The Bottom Line
A knowledgeable and insightful writer, Seattle music journalist Charles R. Cross spent 14 years as editor of The Rocket, a Northwest music and entertainment magazine. The same attention to detail and commitment to research that made his Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain a New York Times bestseller is brought to bear here in documenting the life and career of blues-rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. The result is a factual but caring account of Hendrix's life that is both an entertaining and informative read for any music lover.
Pros
- Biography assembled from over 300 interviews with friends, family & band members.
- Author Cross provides real insight into Hendrix's childhood and musical development.
- Pre-stardom B&W photos illuminate Hendrix's rise from rags to riches.
Cons
- Lack of album discography slights the artist's musical legacy.
- No color photos to provide readers a taste of Hendrix's peacock-like flamboyance.
Description
- Hardcover, 384 pages, B&W photos
- Twenty-seven rare photos feature Hendrix, family members, girlfriends, and band members
- Author's focus on Hendrix's childhood highlights the artist's struggle to rise from poverty
- Biography highlights Hendrix's drive and ambition, creativity and sensitivity
Guide Review - Charles R. Cross - Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix (2005)
Blues-rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix's tragic death in 1970 came at the commercial and creative apex of the artist's career. Three studio and a dynamic live album cemented Hendrix's reputation as a revolutionary and influential instrumentalist and songwriter. In the years since the artist's accidental death, a veritable Hendrix cottage industry has satiated fan demand with a slew of shabby "tell all" books, half-wit bios, and ill-conceived compilation albums.
Seattle music journalist Charles R. Cross takes on the life and career of his city's favorite son with Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix. Published in 2005 on the 35th anniversary of the artist's death, Cross has delivered what is the first and last word you should ever read about Jimi Hendrix. Sure, the John McDermott and Eddie Kramer collaboration Hendrix: Setting The Record Straight is a fine book, but Cross has taken on the dirty work of compiling a total biography.
Cross performed over 300 personal interviews during four years to create Room Full of Mirrors, and he had total access to Hendrix's family, friends, girlfriends, and band members. As a result, he is able to offer as full a story on Jimi as you're going to get, from the artist's tumultuous childhood and his short stay in the Army to his years playing on the Southern R&B chitlin' circuit, discovery by producer Chas Chandler of the Animals, and subsequent stardom.
The Hendrix family also provided Cross access to personal letters unavailable to other so-called biographers. As such, Cross provides a deep look into the psyche of this driven and talented artist. Cross imparts a great deal of insight into Hendrix's life, putting as much detail and color into Roomful of Mirrors as writer Peter Guralnick did with his Elvis biographies...and that's high praise, indeed. (Hyperion Books, released August 2005)
