The first time I saw Jimi Hendrix play was sometime in October 1966, at the Cromwellian Club, a late-night drinking venue west of Knightsbridge. It catered for a motley crowd of music biz types... including musicians, agency/management people, TV/radio presenters, music press journalists and the like...together with a variety of trendily garbed 'liggers' (musician's term for the multitude of 'wannabees' who seemed to have nothing else to do in life than hang-out at gigs and other places frequented by the pop and rock fraternity).
He was being squired around by Chas Chandler, former bass-player with the Animals, who was now turning his hand to management and had just met 'Jimmy' (as it was then spelled) in New York and was so blown-away by his skill as a guitarist that he decided to bring him back to London. He was astute enough to know that the quickest and best way to launch an unknown, but mightily talented, artist was to impress all the aforementioned 'music biz types' by taking him round the key clubs they frequented, like the Cromwellian, Speakeasy, Bag o' Nails (venue for the first official press launch), the Scotch of St. James etc., and either have him sit-in with the band, or just get up and play solo in the interval. This strategy paid off brilliantly in the long-term, but brought little or no immediate income.
My recollection is that he played on his own that first time at the 'Crom', though it's completely possible that my memory could be playing tricks on me and it was actually with the recently formed Experience line-up. One thing I am sure of is that everyone was blown away by his unique and flamboyant talent, myself included, although I did feel that with with such an amazing guitar-playing ability, he didn't really need to show off by playing with his teeth...but then what did I know!!!
At the time, I was working for the Rik Gunnell agency as a booker and a few days after that night, John Gunnell said he'd agreed with Chas. to put Jimi on at our club, the Ram Jam in Brixton, on the 10th December as the support act for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, a kind of trial gig. Assuming they would do well, he told me to follow this up with another appearance, this time as the main attraction, a few weeks later. So, I got in touch with Chas and pencilled in the second date for February 4th in a 'double' with our other club, the Flamingo in Soho, normal practice for all head-lining acts. Of course, the first appearance was well-received, so I went ahead and confirmed the February date.
Now, although the music press had already reported on some of the 'showcase' gigs he had played, Jimi was, at that time, still relatively unknown as far as the wider general public was concerned, so I negotiated the second deal on that basis, which Chas...eager to get as much exposure for Jimi as possible in these early stages, was more than happy to accept. I think the contract was drawn up with a fee of £75 (the double) for the second date, still several weeks ahead. In the event, this proved to be extremely fortuitous, as in the interim period, Jimi's first UK single "Hey Joe", which had been released the week after his Ram Jam support spot, was climbing steadily up the charts. By the time of the appearances at the Ram Jam and Flamingo, it was at #6 in the Record Retailer (the 'official' chart), with the Melody Maker, I think, putting it at number one!
Chas. was, I recall, pretty miffed at the time, as he hadn't asked for a 'chart clause' to be included in the contract (often insisted on by agents and managers if they thought that the artist had a record out that might chart by the time of a gig taking place), so the contracted fee stood. With the Flamingo, it didn't really have that much effect, as the club was fairly small and had a limited capacity...but the Ram Jam, a much larger venue, with a different and younger audience, the difference was considerable. Usually, the crowd would be around a few hundred, depending on how big a 'name' was playing...but of course, with all the publicity surrounding the meteoric chart rise of the single, combined with the press reports and 'word-of-mouth', the club was packed to the gills and the box 0ffice 'take' was probably a record (no pun intended)!
However, after that, the Jimi Hendrix Experience took off like a rocket...especially in the USA and that was the last time he played at the club!
Postscript:
Once the Experience took off, I didn't see Jimi again until September 1970 at the ill-fated Fehmarn Festival in Northern Germany, just a couple of weeks before his untimely death.
The Festival was incredibly badly organised, the weather was horrendous, with heavy rain deterring many of the acts from appearing because of the danger of electrocution, though Jimi did play, I believe. I didn't get a chance to speak to him...indeed on the bus that took us to the site, he sat alone and his demeanour seem to indicate that he didn't want to talk to anyone. He looked pretty sick and as far as anybody could see, no-one from his entourage was around. The following is an excerpt from Jon Hiseman's biography "Playing the Band":
Colosseum flew to Hamburg, where they met up with Hendrix and Canned Heat. Jon relates what ensued: “We got to the site about 8.30pm and the rain was coming down in sheets. The local police had rigged up searchlights, I assume to control the crowd. The storm was unrelenting, with a force nine gale driving the rain horizontally across the stage. There was no food or drink; the whole thing was a nightmare. Finally, Sly and the Family Stone decided to brave the elements and set up on stage to a forest of crouching umbrellas. Then, with the amps on and the band ready to go, the canopy over the stage tore and most of the band’s backline was drenched in rainwater."
At this point, a very nervous stage manager agreed to sign an affidavit stating that it would be too dangerous to perform. Adding to the general mayhem, a number of German Hell’s Angels were roaming around, looking very menacing. So, it was straight back to the airport, without appearing, and home to the warmth of the recording studio. During this epic saga, Jon bumped into a very sick Jimi Hendrix several times and was horrified at the state he was in. As far as Jon could see, no one in his entourage seemed at all concerned and it brought back Jon’s worst memories of the Graham Bond era. Tragically Jimi was dead within a few days of returning to London.
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