- Culture
- 21 Feb 22
The two halves of the Jimi Hendrix manuscript were purchased by Tracks Limited, for a five-figure sum.
The two halves of a signed, torn lyric sheet from a Jimi Hendrix show have finally found their way back to each other — 55 years later.
February 20th, 1967 — The Jimi Hendrix Experience, who were new to the scene at the time, played the Bath Pavilion in place of Chuck Berry, who had to cancel his performance.
Two girls, aged 15 and 16, went backstage to get an autograph. Having no paper on hand, Hendrix tour a page from his notebook in half, signing each piece to give to the fans. Little did they know, that page had the lyrics to a song titled '51st Wedding Anniversary,' a track that would make it onto the Purple Haze B-Side under the name '51st Anniversary,' the Guardian reports.
Hendrix’s bandmates Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding also added their signatures to both halves.
Though the lives of the two women, who wish to remain anonymous, took them in different directions, they each held onto their pieces of rock history.
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Now, they're coming back together. Last year, one of the women was approached by Tracks Limited — a Lancashire-based rock’n’roll memorabilia store — looking for a quote for her half of the signed lyrics.
At the request of Tracks, the woman tracked down her friend in Bath, after five decades of limited contact. The seller discovered that she had also kept her signed paper intact.
Both women agreed to sell their autographs, now valued at an estimated five figures.
"There are extremely few Jimi Hendrix manuscripts in existence and even fewer that have been signed by Jimi and the other two members of the Experience," said the owner of Tracks, Paul Wane.
Purple Haze would go on to be the Seattle native's second UK top-10 hit. Though his mainstream career would only be about four years, he would cement his legacy as one of history's most legendary guitarists. The Experience would come to be regarded as one of the most influential rock outfits of the 20th century, with Rolling Stone including three of their albums in their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ranking.
Listen to '51st Anniversary' below.
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