragic death in a London apartment. It explores the public as well as the private man, capturing the contrast between the wild showman on stage and the unassuming guy behind the scenes.

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Roaring Forties · Rating 5 out of 5]

In September 1966, a young American named Jimmy James arrived in London from New York with $40 and a Fender Stratocaster guitar that had been stolen from Keith Richards. Four years later, having astonished the world with his music, he died in London under the name of Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix: London captures a unique moment in time: a period of wild invention, great artistry, and outlandish—and often self-destructive—lifestyles. London was the epicenter of a revolt in popular culture—music, fashion, and attitudes toward sex, drugs, and personal freedom—that thrilled half the world and shocked the other half.

Jimi Hendrix: London opens with a short scene-setting chapter that sketches the transformation of a strait-laced, blitzed London into a dynamo of popular music and social rebellion—the perfect setting for the transformation of Jimi from a backing musician into a rock legend. The chapters then chronicle Jimi’s arrival in London, where he almost immediately wows the locals (among them the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton), his acquisition of a savvy manager, a tight band, and a forgiving girlfriend; and his launch into a breakneck career that whisks him from dingy clubs to Woodstock, from back-room jam sessions to recording studios and tv studios.