Table of Contents

Although Hendrix died at 27 in 1970 following a drugs overdose, he was not a desperate figure in irreversible decline, like his contemporary Jim Morrison. He was at the height of his powers, untouchable and liable to have reached further plateaux, which will have to remain unexplored, as hinted at in a slew of posthumous releases. In dying young, however, he's at least frozen forever as a supreme icon figure who has inspired subsequent generations in different ways. Heavy metal guitarists may have caricatured his fretboard virtuosity but among the post-punk and post-rave generations, he has proven an enormously potent touchstone on which they can spark off new modes of self-expression. In today's world of decidedly mortal rock creatures, his status as an immortal is more assured than ever and this book looks at all the music he recorded, from Are You Experienced? to posthumous releases and even studio out-takes.

About the Author

David Stubbs started working life as a staff writer for the legendary Melody Maker. While there, he was responsible for the popular Talk Talk Talk section of the paper, as well as conducting innumerable interviews with figures as wide-ranging as Kraftwerk, De La Soul, Public Enemy, R.E.M. and The Butthole Surfers. During the Nineties, he diversified into writing on film, TV and sport. He wrote an occasional TV column for The Guardian and is a contributor to the football magazine When Saturday Comes. He also wrote scripts for Alan Davies and Bill Bailey for a Radio 1 series starring the two comedians. In recent years he has written for Uncut, The Times, The Guardian, NME, GQ, Spin and Arena among others, profiling and interviewing figures including Ian Wright, Morgan Freeman, Tony Bennett, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Steve Coogan and Tim Robbins. David currently lives in Blackheath, London, England.