Jimi Hendrix - The Ultimate Lyric Book
Go behind the music in Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Lyric Book, compiled by the rocker's sister, Janie L. Hendrix. This massive page-turner features vivid, rare images and background notes of the singer's songbook. Janie found her brother's old notebooks and hotel stationary on which he penned a number of songs, and she presents them so fans can see exactly how Hendrix's thoughtful lyrics started out as simple musings but became classic rock songs. Fascinated with her brother's handwriting, she thought fans would want to see his notes as well. For Hendrix fans, this is a rare treat. --Ebony MagazineHe could make a guitar sing, yet Hendrix didn't have a great deal of confidence in his own vocal ability. That s not to say he had scant regard for the words; a Dylan fanatic, Hendrix had his own visions to capture in lysergically enhanced lyrical storms. Collected in this book, the best examples read like James Joyce compared to some of the what-we-did-on-our-holidays psychedelic clichés of Hendrix s lesser contemporaries. Alphabetically ordered, however, it presents an odd view of his artistic progression. Hold Burning Of The Midnight Lamp up next to Can You See Me?: the latter, from his Are You Experienced debut, reads on the page like it was written to provide scaffolding for some guitar pyrotechnics. Midnight Lamp, released one year and two albums later, already captures Hendrix s post-psychedelic exhaustion and signposts the burnout to come. They re almost the work of two different writers. Heavily illustrated with photos, The Ultimate Lyric Book also reproduces many of Hendrix's  handwritten lyrics, his distinctive pen-work being something of an artform in itself. With transcriptions of unrecorded songs performed live and sources ranging from hotel paper (no surprises) and Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues, you'll burn the midnight lamp just to absorb it in one sitting. --Record CollectorAn entire generation of guitarists grew up imitating Jimi Hendrix's blazing guitar solos. Yet, as Hendrix's sister, Janie, illustrates so forcefully in her lovingly crafted collection, Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Lyric Book, Hendrix excelled as much at lyrics as he did at licks. Published in time for what would have been Hendrix's 70th birthday, this collection of handwritten lyrics, some scribbled on hotel stationery, offers powerful insights into Hendrix's passionate imagination and lyrical genius. Photos accompany each song, bringing to life Hendrix's enduring legacy and his ability, in his sister's words, to build a 'bridge from past to present to future.' --BookPage