Hendrix was ‘right as rain’ the weekend before he died, Roger Daltry reveals
GUITAR legend Jimi Hendrix was a rock superstar who was already an icon of music by the time he died at just 27.
Now, The Who star Roger Daltrey has revealed details about what happened the weekend before Hendrix was was found dead in his flat in London’s Notting Hill in September 1970.
British rock legend Daltrey told comedian Romesh Ranganathan in his new TV series that “no-one knows about it but myself and about three other people that are still alive”.
The Misinvestigations Of Romesh Ranganathan on BBC Two will see the comedian explore the lives and mysterious deaths of some of the world’s most cultural and iconic figures, including Hendrix.
Controversy has surrounded the US musician – born in
Seattle, Washington, in 1942, in the years since his death, which was from an apparent drug overdose, with conspiracy theories abounding about suicide and rumours of foul play.
Hendrix is sometimes referred to as an example of a number of musicians who died at the age of 27, a phenomenon known as the 27 Club, including The Doors’ lead singer Jim Morrison and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.
In the new series, Daltrey offers insight into the star’s life at the time he died.
He explained: “This is the weekend before he died.
“I was on tour in Germany, and Jimi and his friend, Devon Wilson, came to my cottage in Berkshire. Weekend before he died, right?
“At my house was my wifeto-be Heather and another girl called Katherine.
“Jimi was talking about his future and how he wanted to move into a more jazzy form of music.
“He was excited about a studio in New York.
“Anyway, Heather said to me that it soon became obvious that Jimi was taking more and more barbiturates and his speech became slurred.
“But he and Devon were doing this thing, which gospel singers do, and they were doing it with a call and answer.
“And they were doing it with Bob Dylan lyrics.
“So, after song after song, he quotes one line, she’d quote the other and it was, but it gradually slowed down, slowed down until Devon finally fell asleep.
“So Katherine and Heather heaved him up to bed. Then he passed out, and then now they’re starting to get worried.”
Daltrey explained how the girls placed Hendrix in a bed and took his boots off at around 2am. So they put the kettle on for a cup of tea and blow me if 10 minutes later he (Hendrix) doesn’t appear in the doorway with his boots back on, his hat on all skewwhiff and says, ‘right I’m ready for the interview’. I mean, you can’t make it up!
“Well, 11 o’clock the next morning, they called a minicab and went back to London.
“That was that weekend, and as I say, he was as right as rain in the morning, was like nothing had happened,” he added.
The Misinvestigations Of Romesh Ranganathan is on BBC Two tonight at 9pm.