The last hours of Jimi Hendrix life is still disputed. I have interviewed or read accounts of several of Jimi's friends about that night. According to Eric Burden, lead singer of the Animals and friend of his manager Chas Chandler (former member of the Animals) things were chaotic that last night and official accounts don't exactly add up.
Here's Jimi with Monika Dannenmann.
Eric told me that the woman Jimi was staying with that night, Monika Dannenmann, called him when she couldn't wake Jimi. He told her to call an ambulance immediately, which she DID NOT DO, fearing that it might make Jimi mad. She was probably afraid that the cops might find other drugs in the apartment when showed up. Who knows? This woman's bizarre behavior on the night of his death is still baffling. It was reported that she left the apartment to go buy cigarettes while Jimi was unconscious! That's sounds pretty strange to me, considering that he had already vomited all over himself and was obviously in distress.
Ginger Baker, the drummer for Cream, alleges that he and Eric Clapton were looking all over town for Jimi to go jamming at a local club. They had a big bag of cocaine with them and they were looking to party with Jimi that night.
They found out that Jimi was staying with Monika Dannemann at the time, a woman that Ginger said was unstable and they feared the worst. His usual girlfriend during that period was Kathy Etchingham. For some reason, they weren't together anymore. Jimi had lots of women and it wasn't unusual for him to sleep around. Eric said that if he'd been with Kathy that night, he wouldn't have died. I guess we'll never know.
Here's Jimi with his other girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham.
Here's the account of that last night from WIKIPEDIA:
Early on September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix died in London under circumstances which have never been fully explained. He had spent the latter part of the previous evening at a party and was picked up by girlfriend Monika Dannemannand driven to her flat at the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill. According to the estimated time of death, from autopsy data and statements by friends about the evening of September 17, he would have died within a few hours after midnight, though no precise estimate was made at the original inquest.
Here is the Samarkand Hotel, where Jimi died.
WIKIPEDIA'S account continues:
Dannemann claimed in her original testimony that after they returned to her lodgings the evening before, Hendrix, unknown to her, had taken nine of her prescribed Vesperax sleeping pills. The normal medical dose was half a tablet, but Hendrix was unfamiliar with this very strong German brand. According to surgeon John Bannister, the doctor who initially attended to him, Hendrix had asphyxiated in his own vomit, mainly red wine which had filled his airways, as the autopsy was to show.
Was he still alive when the ambulance arrived? There are conflicting reports on that too. Monika said he was, and that the medics tried to sit him up and retrain him with straps. What's that all about? In another account it said that he was already dead and cold. Who do you believe?
By the way, in 1996 Kathy Etchingman sued Monika Dannenmann about remarks that she made following Jimi's death. She called Kathy an "inverate liar" and the court ordered Monika to shut up, which she didn't, and got in trouble again. She was fined by the court. Two days later she committed suicide by inhaling the exhaust fumes of her Mercedes in a closed garage in Sussex, England.
It is believed the Jimi's black Fender Stratocaster was purloined by Monika after he died, and that she held onto it over all these years. Where is that Strat now? It is owned by Monika's later boyfriend Uli Jon Roth (former member of the Scorpions) and is believed to be in storage somewhere in Germany.
Some people are convinced that Jimi was murdered. There have even been books written about it. This is a book review of one of those conspiracy books:
See what I mean? The events if that night are all screwed up. It makes me wonder what really happened. Could the death of Hendrix have been avoided? Damn right it could!
As far as I'm concerned, "all the other guitar players in the world would have to stand on a chair just to kiss Jimi's ass." And you can quote me on that!
I heard a last interview of Hendrix. I think it was a week before he died. In this interview he sounded calm and relaxed. He was in his flat and was laughing, poring tea and generally in a good mood. I had always heard of the terrible stress he was under and all the emotional turmoil. But you could hardly hear it in that interview. But I also heard a story that he had been caught having sex with his managers wife. He had been staying at Manager Micheal Jeffery's and Mike went to work and his wife came down to do some laundry and one thing lead to another. But Mike had forgotten something and came back and caught them in the act.Mike was not seen by them. So Jefferey planned revenge. By hiring some guys to fill him with wine and drugs. A million dollar life insurance policy, I think Jimi's roadie (Limmie) of "Motor Head" talked about it.
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