Hendrix and the mashed spud
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:05 am
As fans of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix anticipate the release of a new album featuring 12 previously unreleased studio tracks in March, his former girlfriend Kathy Etchingham recalls their relationship.
In September 1966, a DJ and hairdresser from Derby walked into the Scotch of St James nightclub in London.
"There were stairs winding down to the basement and everybody was leaning over the banisters to listen to this guy sitting in the corner of the club playing," remembers Etchingham, who was then just 20. "They were enthralled."
The lighting in the club was so low that she could barely see Jimi Hendrix, who was then just 24 and newly arrived from New York. His talent was obvious, but at this stage his new English manager, Chas Chandler, hadn't even found him a backing band.
When the set was over, Chandler introduced Etchingham to Hendrix. With his army jacket, Afro hair and flowery shirts, the black American was unlike any man she had ever met before.
"He just looked unusual - stunning really," she says. "He was fresh and he had a very soft sort of American accent."
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