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List Price: $17.95 | | Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Salesrank: 1028907
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| Used Price: $13.83 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
Jimi Hendrix is universally recognized as the greatest rock 'n' roll guitar player of all time. But until now, the story of how he made his amazing music has never been told. Jimi Hendrix: Sessions is the first book to take us inside the studio and reveal, album by album and track by track, how his songs were born and shaped into the classics they would become. Hendrix biographer John McDermott, working with Hendrix's producer Eddie Kramer and bass player Billy Cox, recreates in extraordinary day-by-day detail the making of every one of Hendrix's songs. Based on firsthand accounts by people who were there and on hundreds of hours of unreleased tapes, this book reveals what went into the creation of "Purple Haze", "Foxey Lady", "All Along the Watchtower", and Hendrix's many other masterpieces. It explains how Hendrix manipulated the primitive studio technology of his time to achieve his unprecedented sounds, and it shows the new heights toward which he was reaching at the time of his death. Beginning with Hendrix's legendary journeyman sessions for the Isley Brothers and other soul greats, and continuing through his last work, this is the authoritative treatment of Hendrix as musician that admirers have long awaited. Illustrated with over one hundred photographs, handwritten lyrics, and studio memorabilia, Jimi Hendrix: Sessions is a loving and timeless tribute to the electric guitar's greatest master.
Jimi Hendrix: Sessions: The Complete Studio Recording Sessions, 1963-1970 Reviews:
An Ezy Way Out - Shame 
2009-09-26 - I love any book that concentrates on the sessions rather than the gossip and dirt. This book rather answers the basic need but obviously does not fullfil it. This book is the easy way out: a result of an effortless work for passing some time with nothing better to do. Or - lack of ability.
First this book certainly lacks ingredients that are a MUST in this kind of resources:
an Index!!! come on guy, this is so basic it's an unprofessional attitude not to include it. How can I follow the development of a recording without it.
Bad editing: have a look at the Beatles Sessions book to know what I mean. A minimal requirement is to have the name of the songs dealt with in that session next to the date and session details. The titles are not even bold letters in the text.
Dicography - Such a book needs a REAL comprehensive discography with refference to the sessions mentioned. Again, Mcdermott chose the ezy way out: "Selected Discography". Whenever I see Selected Discography I know it's not a result of a thorough deep research but just the easy way out to add another item to the content and few more pages to the book. Same here - a bad lacking discography that adds nothing. Mcdermott did not even take the effort to refer the discography to the sessions he has just filled a whole book with.
in addition to the above, the text lacks a lot of the pro side expected of a studio sessions book, a real disappointment on my side. Having so many recordings available today, Hendrix Sessions book could be much better and comprehensive.
I hope some talented author will take upon himself the task for a "Jimi Hendrix Complete Session and Reference Book".
Saying all of the above, I still hold to this book as it has nice photos and some interesting stories that justify my low investment in this book.
Serviceable Resource 
2004-04-21 - I'm stretchiiingg here to make it to 4 stars. 3 to 3.5 is probably more accurate. I found the 2 stars of the previous review to be excessively harsh, so I poured on a little bit of extra love for the authors. I simply don't find this book to be all that bad - it's a decent resource. Had it been combined with Steven Roby's Black Gold, it would have become a bonafide winner. Alas, instead I fear that much of the intimate details the previous reviewer yearns for has been lost into the purple haze of time - and perhaps that aspect should have been captured more clearly. I remember reading elsewhere (Guitar Player? Guitar?) an interview with a player on Electric Ladyland, maybe Jack Cassady. Anyway, he mentioned that during an all-night session, the engineer fell asleep twice at the console and of the tape reel ran out while the band played on. Apparently Jimi gave him a real chewing out the second time. It would be nice to have more of that history, but as mobile as Jimi was on tour, he was equally mobile as a recording artist. For the shortness of his career, he certainly recorded at a huge assortment of studios. When you think of that, it makes it all the more reasonable to dredge up the history, with so many people involved, many of them transient and some now passed on.
So the bottom line is that I find this to be a pretty good book. Not necessarly the be-all and end-all tome it might have been, but considering the time period and the circumstances, really, a decent quality, well written book.
Nothing to get excited about...
2002-01-15 - Most fans of Hendrix will be aware of John McDermott, and his involvement in recent years with 'Experience Hendrix', the company created to direct Hendrix's releases following the legal battle with Alan Douglas. Whilst McDermott has contributed liner notes to the re-released Hendrix albums, his major work on Hendrix (Hendrix: 'Setting the Record Straight') is an excellent examination of the man's life - although heavy on legal details and the contractual binds Hendrix suffered throughout his career. Along with 'Crosstown Traffic' by Charles Murray, it's the best book available on the man ('Electric Gypsy' has its moments, but stands as the 'No-One Here Gets Out Alive' take on Hendrix).
'The Complete Studio Recording Sessions' should be a monumental work - and the supreme testimonial - to Hendrix, but it is not. Unlike the similar, yet incomparably superior Mark Lewison book on 'The Beatles' recording sessions, which is packed with information, photographs and exceptional anecdotes, McDermott's book has little information other than what song Hendrix recorded - when, where and with whom. There is very little information on studio techniques, recording equipment, gear setups, Hendrix techniques or style, songwriting, etc. The book labours to account for every Hendrix recording session (a difficult task, given Hendrix's love of jamming and recording with other artists), but does not provide any in-depth information on the sessions themselves (and most of what is supplied was published in 'Setting the Record Straight' - disgraceful). For these reasons the book is a totally disappointing purchase. With the wealth of information (and speculation) on Hendrix out there, McDermott owed it to the man (and to the fans) to provide the definitive examination of Hendrix in the studio. He failed pretty spectacularly.
If you want to hear about Hendrix in the studio, find the 'Classic Albums' episode on 'Electric Ladyland'. Whilst far too short and simple, it is a much more enjoyable look at one of the greatest, and still misunderstood, American artists of the 20th century than this book.
Worth having, but slightly disappointing
1998-07-20 - I was excited about getting this book, because I'd read Lewisohn's similar book on the Beatles. I love chronological order, and I tried to put a date to each song on Hendrix's first three albums. But what was disappointing was that McDermott seemed to forget to mention several song and their recording dates. But the text is otherwise great reading, and the photos are wonderful. I just wish it truly was "Complete" as the Lewisohn book seems to be.
nice book! 
1997-12-14 - It's a great book for those who like jimi hendrix.It explains how, where and when jimi has ever recorded his songs. Although, it's an overdetailed book that will annoy who's not a loyal fan...
