In his own words: Jimi Hendrix remembers his first days in London
On his first night in London, Jimi Hendrix penned a letter to his father. “I’m in England, Dad,” the then-little-known musician announced. “I met some people, and they’re going to make me a big star.”
At the time of his arrival in 1964, London was not quite the swinging city it would soon become. The population was in decline, public transport was nonexistent after 11pm, and shops in the fashionable West End closed at 1pm on a Saturday. Mary Quant had not yet popularised the mini skirt, and most young women still wore stilettos and corsets. The inner city was poor, the docklands centres of manufacturing and trade. The walls were black with soot. Over the next ten years, however, Jimi and the drab, blitzed-out city that became his home would change beyond all recognition.
When Hendrix landed in England, he was still barely known in his native country. Born in Seattle to a poor father and a mother he barely knew, he’d joined the 101st Airborne Division of the US army to avoid imprisonment for car theft. Army life did not suit the young musician, though it certainly influenced his opposition to the Vietnam war.
Raised on a diet of Muddy Waters and Albert King, Hendrix earned several admirers during his days on the New York circuit, including John Cale of The Velvet Underground. However, it wasn’t until he arrived in London that things really started to take shape. “23 September 1966. That’s when I came to England,” he would later recall. “They kept me waiting at the airport for three or four hours because I didn’t have a work permit. At one point there was talk of sending me back to New York until it was all sorted out. They carried on like I was going to make all the money in England and take it back to the States!”
On his first night, Hendrix was introduced to Kathy Etchingham, an erstwhile hairdresser, popular DJ and familiar face around the city’s burgeoning rock scene. The pair would eventually move in together, but only after Hendrix spent some time living with his new manager. “I moved into a flat with Chas Chandler,” Jimi continued.
“It used to belong to Ringo [Starr]. In fact, they only took the drums away the other day. There’s a stereo all over the place and a very kinky bathroom with lots of mirrors. Immediately complaints started to pour in. We used to get complaints about loud, late parties when we were out of town! We’d come back next morning and hear all the complaints. Chas got real mad about it, but I didn’t let it bug me.”
London also allowed Hendrix to play with some of the city’s most revered rockers. Very early on, he was invited to watch Cream perform Howlin Wolf’s ‘Killing Floor’ at the Regent Street Polytechnic. “The first time I played guitar in England I sat in with Cream,” Jimi said. “I like the way Eric Clapton plays. His solos sound just like Albert King. Eric is just too much. And Ginger Baker, he’s like an octopus, man. He’s a real natural drummer.” Clapton was equally impressed. After watching Hendrix play, the Cream guitarist, clearly irritated, wandered over to Chandler. “You never told me he was that fucking good,” he muttered.
