Jammin' with Jimi

Book excerpt: Autobiography by Eric OxendineIf you read this book carefully, you'll have a vivid, deeply personal understanding of its main character, Eric Oxendine. Eric's story begins with his family roots in east-central North Carolina. A Lumbee Native American, Eric had a childhood with sweet and sour ingredients: A good family; childhood memories of carefree summers in an area known, essentially, for tobacco farming; an early encounter with southern racism. Racism at that early stage in a child's life might have created entrenched counter-racism in its victim. But Eric's innate strength, even as a youngster, brushed aside the episode as, "... odd, but probably just because he - the racist - didn't grow up around here." Moving with his mom to "the big city," Wilmington, Eric found New Hanover High School to be interesting, appealing for its ROTC military opportunities, and attractive for the attentions of young girls who loved guitar players. Wilmington in the 60's was known for its beach scene, a place where young Eric, by then a gifted and growing guitarist, found music lovers in abundance. A highly fluid, semi-pro career developed as Eric learned and performed surf music, calypso, folk tunes and jazz - each inspirational stream contributing to the professional musician Eric would become.But New Hanover High School in 1962, for all of its appeal, was not enough to keep Eric Oxendine in Wilmington. He had topped the list of local musicians. His eye was on a horizon to the north, New York City. Eric and a guitarist friend hitch-hiked to New York, arriving just as an early winter snow was beginning to fall in... The Village. Eric, still a teenager, alighting on the wet and freezing sidewalks of New York, at the doorway entrance to a music store, knew - almost prophetically - that he'd found his musical destiny. This book chronicles, in 1st person, eye-witness details, Eric's ascent as his talents become recognized in the night club scene, NYC's trendiest venues. After a few years, wherein he earned the hard credits he deserved as a largely free-lance guitarist in New York, Eric had a fateful introduction to the great, Jimi Hendrix. Eric recalls: I remember the first time I met Jimi Hendrix was on Valentine's Day in 1966. I was performing at the Cheetah Club in Manhattan on 53rd Street and Broadway in New York City. A relationship was formed instantly when Jimi said his mother was Cherokee, and I told him I was from the Lumbee Tribe. That friendship would endure through many late-night jams, soul-searching personal disclosures, musical collaboration on stage and in the studio, before audiences and in the darkest corners of New York's most exclusive night clubs. Eric's career would take him across the U.S., and around the world many times with The Richie Havens Band, The Van Morrison Band, and with countless musical ensembles performing on stage, so many name acts, this introduction would be swamped with the mention of each. But, most importantly, Eric's path was inter-twined, in literal and spiritual ways, with the great, Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps no living guitarist, one who survived the music scene of Woodstock, the "West Coast Jam, "and all that followed, is present, and able to report that era like Eric Oxendine. And this book, "His Story," "Jammin' with Jimi," is not just the life story of a guitarist who shared the stage with the greatest names in show business. It is the story of a young Native American, possessed of great talent, and insurmountable drive, who created a career as a successful performing artist, against all odds. In doing so, Eric Oxendine has secured his place in musical history, an and now he shares it ........................... with the world.