The Jimi Hendrix legend has lived on longer than the man, who died in 1970 at the age of twenty-seven. More than thirty years later, what the world knows about him has become deeply distorted. Now Sharon Lawrence, a trusted friend of Jimi's in the final years of his astonishing life, has written a serious exploration of his life, death, and enduring legacy, based partly on the author's never-before-heard recorded interviews with the late musician.

Jimi Hendrix: The Man, The Magic, The Truth contains new and rare material about Hendrix, with major insights from sources who have previously kept their silence -- from childhood neighbors to rock stars and musicians, to music-industry insiders. This book corrects years of false information, reveals key truths, and supplies facts previously known to only a precious few. It also chronicles the years of mind-boggling legal battles over his estate and legacy.

This is the definitive account of Jimi Hendrix, the young man from a pathetic poverty-stricken childhood who invented himself into something rare and special, the man who radiated genius and a bold yet charming personality when he picked up a guitar. It revisits the glory of Hendrix's talent, giving new insight into his sensitive persona, imagination, musical standards, and far-reaching impact.

Iluminating, honest, and bracing, Jimi Hendrix will forever change how we view one of rock and roll's greatest icons.

Jimi Hendrix

HarperEntertainment

Chapter One

Johnny/Jimmy

She loved a good time. There were few of them in her short and wretched life.

Lucille Jeter shook off the gloomy blanket of wartime anxieties that troubled all the adults around her, and despite her family's admonitions, she ignored the tedious drip ... drip ... drip of the Seattle evening rain to go out and dance every chance she got.

The sweet-natured and naïve "baby" of the Jeter family, Lucillehadabrotherandthreeoldersisters. Theirparents, PrestonandClarice, were typical of many of the black residents of Seattle in the 1940s, men and women who had migrated west, seeking a better life but frequently disappointed. Born in Virginia, Preston Jeter possessed educationbut few opportunities. He worked,atvarioustimes,as a miner and as a longshoreman. His wife, Clarice, a native of Arkansas, brought in much-needed income toiling as cleaning lady and housekeeper. Welfare checks sometimes entered the picture. Mrs. Jeter's Pentecostal religion was both her rock and her social life; she worried and prayed about Lucille and her always fragile health. Lucille was inclined to overdo.

The sight of the pretty, tiny, pale-skinned black girl kicking up her heels and the sound of her giddy laughter as she was tossed into theaircaptivatedAlHendrix.Itseemedthatshewouldneverget enoughofthebrightlightsandspiritedjitterbugrhythms.Lucille loved her music!

Theexhilaratingnightsonthedancefloordidn'tlastlong. Weeks after the couple's first meeting, Lucille became pregnant and hurriedly married twenty-two-year-old Al, an attractive if not handsome bantamroosterofaman,standingbarelyfivefoottwo.She told her mother that she liked the way Al smiled at her.

Her young husband was an American citizen raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, who had settled in Seattle several years before to try his luck as a lightweight boxer in the city 's Golden Gloves competition. Al 's father, Ross Hendrix, was an Ohio native who grew up to becomeaChicagopolicemanandeventually,makinganexotic switch, took a job as stagehand for a vaudeville troupe. He married one of the dancers in the company, Nora Moore, the daughter of a full-bloodedCherokeemotherandanIrishfather.NoraandRoss Hendrix decided to give up the traveling life and make a new start in Vancouver. In quick succession Nora gave birth to two sons, a daughter,and finally to James Allen Hendrix, generally known as Al.

Since his education had ceased in the seventh grade and he wasunprepared for any skilled work, Al turned to the love of dancing he 'dinherited from his mother to making a few bucks here and there indance contests. His specialties were tap dancing, jitterbugging, andsoloimprovisations.AlthoughAllater wastorefertohimselfasamember of an important show business family, Mama Nora workedlonghoursinthekitchenofaVancouverrestaurantaftersheleftvaudeville; as a teenager Al was a waiter there.

WhenhemarriedLucille,Alhadperhapsonlythreethingsincommon with his sixteen-year-old wife: They both were the youngestchildren intheirrespectivefamilies, they each lovedto dance, andtheyhadachildontheway.WithindaysaftertheirmarriageonMarch 31, 1942, Al kissed Lucille good-bye. Drafted into the army, he was sent more than fifteen hundred miles away to Oklahoma, andthen on to Georgia.

Lucille was barely seventeen when she gave birth to her first son,Johnny, on November 27, 1942. The birth took place at the home ofDorothy Harding, a good friend to Lucille 's sister Dolores. Relativesand friends joked about how strange it was that these two short peoplehad conceived such a graceful, long-limbed baby.

Raising a baby was no joke, and Lucille was unprepared to handlethe transition from dropout schoolgirl to mother. Through an armysnafu, she was not receiving any of Al's military pay. Not long afterJohnny was born, Preston Jeter died of a heart condition. As a result,Clarice was plagued by financial problems. She loved Lucille's baby,butshecouldn'ttakecareofhimandalsoworkfivedaysaweek.ClariceandherdaughterDoloresweredeeplyconcernedaboutJohnny'swelfareashewasshuttledaroundacircleofrelatives,friends, and even completestrangersin homes in and near Seattle.Week to week Johnny never was quite sure who was "in charge" -- aphrase that stayed with him. He slept on pillows, in baskets, and inotherpeople'sbeds;arealbabycribwasaluxuryJohnnyseldomknew.LucillefloatedinandoutofJohnny 'slife,the"Mama"headored -- eveniftheyounggirlcouldn'tsupporthimor managetotake care of him for more than a few days at a time ...

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