`Electric Gypsy' Plugs Into The Hendrix Saga

"Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy," in bookstores now (St. Martin's Press, $29.95), is the most exhaustive biography yet of Seattle's own elusive rock superstar, who died in 1970.

The last third of the 725-page tome is an annotated discography that clears up all questions about his recording history; a technical section that lists every guitar and amp and wah-wah pedal he and his band members used; a time line that charts his every performance and practically every move; a detailed family tree; a listing of books and major articles about him; and pages and pages of other minutiae.

That part of the book was undoubtedly written by Caesar Glebbeek, founder of the Jimi Hendrix Information Center in Amsterdam, long recognized as the premier Hendrix expert.

The narrative part of the book is mostly by Glebbeek's co-author, Harry Shapiro, an Englishman who is the finest writer to take up the challange of Hendrix's life. His text flows smoothly and, unlike most previous Hendrix biographers, he rarely engages in speculation or rumor, and never tries to read Hendrix's mind. He deals unflinchingly with his subject's bad points (including drug abuse) as well as good, and is the only Hendrix author with no ax to grind, no political agenda and no sources to protect.

For the first time, the people who surrounded Hendrix are evaluated honestly. Unfortunately, most are revealed as opportunists. The sad truth is that Hendrix had few friends he could

confide in. He was a shy, polite, friendly and very lonely figure.

The book includes new information, some of it from a source never before interviewed for a Hendrix book: a girlfriend named Carol Shiroky, who was close to him when his star began to rise in New York in the mid-1960s. She tells stories about this formative period in his creative life that demonstrate his open mind and eclectic approach to music.

One of the revelations is that Hendrix had a daughter by another girlfriend in that period. Although never formally recognized as Hendrix's offspring, the girl, now in her 20s, was embraced by his family.

Others: Hendrix had terrible eyesight but wouldn't wear his glasses in public; his heroin bust in Canada was probably a setup by a rejected male groupie; a tape of autobiographical songs mysteriously disappeared after his death; and a rocking chair in his father's Seattle house started moving slowly during Hendrix's wake, freaking out his relatives.

His hometown doesn't fare well in the book. Hendrix is said to have hated Seattle and didn't want to be buried here (his grave, at Greenwood Cemetery in Renton, has become a tourist attraction). The Hendrix "hot rock" memorial at Woodland Park Zoo - a heated stone in the African savannah - has been criticized as racist and commercial.

But a couple of entries about Seattle cast doubts about the accuracy of the book. Janet Wainwright, a major figure in the planning of the zoo memorial, is identified as Jane Wainwright. A Seattle Times review of a local performance is attributed to the Post-Intelligencer, and Seattle Center Coliseum is described as having a "glass dome" through which lightning could be seen during Hendrix's May 1969 appearance here - a dramatic but fanciful tale.

An account of Hendrix's appearance at Garfield High, where he had been a student, in 1968 omits a telling detail - that he fled the assembly and hid in a darkened office, fearful of facing a crowd without his guitar. It also fails to mention the fine Hendrix bust that adorns the Garfield library.

The book deals with some of the people who got Hendrix to sign deals that made them rich - producers Ed Chalpin and Alan Douglas among them. But it doesn't delve deeply into questions about whether his manager may have had connections to organized-crime figures who some associates believed siphoned much of the star's earnings and threatened him when he wanted to change management.

One of the best things about the book is the illustrations. Dozens of never-before-printed photos - including 16 pages in color - are included. Among them are songs, poems, letters and postcards in Hendrix's florid hand.

These alone make the book essential to Hendrix fans.