PA News Story: Pete & Jimi

[Marc/Carolyn Hurwitz <MHurwitz@compuserve.com>]

For those of you what haven't seen it yet....


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  By Tim Moynihan, PA News
   Jimi Hendrix, the definitive wild man of rock, was still causing
controversy today -- 27 years after his death.
   A blue plaque was unveiled to the legendary guitarist on the building
next to one which remembers George Frederick Handel.
   The Handel Society is reported to be annoyed about the arrival of the
plaque at 23 Brook Street, Mayfair, central London, where Hendrix lived i=
n
1968-69 with Kathy Etchingham, who proposed the plaque.
   But Pete Townshend, another guitar legend from rock group The Who,
unveiling the plaque, said: "There's been a lot of talk about whether a
rock performer deserves to be on the building next door to George Frederi=
ck
Handel, and I think he does.
   "I think that not all performers in pop and rock do deserve this honou=
r,
I think Jimi does, I really believe he does. He was so special, so
extraordinary, he's up there for me with Miles Davis and Charlie Parker a=
s
somebody who was a virtuoso, an innovator, he was different, extraordinar=
y
and new."
 Townshend said he was "so proud" that what Hendrix did, he did in London=
,
where he first came to fame.
   "Maybe he could only have done it in London, I don't think he would ha=
ve
been recognised in the same way in the States, not because of any
shortcomings there, but because the climate here, the social and musical
climate, was clearer."
   He said it was not true, as people sometimes said, that the two of the=
m
had a "spat" at the Monterey Pop Festival.
   "I just didn't want to be on the same stage as him, within an hour,
ever," he said.
   Kathy Etchingham, now a Surrey housewife, told friends who had gathere=
d
for the ceremony that she was glad to see them fit and well.
   "I'm astonished, considering what we used to get up to 30 years ago,"
she joked.
   Noel Redding, who was in Hendrix's group the Experience, said: "Thanks=

to Kathy and English Heritage for doing this honour to my old mate.
   "I think this is a wonderful tribute to James, I'll say a prayer for
him, and bless him, I still think of him after all this time."
   The star's enduring appeal was shown by the presence of 2,000 fans who=

turned up. Most of them were kept on the pavement across the road from
where the ceremony took place.
   They mobbed Hendrix's father, James Al Hendrix, 78, and sister Janie,
36, who watched the proceedings from that pavement.
   Mr Hendrix said: "Jimi loved London, it means a lot to us because he w=
as
discovered here."
   Hendrix is the first pop performer to get a blue plaque, which are
normally given to long dead scientists, politicians and poets.
   English Heritage rules say they can only adorn buildings associated wi=
th
people who were born more than 100 years ago or have been dead more than =
20
years.
   Hendrix died in London on September 18, 1970. A post mortem examinatio=
n
found death was due to inhaling vomit after overdosing on sleeping tablet=
s.
   When Hendrix lived in Brook Street, he was at the height of his fame,
releasing classic third album Electric Ladyland in 1968.
   The American guitarist, who played with Little Richard, had found solo=

stardom when he moved to London and had a hit with Hey Joe in 1966.

- --Carolyn
"Never spend your guitar or your pen"