A Visual Spiritual Odyssey

JIMI HENDRIX, the greatest guitarist – possibly the greatest musician – of all time. Do YOU love Jimi as much as I do? His story has a lot to say to all generations about life, music and spirit and that is what I undertook when I became the Editorial Director of the Hendrix Estate under the supervision of the late Alan Douglas, curator of Jimi Hendrix' recorded music and video.

First and foremost, I am a storyteller. As a veteran music and entertainment journalist going back to my stint as the Founding Editor of Guitar World and editor at Crawdaddy, that is what I do. One story that I have been known for telling and re-telling to the point of obsession is that of Jimi Hendrix.  But, you know, obsessions can get, well … obsessive. I have been working on this book project for a few years now, collecting material, rare photographs, interviews and what I like to call "pieces of the cross, er Strat" – artifacts and signposts of the amazing trail that this monumental avatar has left us since his untimely passing September 18, 1970. 

With your help, and with the help of my supporters of this Kickstarter campaign, I will publish the ultimate guide to visual artifacts and their back stories as a book called Hendrix Now! Backstory of a Legend: A Visual Odyssey in Words and Pictures, with generous assistance from Alan Douglas Music and the Alan Douglas Estate. What does this mean to you? It means that a portion of the proceeds of this campaign and profits from the book's publication will be donated to the Handel House Trust, which opened Hendrix's 23 Brook Street London Flat to the public, with the assistance and support of Kathy Etchingham and many generous donations.

It is organized by events in Jimi's life – early years, The Scene Club and Greenwich Village in New York, London days with Clapton, Beck, Burdon and the Stones, Monterey and Woodstock, the making of Hendrix' iconic masterwork Electric Ladyland, and many more signposts on his journey to immortality, illustrated by a special set of painstakingly collected and researched photographs from the canon of historic Hendrix images. There is commentary by photographers, Jimi associates and friends such as Kathy Etchingham and Roger Mayer, Mick Taylor and Eric Burdon, Alan Douglas, Stevie Ray Vaughan and musicians of all generations, who owe a musical – and spiritual – debt to Hendrix the man and the legend. And then there is the "Mind-Meld Experience," the day that Jimi, a renowned traveller through space, time and dimension, encountered Leonard Nimoy, otherwise known as Star Trek's Spock.  I devote an entire chapter to Radio WKYC deejay Chuck Dunaway's fascinating account of a wild night with Jimi and Nimi in Cleveland March 26,1968. 

Some of the musicians I know personally whose first-person accounts alternate with the narrative chapters and elaborate on their inspiration by Jimi Hendrix, among them ...

• Joe Satriani
• Steve Vai
• Lenny Kravitz
• Steve Stevens
• Eric Clapton
• Eric Burdon
• Mick Taylor
• Roger Mayer (Jimi's Sound genius)
• Mike Finnigan, who backed Jimi on Electric Ladyland

... and a footnote from the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, whom I interviewed in 1987.

Chapters that will serve as a hagiography for my inside story:

• New York – The Scene and Ondine's, from the Chitlin Circuit to Electric Ladyland – magic in the studio and the great guitar sound (w/ Roger Mayer, Jimi's "secret sauce," and Jimi's late-night jams)
• Monterey, with an aside about a pornographer-photographer
• Jimi and the Stones (w/ Mick Taylor)
• London Town (Kathy Etchingham, Eric Burdon, et al)
• Royal Albert Hall, the greatest show nobody heard – amazing story about a hippie kid
• Woodstock (w/ Michael Lang, Juma and the band from hell)
• Jimi and Nimi – Mind-meld with Spock (Leonard Nimoy)
• Gypsies and Kings, on the road to greatness
• Jimi's Drivin' Wheels – Corvettes and Dune Buggies
• Iconic photos by Jim Marshall, Ed Caraeff, Ken Regan, Baron Wolman and many more
• Soft-spoken Jimi (The Dick Cavett Show appearances) • Copenhagen, Isle of Fehmarn and the Final Tour
• Last Days in the Garden – the never-ending controversy about how Jimi passed

Noë Gold, aka Noë the G is the Creative Director of the Jimi Hendrix Foundation and Founding Editor of Guitar World magazine. Noë is excited and thrilled to produce this project. To date he has proven to have an upstanding record for completing projects and producing fine works, including the historic UNPUBLISHED HENDRIX VOLS. I & II (Guitar World Special Collectors Editions Sept. 1985 and March 1988) and a series of book-CDs distributed by Hal Leonard Publishing called the "Jimi Hendrix Reference Library" which included  "Red House: Variations on a Theme," guides to "Axis Bold As Love" and all the major Hendrix releases as well as CDs on "Fuzz, Feedback and Wah Wah," "Whammy Bar and Finger Grease," "Octavia and Univibe," "Rhythms" and "Tone Poems."  He has been features editor at the Hollywood Reporter, editor-in-chief of Movies USA, Bikini and Guitar World and a columnist for the Village Voice and the New York Daily News. His stories have appeared in GQ, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Premiere, The Movies and The Los Angeles Times Magazine.

While it has been five years already in the making, Noë's goal is to complete the project within a year. He can't do it without your support!! Books can take years to complete but with his track record we are aiming at release with a major publisher by late summer 2017, accompanied by a deluxe special-edition box set which will be a limited edition in a wooden box fabricated with a unique design that is redolent of Jimi's energy. Write, edit and deliver the book to a major publisher, then launch a show-and-tell author tour in NYC and LA! During the writing process, Noë will create a series of videos congruent with the chapters of the book with artifacts included in a traveling multimedia exhibition. This is a very emotional project to which Noë is dedicated and aspires to take the time needed to focus completely on the project itself without distractions.

The funds are designated for the writing, editing and researching phase of the projects – not for the manufacture or publishing of anything. Your funding support will go towards:

• Cover expenses for the office to write and studio space to research and edit.
• Computer and recording supplies, phones, travel and other costs associated with the creation of a major non-fiction work.
• Cover publishing costs associated with the acquisition of rights and permissions of copyrighted material.
• Travel to and from NYC for the opening and cost of the art exhibitions in NYC and in LA.
• The cost of the perks themselves and shipping costs.

This sponsored project is empowered by generous support from Alan Douglas Music and the Alan Douglas Estate. A portion of the proceeds from this book will benefit the Handel House Trust, which opened the Hendrix's 23 Brook Street London Flat to the public, with the assistance and support of Kathy Etchingham and many generous donations.