As a forerunner of change in several creative arenas - musical direction, artistic expression and fashion - Jimi was a key pace-maker for the era's creative output. Accordingly his innovative style has been reflected in the book's striking design. Inspired by Sixties and Seventies psychedelia and Jimi's love of visuals and colour, fluorescent inks have been selected to run throughout the book.

The six fluorescent inks yellow, orange, green, red, pink and purple - each represent one of six guitar strings, a leitmotif that can be seen on the box, signature page and title pages. In addition to the fluorescence, silver printing is used throughout to complement the extensive use of 4-colour printing and image varnishing.

In an effort to emphasise the vitality of the images, each has been reproduced clean on the page, un-cropped and full frame as originally composed through the photographer's lens. Colours have been run over some photographs by double printing fluorescent inks.

P130-131: 9 SEPT 1968

Douglas Kent Hall: 'The ambience here was different from Jimi's February home-coming show in Seattle. There were more police and the fans were hardcore, as opposed to the Seattle people who were curious about Jimi and somewhat subdued, even mystified.

Jimi had been tightening up his image. The band was very good. His performance of 'Hey Joe' was the best I ever heard. Noel Redding had a way of complementing Jimi like no one he ever played with again. His bass was light and rich in the manner of some of the best jazz men.

The Coliseum in Portland was a garish place to have music, but the fans were ready.'

P166-167: SUMMER/AUTUMN 1968

Jimi Hendrix: 'The promoters think you're a money-making machine and they have no faith in you. It's dog-eat-dog constantly. I can always tell the artificial people from the real music people, the ones who care about the music and what they are doing. The trouble is, in this business there are so many artificial people. They see a fast buck and keep you at it until you are exhausted and so is the public and then they move off to other things. That's why groups break-up-they just get worn out. Musicians want to pull away after a time or they get lost in the whirlpool...

I'm so tired I could drop, but I find the relaxation comes from thinking about music. Nothing else moves me. I hear music in my head all the time. Sometimes it makes my brain throb and the room starts to turn. I feel I'm going mad. So I go to the clubs and get plastered. Man, I get real paralytic. But it saves me...'

P200-201: 28 AUG 1969

While everyone agreed that the Woodstock gig had its share of problems, Jimi was eager to keep working with his new band. On August 28, Hendrix booked time at the Hit Factory, which was his first formal recording session in over two months. During the next four weeks the band tried in vain to build a dynamic new sound for Jimi in the recording studio, but after several promising attempts at new compositions like 'Izabella' and 'Message Of Love', it was clear that Gypsy Sun & Rainbows was not gelling.

Bassist Billy Cox and percussionist Juma Sultan have suggested that Mike Jeffrey sabotaged the band, but the more plausible reason for the group's problems in the studio was the same lack of chemistry and 'experience' that was evident at the Woodstock shows.

P234-235: 4 JULY 1970

Joe Sia: 'I went to the Atlanta Pop Festival just to see Jimi. I mean, I didn't care who else was there. Everybody said, 'Where you going?' I said, 'I'm going to Atlanta for the Pop Festival to see Jimi and that's all.' I don't even remember who else was there.

I don't think there was much difference in the music at this point, although I think he matured a lot in those couple of years. He had just played so many shows that he may have got to that point where this was just another show where everything was planned out. I don't think it was as spontaneous as his earlier shows, where he was really into surprising everybody. But at this time everybody knew who he was and that they were going there to see him. He probably just wanted to provide them with a good context for his music and to show them who he was. He had the name by then, but it had been three years since the Experience came out and he wanted to just show people that he was still Jimi.'

£295 plus p&p