The mystique of rock icon Jimi Hendrix gets a reality check in Charles Cross’s best selling book “Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix.” Richmond Beach Library is hosting a reading by the Shoreline resident at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Thirty five years after his death, there have been volumes written about Hendrix the musician. In his short life, the groundbreaking guitarist and songwriter only produced three studio albums — “Are You Experienced,” “Axis: Bold as Love” and “Electric Ladyland” — but his influence has endured through subsequent generations of musicians and fans.
Cross began his rock journalism career as editor of the now departed Seattle music newspaper, The Rocket. “Room Full of Mirrors” is Cross’s fifth book, following his critically acclaimed bestseller “Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain.” A Hendrix biography was a natural progression for him from other books on Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin.
The story Cross tells is of a man who grew up in abject poverty in south Seattle. “Jimi spent two-thirds of his life in Seattle,” Cross said. “I don’t think you can understand the glory of his success unless you understand how hard he struggled to get there. So little of that childhood had been explored before, and I think it was so essential in understanding him, and why he was so unique.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
