JIMI HENDRIX Visual Memoir To Be Published This Fall

Ozzy Osbourne and Eric Clapton are among the musical contemporaries offering personal insights on Jimi Hendrix and his music in "Classic Hendrix", described as the "most comprehensive visual memoir of Hendrix ever published."

34 of the most celebrated names in rock photography have supplied over 250 photos for the book. These include Elliott Landy, Jean-Pierre Leloir, Gered Mankowitz, Jim Marshall and Baron Wolman.

Ross Halfin, who was responsible for the book's photo selection, travelled to Japan, the USA and Europe to unearth an extraordinarily diverse and fascinating array of photographs, ranging from the iconic to the never-before-seen.

The text, by Guitar World magazine editor and life-long Hendrix devotee Brad Tolinski, is a well-researched, captivating and often humorous account of the incidents surrounding the photos and places them within Jimi Hendrix's life and history. The book follows a strictly chronological order, each entry dated clearly, with every photo prompting a fascinating anecdote and text placing them within the time frame of Hendrix's remarkable story. The interplay between the main text and images is supplemented with quotes from Jimi himself and his fellow musicians and friends. Incisive reminiscences from many of the contributing photographers supplement the illuminating blend of words and imagery.

Comented Tolinski: "When Genesis Publications asked me to write the text for its planned volume of photos chronicling Jimi's career as a star, I hesitated. After all, what could I possibly say about Hendrix that hadn't already been said, often in great detail? Despite my misgivings, I asked Genesis to send me the photos that would appear in the book. The pictures arrived and I was hooked.

"Turn to any page in 'Classic Hendrix', be absorbed by the text, examine the photograph. The joy, the pain, the confusion and the triumph variously registered by Hendrix will, I believe, be even more affecting as you discover the specific circumstances behind them. You will come away saddened, gladdened, and even stunned. This book is the Jimi Hendrix experience filled — like the best of his work — with beauty, great grandeur and transcendent human spirit."

"Classic Hendrix" begins in 1966 with Jimi and his newly-acquired band, THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, playing their first gig at the Paris Olympia and concludes with Jimi's final concert appearance on the Isle of Fehmarn, just before his untimely death in September 1970.

The book includes photographs and text on Jimi's early appearances in London clubs; playing on French and British TV shows; at his Brook Street flat; at Monterey Pop; at the Miami Pop Festival; on tour with THE MONKEES; recording at Olympic Studios in London and Electric Lady Studios in New York; at Winterland; with GYPSY SUN AND RAINBOWS at Woodstock; with the BAND OF GYPSYS at the Fillmore East and countless other live performances, interviews and photo shoots in a variety of countries and locations.

Published in the autumn of 2004 in a limited edition of 1,750 copies, all copies of "Classic Hendrix" are numbered and signed by Brad Tolinski and Ross Halfin. The first 350 Deluxe copies are also signed by AEROSMITH's Joe Perry and contain a numbered print of Hendrix signed by the photographer Baron Wolman. Every copy in the limited edition of 1,750 copies has been printed to the highest quality and bound in aluminum and leather.

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