The biography sheds light on the beginnings of Jimi Hendrix’s career

The guitarist even watched an Elvis show from a hilltop so as not to pay for a ticket; the biographer has even located the grave of the guitarist’s mother

charles cross he is a rare biographer, one of those who make journalistic discoveries during investigations, analyze clues and are not satisfied with the dogmas of orality. The most recent biography of him, Jimi Hendrix – A room full of mirrors, proves all this. After writing it works like Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain🇧🇷 Led Zeppelin: heaven and hell🇧🇷 Secondary roads: Springsteenthe man and his music🇧🇷 e Here we go: the lasting impact of Kurt Cobainthe former editor of the magazine The rocket who lives near Seattle dates the story of Hendrix in the year in which the guitarist would have turned eighty.

A long restless search led him to discover where the grave of Hendrix’s mother Lucille was. “It was the most impressive moment in the four years it took me to write,” he says, right at the start. Dissatisfied with the management of the Greenwood Memorial Park cemetery, who did not know where Lucile’s grave was, Cross was so insistent that he was allowed to dig the earth from a rough location with a shovel, along with a gravedigger. “All biographers who cast dead characters are, in a sense, undertakers, with a hint of Dr. Frankenstein,” he says.

Other points, such as passages about Hendrix’s much-discussed departure from military service, presentation at the iconic Woodstock, 1969, and their emotional relationships, have earned close scrutiny.

There’s a lot of time devoted to Hendrix’s childhood and adolescence in Seattle, but that doesn’t make his storytelling boring. At age 14, two events defined the guitarist’s life. Hendrix attends an Elvis Presley concert and sees the pastor Little Richards preach. With no money to see Elvis, the boy watches the show from a hilltop. Tickets cost $1.50. It was 1957, a year before the story with Richards took place.

WITH LITTLE RICHARD. At a time when the pianist had given up rock and roll to devote himself to evangelism, Hendrix saw him get out of a limousine to preach at a local church. Hendrix was wearing his best clothes, but she could feel the dirty look on his old shoes. He would later say he was “kicked out” of the church, which Cross’s biography says never happened. After the show, he waited until the end to touch Little Richards as if he were touching a saint.

Since we’ve come this far, it’s worth a little more: years later Hendrix will not only play in Richards’ backing band, but will also have serious problems with the old idol. Realizing that the light from him could be dimmed by the boy from Seattle, Richards forbade him to play the instrument with his teeth, to place it on the back of his head and, preferably, not to have sex with the guitar. Hendrix was fined for this but continued in the band, until the day the situation became untenable. Robert Penniman, brother of Richards, was the tour manager. Contrary to Hendrix’s version, which he claimed asked for the bills, he claims he fired the guitarist for lack of responsibility. “He was always late for the bus and he was always flirting with girls.”

ELECTRIC ‘LADYES’. For fans, there are also tasty backstage stories from the making of Electric Ladylandthe double album, his last, came out in 1968 with things like Crosstown traffic🇧🇷 Chile Voodooa demolition version of All along the Watchtowerby Bob Dylan, e Little Miss Strange🇧🇷 Hendrix wanted the cover to be illustrated by photographs taken by the professional Linda Eastman, who would soon marry Paul McCartney, and wrote a long text for the booklet. But none of this was exploited by the record company.

There are also more details on the forbidden cover of this record, with a photo showing 21 naked women. One version says that such an image would be due to the term “electric ladys”, used by Hendrix to define the groupies, the fans who followed the band. The cover, which neither Hendrix nor the women photographed liked, ended up being vetoed.

Regarding Hendrix’s death, some mystery remains. With all his investigative power, Cross doesn’t reveal other possible causes, because perhaps there isn’t much else to reveal, but he clears up misunderstandings. Some fake news is historically known due to the testimonies of Monika Dannemann, Hendrix’s ex-girlfriend. According to Cross, she has told several strange versions of what happened on September 18, 1970, when she saw Hendrix dead. In fact, it was an overdose and choking on vomit. The life of the greatest guitarist in history stupidly ended. L

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Source: Terra

Earl

Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.