Q&A: Charles R. Cross
By Robert Morast -- Library Journal, 07/15/2005
Charles R. Cross entranced readers with his skillful Kurt Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven (2001), still the definitive book on the late Nirvana frontman. He returns with Room Full of Mirrors (see review, p. 82), a well-paced biography of the late rock guitar god Jimi Hendrix. The most recent entry in the unending Hendrix literature, Cross's thorough and revealing portrait could be the last word. Recently, Cross talked about the book from his Seattle home.
Heavier Than Heaven was released in 2001. How long did you work on this book?
Four years. I began working on it pretty much after I finished the Cobain biography. In truth, somewhat like the Cobain [book], the Hendrix book was something I had been thinking about for a number of years. I had interviewed Al Hendrix four or five times; I knew Leon Hendrix, Jimi's brother, and I covered various Hendrix stories when I was in Seattle. Actually, back when I was editing The Rocket, we created a Northwest hall of fame. The first person we ever gave an award to was Jimi Hendrix, and we gave it to Al. Now, if only I had known about the family what I know now. I would have had a little better perspective on the turmoil.
That's one of the gems of this book, the details of Jimi's childhood. How much of this was new or surprising to you?
When it comes to Jimi, there are already a number of books, which initially made me think, "I don't know what I can tell." Yet I did know that the story of Jimi's life in Seattle had not been told. Most celebrity biographies begin when the person is famous. I'm much more interested in what shapes the person, the idea that you can take Jimi Hendrix out of Seattle, but I'm not sure you can take Seattle out of Jimi Hendrix. (He spent two-thirds of his life there.) There were five or six times where, literally, my jaw dropped because I was in shock about a discovery. The most shocking was when I found the army records and discovered why Jimi was actually discharged. It's a story that has never appeared in print before: Jimi Hendrix feigning gayness to get out.
Rather than making a martyr of Hendrix, you point out his faults, such as his exit from the military or his exploitation of women. Did it ruin your perception of him?
My role as a biographer is to tell the story and get out of the way. I'm kind of tired of the pop-psychology biography. When I came to the end of my book, I felt more empathy for Jimi, having known and met, of course, all the people in his life. I still find it fascinating that he created all the work he did despite his struggles.
You open the book with an amusing tale about Hendrix and Noel Redding (bassist for the Jimi Hendrix Experience) being ignored in a bar because they were mistaken for clowns. Why?
That's a great example of what I try to do in my book. One of [the other Hendrix books] contained the sentence, "Jimi and Noel tried to get into a bar but they aren't served." I remember reading that and going, "Wow, I wonder what the significance of that is?" So I asked Noel the story and used it to start the book. It's a great way to show you how strange Jimi was. He was ahead of his time almost to the point of absurdity. But when Noel told me that Jimi was initially upset because he thought it was prejudice, that also points to the long history of Jimi struggling with his race.
Other Hendrix biographies have suggested that he didn't worry about race, yet your book clearly shows that he did.
He really did. I think it goes back to Garfield High School. When Jimi was there, things were definitely changing. But I also have a story from Solomon Burke about the time they went to a lunch counter. One of the guys in Hendrix's entourage dropped some sandwiches he was bringing back, and Jimi went out to help him. When the white store owners saw that the food was for black people, they came with an axe and knocked it to the ground again. When something like that happens to you—and with Jimi it certainly happened more than once—you're forever marked. —Robert Morast, Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, SD
