From the "I was too young to go to Woodstock" Files and Yahoo! News

Sudiegirl sez: I have to say, Jimi Hendrix was one of the finest guitarists around, and people the world over still admire his ability. I will be reading this book the next time I go to Barnes & Noble, MOST definitely. Of course, that's not going to stop me from making snarky comments...heck no!

Book: Hendrix Used Gay Ruse to Avoid 'Nam
By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 14 minutes ago

SEATTLE - Jimi Hendrix might have stayed in the Army. He might have been sent to Vietnam. Instead, he pretended he was gay. And with that, he was discharged from the 101st Airborne in 1962, launching a musical career that would redefine the guitar, leave other rock heroes of the day speechless and culminate with his headlining performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock in 1969. (I wonder if The National Anthem Project (www.thenationalanthemproject.org) has touched upon Jimi's rendition yet? Somehow I think that goes against the grain of the powers that be. We'll see, won't we? Personally, I think it's great and gives a whole new perspective on it because it sounds like what Francis Scott Key saw at Ft. McHenry.)

Hendrix's subterfuge, contained in his military medical records, is revealed for the first time in Charles R. Cross' new biography, "Room Full of Mirrors." Publicly, Hendrix always claimed he was discharged after breaking his ankle on a parachute jump, but his medical records do not mention such an injury. (However, I would take that with a grain of salt because the goverment doesn't always do a good job of keeping records.)

In regular visits to the base psychiatrist at Fort Campbell, Ky., in spring 1962, Hendrix complained that he was in love with one of his squad mates and that he had become addicted to masturbating, Cross writes. Finally, Capt. John Halbert recommended him for discharge, citing his "homosexual tendencies." (Can you say "crazy like a fox"? I know you can...)

Hendrix's legendary appetite for women negates the notion that he might have been gay, Cross writes. Nor, Cross says, was his stunt politically motivated: Contrary to his later image, Hendrix was an avowed anti-communist who exhibited little unease about the escalating U.S. role in Vietnam. (Ya know, maybe he just wanted OUT? The military life isn't for everyone. In one of the Marvin Gaye bios floating around, he got booted for the same reasons...just basically, insubordination and acting contrary in general. Military folks don't like that kind of behavior.)

He just wanted to escape the Army to play music - he had enlisted to avoid jail time after being repeatedly arrested in stolen cars in Seattle, his hometown. (Do people still get away with that in this day and age?)

"Room Full of Mirrors," titled after an unreleased Hendrix tune, is being published this summer to coincide with the 35th anniversary of his Sept. 18, 1970, death from a sleeping-pill overdose. It is Cross' second biography of a popular musician who died at age 27; "Heavier Than Heaven," a 2001 bio of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, was a New York Times best seller. (Whoo...that puts things in perspective. He would be 62 years old. WOW.)

The new bio is culled from nearly four years of research, including access to Hendrix's letters and diaries, along with military records provided by a collector the author won't name. Cross focuses on Hendrix's complex personal life and psyche more than his music. (That should be interesting, because with musicians like him, you can't really separate the two, can you? I mean, when your job requires you to show your emotions on stage with no breaks, it's hard to separate it when you come off. That's why I think a lot of musicians back then self-medicated. Something had to take those memories away so they could just breathe again.)

"It's not how much I know about Jimi's B-sides; it's how much I know about the emotional arc of his life," Cross said in an interview. (Very true!)

The portrait that emerges is similar, in many ways, to that of Cobain. Both men grew up in poverty in Washington state, dreamed from an early age of becoming rock stars, found themselves with more fame than they knew how to handle and eventually retreated into a haze of drug use. (However, only Kurt was "fortunate" enough to wind up with a catch like Courtney Love. Can you say "eew"?)

Cross, who lives just north of Seattle, describes Hendrix's troubled childhood. Jimi's father, Al Hendrix, and mother, Lucille, both had drinking problems. Al, a landscaper, rarely found decent-paying jobs and frequently split with Lucille. Jimi and his siblings were often left by themselves, or in the care of family friends. Jimi eventually flunked out of high school. (Yep...not surprised. But it's still sad that he couldn't make it through, even though he would have had way more interesting stories to tell at the class reunion.)

Before Hendrix even owned a proper guitar, he played air guitar using a broom, then a beat-up hunk of wood with a single string. When he was 16, his father bought him a right-handed electric guitar that Hendrix had to restring to play lefty. (It's amazing how parents contribute to a budding musician's interests, in both good and bad ways. I can't get over it.)

"Room Full of Mirrors" is filled with nuggets: After a show in Seattle, he had a star-struck teenager drive him around his old haunts; he allegedly had an affair with French actress Brigitte Bardot, precipitated by a chance meeting at the Paris airport; promoters at Woodstock refused to let him play an acoustic guitar. (Cross doesn't cite a source for the Bardot liaison, and says the actress didn't respond to his attempts to contact her.) (Well, if anyone that's reading this wants a good "tell-all" book, read "I'm With the Band" by Pamela Des Barres. She had a relationship with one of the members of Jimi's band, as well as several others.)

After his discharge, Hendrix formed a band with former Army pal Buddy Cox and began touring Southern clubs on the "Chitlin' Circuit." During those years, from 1963-65, Hendrix played to black audiences with the King Kasuals and as a backup to Solomon Burke, Otis Redding, Curtis Mayfield and Little Richard. (Whoa...Little Richard? I'm sorry, but every time I think of Little Richard, I think of Eddie Murphy doing the "Little Richard Simmons" show on "SNL". I'm sure Little Richard really doesn't want to be remembered in that way.)

Unable to make a living in the States - primarily because of his color - Hendrix went to England in 1966 and took London by storm with his now-polished blend of soul, blues and rock. Within eight days of his arrival, he floored guitar gods like Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Hendrix remained in London for nearly a year, forming the Jimi Hendrix Experience and releasing his first album. (It takes a lot to floor Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, just so you know...)

On his way to the Monterey Pop Festival in summer 1967, he was mistaken for a bellhop by a woman at the Chelsea Hotel during a layover in New York.

It was a cold reminder of his ethnicity, Cross writes. (Sad indeed.)

Hendrix was always uneasy being one of the first black stars to attract a white audience; he wanted to be welcomed by blacks, too. Following Woodstock, his friends tried to arrange a show for him at the Apollo in Harlem, where his friends teased him about his drug of choice - LSD - being a "white" drug. The legendary theater refused, afraid the concert would draw too many whites. (Also sad.)
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On the Net:
http://www.charlesrcross.com

Sudiegirl sez:

This should be a good book, and you can bet I'll be reading it by fall!