Che Guevara was an Argentinian who helped Castro bring communism to Cuba, shot and killed by federales during his misguided attempt to do the same in Bolivia. Carrying around the image of somebody you admire and respect is one thing, but a bloodthirsty revolutionary?

Jimi Hendrix was an American rock guitarist who became famous after he was 25 and died of an overdose of drugs before he was 30. Though he wrote and recorded songs and appeared at musical festivals, he never achieved the legendary status of Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

Apart from ubiquitous T-shirts, Jimi Hendrix (not his real name, but the one that stuck after a series of nom de plumes came and went) is kept in the public eye less by re-releases of his records than by periodic biographies. A product of the 1960s, the writers are fascinated with that decade's music scene.

Chasing Jimi is a case in point. Jim Newport allows that he was a hippy then and already interested in the changing musical forms (e.g., rock 'n' roll, blues, R&B). In time he travelled with bands as a photographer, witnessed and researched the era in the US and UK.

This book combines fiction and fact. It is filled with names of singers, trios, musicians, bands, managers, promoters, club, theatre and outdoor venues. Not to mention instruments, sound equipment, recording studios.

Only a year is focused on: 1966-1967. From the time he left Texas an unknown until his triumph at the Monterey music festival. Much is made of his struggle to make a name for himself then, nothing about his life before or after. For those details about Hendrix look elsewhere.

Hendrix attributed his turn of fortune to being given a Fender Stratocaster guitar by a fan who took it from her boyfriend, Keith Richards. It replaced his ratty Gibson guitar and became his talisman. The author devotes chapters to the stealing of the guitar and the efforts to recover it.

Drinking Jack Daniels bourbon, smoking ganja, taking uppers and downers, Hendrix lost none of his faculties when on-stage. He played the guitar over his head and between his legs. Alas, with many hands in the till, he made little money.

Newport's previous books include The Vampire of Siam trilogy. He is also a production designer for film and television. Those regarding the 1960s as the Golden Age of music will go for Chasing Jimi.

This reviewer would like to read a book about movie music, highlighting Max Steiner. Authors, please note.