JIMI HENDRIX'S LONDON HOME TO OPEN AS NEW EXHIBITION MARKS THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH
'This is my first real home of my own' - Jimi Hendrix, 1968
A new exhibition exploring the London life, music, performances and enduring legacy of Jimi Hendrix opens on 25th August 2010 at Handel House Museum.
Hendrix in Britain commemorates the 40th anniversary of Hendrix's death on 18 September 1970 and runs from 25 August to 7 November 2010.
The exhibition takes place at Handel House Museum at 25 Brook Street, the Mayfair townhouse in which composer George Frederic Handel lived and worked for 36 years.
In 1968, Jimi Hendrix moved into the top floor flat of 23 Brook Street, with his English girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, and it became his home during long periods of playing in many venues across town.
The 23 Brook Street flat is now used as the administrative offices of Handel House Museum. But, to mark the anniversary, it will be opened to the public for a 12-day stretch during the run of the exhibition. Visitors will be able to tour the rooms in which Hendrix lived, wrote, played and entertained many of his contemporaries during an important and prolific period in his life.
Hendrix in Britain
will explore several aspects of Jimi Hendrix's life and career. Featuring exhibits rarely seen or never previously displayed in the UK, as well as a host of images, film clips and music, the exhibition will trace his rise to fame, his songwriting craft, his extraordinary guitar playing and his lasting impact on music and popular culture.
Among the items on display will be handwritten lyrics; a distinctive orange velvet jacket and Westener hat worn by Hendrix in performance, on film and in album photography; Hendrix's scrawled trael directions to the Isle of Wight Festival, scene of his final significant performance in August 1970; and UK concert memorabilia.
23 Brook Street, which carries an English Heritage Blue Plague in memory of Hendrix (alongside the blue plague for Handel), is the only Hendrix site anywhere in the world to be officially recognised. Hendrix and Kathy Etchingham entertained many friends, musicians and contemporaries in the flat.
Hendrix in Britain
will explore the particular contribution Hendrix made to the sound of the electric guitar, examining his personal style and use of technology on stage and in the studio. It will also feature a contemporary map of London showing significant Hendrix-related sites, including the venues he played. And Hendrix's legacy will be discussed in interviews and personal reminiscences by some of the guitarists and songwriters he inspired, from his contemporaries to performers from sucessive generations.
The museum will also host a series of special events to accompany the exhibition. These will include guitar workshops exploring Hendrix guitar effects, his particular use of amps and tips for playing guitar like Hendrix.
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