Jimi Hendrix and the Making of "Are You Experienced" by Sean Egan (2002)

A well-researched look at the album that introduced Jimi Hendrix to the world.

Nonfiction Review: Jimi Hendrix and the Making of Are You Experienced is just what it says on the tin. A nutshell biography of the Sixties' guitarist and a sharp description of the piecemeal and intermittent recording of an album that still hangs together like a single song. As with authors, when I find a performer I enjoy I try to get a full picture of their work. Jimi Hendrix is a timeless musician who, even today 53 years after his first LP, still sounds contemporary and fresh. An artist who crossed divides, reached new audiences, and created templates still being followed decades later. From the devil's interval of "Purple Haze" to the balladic beauty of "The Wind Cries Mary" and the spaceship blues of "Red House," Are You Experienced (1967) is a seamless web of brilliant sounds. As Sean Egan notes, the record is striking not just for the unheard-of and revolutionary guitar work, but for the group creation of a new music. He notes that despite primitive and rudimentary recording techniques (this was 1966, after all) a full, rich sound was created. Egan has written a book with just enough rock'n'roll attitude to keep it fresh. He's a bit British-centric but not obnoxiously so (the British LP may've been better than the American release -- curse those record companies!), and seems obsessed with "getting it right," which is an excellent quality in a historian. The Making of Are You Experienced is filled with inside information and a world of stories I didn't know. Jimi Hendrix is one of the greatest rock guitarists, unfortunately a member of the 27 Club, and one of the most tantalizing might-have-been meditations ever. What would Plath, Keats, or Emily Bronte have written? I like to think that Hendrix would've got his act together and played 21st Century blues for the rest of time, that he'd've found that rock, blues, jazz, soul, lyric synthesis he was seeking. Being an amateur rock historian myself (meaning I like to read books about old-time rock musicians), I tip my hat to a job well done by a professional rock historian. The Making of Are You Experienced is necessary for anyone with an interest in or curiosity about Jimi Hendrix.  [4★]