Jimi Hendrix: A Brother's Story - Tapa dura

Memoirs about rock stars written by family members, friends, ex-wives and quickie backstage assignations are a wildly divergent lot that alternately take the narrative tracks of score-settling, axe-grinding, deification or exploitation. Fortunately, this effort by Jimi Hendrix's younger brother is a mostly sweet remembrance of the rock legend, heavy on tales of their youthful adventures (and misadventures) as Leon and the brother everyone called "Buster" (after Flash Gordon serial actor Buster Crabbe and Jimi's love of science fiction) grew up under less than ideal circumstances .While other Hendrix books have concentrated on his roles as musical genius, troubled soul and visionary dead far too soon, this one celebrates the sweet, shy, protective older brother -- who just happened to wear crazy clothes and set his guitar on fire. "Houston Press" Although several books have been written about the artist, this one has a different perspective since it is Jimi's life as seen through the eyes of his younger brother, Leon. This highly readable book reveals the origin and meaning of many of the classic Hendrix tunes, which Jimi often played for his brother over the phone while he composed and was on the road. The complicated family dynamic, the culture of sex and drugs that came with Jimi's fame is also chronicled. This biography is being released just months before what would have been Jimi's 70th birthday. "Tucson Citizen" While the rest of the world knew the great guitarist as Jimi, Leon Hendrix knew him as Buster, ' his big brother and protector. While Leon clearly idolized his older brother, he tells a balanced and honest story of his parents' broken marriage and substance abuse, and the peripatetic life he and Jimi led with their father. With the help of Mitchell (co-author of Street Player), Leon, in an informal yet intimate tone, chronicles his own life as much as his brother's, presenting the divergent paths they took: Jimi channeling his energies into making music while Leon lived a hustler's life filled with drugs and crime. Mixed in with the Hendrix family melodrama are some great vignettes (Jimi trying to make music with a one-string ukulele or wires and rubber bands)--that truly give a glimpse of the real Jimi behind the on-stage antics and flamboyant clothing. Leon also has some unique insights into Jimi's music, especially when he opines on the inspiration for some of his brother's powerful lyrics (he felt "Machine Gun" betrayed Jimi's "fear and paranoia"). "Publishers Weekly" His little brother Leon gives us Buster, ' the Jimi Hendrix only his family knew. Keeping it real all the way, Leon Hendrix gives us an entirely new, life-size portrait of Jimi. "Joel Selvin, author of the classic Summer of Love and co-author of Sammy Hagar's New York Times #1 bestseller Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock""

In this intimate depiction, Leon vividly recounts Jimi's tough childhood in Seattle, and his amazing rise to fame. From Jimi's experimentation with the sound and vibration of plucking wires attached to the posts of their brass bed to the moment he picked up his first stringed instrument, this is a fresh and intimate look at an enduring icon from the brother who was there from the beginning. Leon sheds light on the origin and meaning of classic Hendrix tunes, which Jimi would play for his brother over the phone as he wrote them on the road. He also chronicles the complicated Hendrix family dynamic, the culture of sex and drugs that came with Jimi's stardom, and his tragic death. In time for what would have been Jimi's 70th birthday in 2012, this captivating account sheds new light on rock and roll's genuine legend.