Jimi Hendrix and Philosophy: Experience Required

by Theodore G. Ammon (Editor)

Overview

In his brief career Jimi Hendrix transformed rock music, established himself as the greatest guitarist of all time, and left a rich legacy of original songs and dazzling recordings. In Jimi Hendrix and Philosophy, philosophers come to terms with the experience and the phenomenon of Hendrix, uncovering some surprising implications of Hendrix’s life and work. Much of this book is concerned with the restless polarities and dualities that reveal themselves through Hendrix. His compositions display a preoccupation with the tragic nature of life, moving between the polarities of Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Idea and and Platonic philosophy. Jimi’s “guitar-being” has surprising implications for the philosophical relation between mind and body. There is in Hendrix a duality between innovation and tradition—innovation in psychedelic sonic adventures and tradition in the form of the blues. Hendrix exemplifies the interaction of technology and art, as seen in his use of feedback, varieties of noise, and backwards reel-to-reel playing. How much of the Hendrix phenomenon can be explained by the technological situation and how much by his own unique genius? Everyone knows about Hendrix’s use of feedback in the narrow sense, but feedback can also be viewed as a general phenomenon that arises in complex dynamical systems and emerges at the border of chaos and order. Although critics associate Hendrix’s lifestyle and early death with self-destructive patterns of the Sixties, his actual thoughts as revealed in his songs and writings show a more positive and constructive concern with authentic freedom. What did Hendrix mean when he spoke of “the realities” of conflict conveyed in “Machine Gun”? What is a “Voodoo Chile”? When does noise become music? These and other questions are addressed in Jimi Hendrix and Philosophy. Hendrix’s undying popularity following his death in 1970 has led to the release over the years of a large body of material which Hendrix would never have chosen to make public, raising serious questions about what we owe to the dead and how we view the construction of the artist’s public persona.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812699562
Publisher:	Open Court Publishing Company
Publication date:	12/12/2017
Series:	Popular Culture and Philosophy
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Theodore G. Ammon teaches philosophy, specifically logic and aesthetics, at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He has published numerous scholarly articles in philosophy of logic, history of philosophy, and the theory of aesthetics. He is the editor of David Bowie and Philosophy: Rebel Rebel (2016).

Table of Contents

Johnny-James-Buster-Jimmy-Jimi … How Many Jimis? vii

I If 6 was 9 1

1 I Stand Up Next to a Mountain Hans Utter 3

2 Zen and the Art of Guitar Burning Ronald S. Green 13

3 Mermen and Dismemberment Jerry Piven 23

4 Hendrix-Freedom and Love Theodore G. Ammon 39

II I Know I Gotta Die When It's Time for Me to Die 49

5 Jimi, Janis, and Jim Randall E. Auxier 51

6 Quicker than the Wink of an Eye Daryl Hale 71

7 A Life Along the Watchtower Christopher Ketcham 87

III Flotation Is Groovy, Even a Jellyfish Will Tell You That 99

8 Facing Up to the Realities Jassen Callender 101

9 Are You Experienced? Charles Taliaferro 109

10 Hendrix Out of the Cave Francis Métivier 117

V Music Sweet Music 125

11 Vibrations and Echoes Long Ago Dennis Loughrey 127

12 The Broken Pieces of Yesterday's Life Robert G. Boatright Molly Brigid Flynn 139

13 Did Jimi Play Rock? Sam Bruton 155

14 Hendrix from the Bottom Up Eric Griffin 167

15 You Can't Use My Name Richard Bilsker 181

V What Any of It Is Worth 189

16 Artistic Expression in the Land of the Free David MacGregor Johnston 191

17 The Cry of Love Hans Utter 207

18 Musical Order from Sonic Chaos David Morgan 217

19 Elemental Jimi Scott Calef 225

Historical Note: John-the-Boss 239

Bibliography 243

Ezy Wryters 247

Index or Confusion 251