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  • Wild Thing

  • The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix
  • By: Philip Norman
  • Narrated by: Ako Mitchell
  • Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
  • 3.6 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)
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Wild Thing

By: Philip Norman
Narrated by: Ako Mitchell
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Summary

Almost 50 years after his lonely death, Hendrix is the abiding symbol of musical genius cut tragically short. Wild Thing is the first biography to bring together the splendour and sadness of his brief life and to attempt to unravel the circumstances of his death. 

Hendrix revolutionised classic rock, inventing a whole new vocabulary for the guitar. Onstage he pushed the boundaries of '60s permissiveness, fellating the strings of the guitar with his tongue, lying it flat and straddling it, even setting fire to it. Yet in private he was polite, shy and sweet-natured. Norman explores these contradictions in a narrative that takes us from Hendrix's roots in Seattle to his louche and glamorous life in Mayfair, when London was the world's most 'swinging' capital, and then back to the US with the series of historic outdoor rock festivals that rounded out the decade.  

Wild Thing is a celebration of matchless artistry and a gripping chronicle of those now mythical times. But it also investigates the peculiar conditions of his death, part whodunnit as it tells the most cautionary of rock 'n' roll parables. After all these years of rumour and speculation, Jimi's ghost may finally be laid to rest.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Philip Norman (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group

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Too much about hangers on, not enough about music!

I was looking forward to this book as I enjoyed Philip Norman’s books on Lennon and McCartney, but this one falls far short of those.
He skips over pretty much all of the musical aspects of Jimi’s life! There’s no real detail about songwriting, recording or anything about the seminal gigs Jimi performed. Most of this is skipped over in favour of groupie gossip, and an overwhelming amount of time given to Jimi’s sexual conquests.
Far too much is made of premonitions of death, and overall there’s a shadow hanging over the story that never really goes away.
The narration is also pretty poor. The narrator almost whispers every single quote and speaks them all in the same hushed voice and accent, regardless of the sex or nationality of the person being quoted.

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