My Son Jimi Book

"He was an ordinary, run-of-the-mill kid coming along," James "Al" Hendrix remembers about his son, "but he had an imagination." Many books have been written about Jimi Hendrix's guitar techniques, amps and whammy bars, but none explores his humanity in the depth revealed here by his loving father. In this extraordinary biography, Al Hendrix shares stories, letters, never-before-seen snapshots, and previously unpublished artwork by his remarkable son. Essential for every Hendrix fan! 192 pages. bios: James "Al" Hendrix worked as a professional landscape gardener for nearly three decades and is now the chairman of the board of Experience Hendrix. Jas Obrecht was an editor at Guitar Player magazine for 20 years and is the primary author of Blues Guitar: The Men Who Made the Music. He is the 1997 winner of the W.C. Handy "Keeping the Blues Alive" Award in journalism. "So many books have come out over the past 25 years...Writers who've never talked with Jimi or me don't know anything about his childhood, and his childhood had a whole lot of bearing on who he became...I had to set the record straight." - Al Hendrix

Library Journal

James Allen "Al" Hendrix has outlived his son Jimi by 29 years, which must haunt him on every birthday. Al turns 80 on Father's Day, but he is not looking for anyone's sympathy or taking credit for Jimi's genius, as the biography's sappy promos suggest. Thankfully, no slick editors have touched Al's winding oral history of Jimi's family, Al's failed marriage to Lucille Jeter (Jimi's alcoholic, live-fast-die-young mother), Jimi's childhood, his premature death, and Al's legal battle for Jimi's estate in the 1990s. Al has also opened the Hendrix family photo album and Jimi's boyhood sketchbooks, which are full of cowboys and Indians, Elvis, car races, and rock'n'roll concerts. Although Jimi had the healthy imagination of a normal, happy kid, he did not come from such a secure background: Al worked like a dog while Lucille slept around, and Jimi was raised by his aunts, uncles, and grandmothers. Al makes no excuses--he didn't spend enough time with Jimi, but he did buy him his first three guitars. An earnest tribute; recommended for all popular music collections.--Heather McCormack, "Library Journal" Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.