Behind the door with a porcelain knob decorated with a rose, carpets, warm colors, a student room atmosphere.
Jimi Hendrix described the place as his first
'real home'
in London, the city that saw this 20th century musical genius explode and then die 50 years ago.
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In the district of Mayfair, at 23 Brook Street, the small white building housed in 1968 and 1969 the legendary guitarist, born in Seattle in 1942. After a childhood
"very very unhappy"
, the army, he "had not. no real idea ”of what a
“ home ”
, explains Christian Lloyd, researcher specializing in Jimi Hendrix.
When he arrived in London in September 1966, the 23-year-old American guitarist was completely unknown to the public.
In the plane that takes him across the Atlantic, determined to make a name for himself, he decides to swap Jimmy James for Jimi Hendrix (his real last name).
"The sign that he is going to recreate himself in London"
, where
"nobody knows who he is"
, underlines Christian Lloyd,
"he can be whoever he wants"
.
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Even if it means taking some liberties with reality.
Whether it was to enter the country - he had passed himself off as a songwriter who came to collect his royalties - then in his first interviews, on his age, his family, or the reasons why he had to leave the army .
"All he wanted was to play over and over again,"
explains the researcher, who works in an English institute attached to Queen's University in Canada.
He records
Hey Joe
,
Are you experienced
, his rise is dazzling.
The technology of the studios knows major advances, allows
"new effects"
, Hendrix is distinguished by its
"authenticity"
and this
"futuristic orientation, it is only possible in London at the time"
, according to Mr. Lloyd.
Handel's neighbor
After living from apartment to apartment with his managers, Hendrix wants to settle in with his then girlfriend.
It was also she who found their cocoon, not without difficulty.
"I had been to a real estate agent or two in Mayfair, but as soon as they heard it was for Jimi Hendrix, it was no!"
Kathy Etchingham recalled in 2016 on Channel 4.
“They didn't want someone like him”
.
In the small apartment,
"there was gray carpet"
, which Jimi could not stand.
"We went to John Lewis,"
a department store on Oxford Street, a stone's throw away, she said.
Kathy Etchingham was once again called upon to recreate the identical decoration of the den, converted into a museum since 2016, with her Persian rugs, some even rolled up as Jimi Hendrix accumulated them.
In the room bathed in red, orange, pink, full ashtray, empty tea cups alongside a Monopoly board.
They are both musicians, both immigrants, both innovators.
Christian Lloyd on Jimi Hendrix and Handel.
The apartment was surrounded only by shops and offices,
"which allowed Hendrix to play records as loud as he wanted, plug in his guitar and play in the middle of the night if he wanted," no neighbor to complain, ”
explains Sean Doherty, museum manager.
When the couple broke up and left the apartment in June 1969, Hendrix had
"instructed his manager to sell or get rid of what belonged to him
,
"
he continues.
"We don't know what happened to all these things
.
"
More than two centuries ago, another musical genius lived there: Handel.
Finally just next door, at 25, but the plaque identifying the illustrious occupant was then between the two buildings, so that Hendrix thought he lived at his place.
"They are both musicians, both immigrants, both innovators"
, underlines Christian Lloyd, evoking an anecdote according to which Hendrix would one day have believed to see the ghost of Handel in a mirror.
Like the Rolling Stones or the Beatles, Hendrix is
"an emblematic character of London in the 1960s"
, a city which
"allowed him to become himself
.
"
He died on September 18, 1970 in a hotel in the district of Notting Hill, taken away with a cocktail of medicine and wine, at the age of 27.