Of many things I did not know about Jimi Hendrix, the most surprising turned out to be that this ’60s rock icon had a serious case of Handel worship.
For the years Hendrix lived in London, England, from 1968 to 1969, he chose an apartment to rent on Brook Street in Mayfair because he believed it was in the building where George Frideric Handel, the Baroque composer most famous for oratorios such as The Messiah, had lived while in London from 1723 until his death in 1759.
It turns out Hendrix was close, but no cigar – or, in Hendrix’s case, an overflowing ashtray of cigarette butts. He and his English girlfriend had rented a flat on the top floor of the building immediately next door to the one that had been Handel’s home.
Both these spaces, with stairways connecting them inter-buildings, are now open to visitors as the combined Handel & Hendrix in London museum. Something for everyone, as the marketers often say. I went for the Handel, and stayed for the Hendrix, fascinated by the black-and-white film clips and concert memorabilia. My partner Chris went for the Hendrix and stayed for the Handel, when he got cornered by a knowledgeable and chatty docent in the room set up to replicate Handel’s bedroom.
Nothing in the Handel section is original, apart from the view out the windows, but Handel left meticulous household records: there are receipts on file indicating things such as the colour and style of fabric used in draperies, as an example, so those have been replicated. An antique harpsichord – not Handel’s, but one of a similar vintage – creates the spot for a perfect photo-op. Musical scores and artwork related to Handel are on loan from other galleries and museums.
The Hendrix flat upstairs is recreated based on photos of the place taken by Hendrix’s many visitors and contains some original pieces: Kathy Etchingham, who lived with Hendrix in the flat, donated furnishings she still had in her possession and acted as consultant to bring authenticity to the flat’s 1960s’ style. The place would have been far hazier and darker in its Hendrix time than it is now: the prop piles of butts in ashtrays museum visitors see would have been freshly burned and Hendrix, a night owl, kept the curtains drawn during the day.
A 2016 article in The Independent, published as a preview to the newly opened Hendrix Flat and the expansion of the former Handel Museum into the now-joint Handel & Hendrix in London, explores the wide range in Hendrix’s musical taste beyond the rock music where, for a time, he reigned supreme. “The records by classical composers that he slipped on to the state-of-the-art Bang & Olufsen turntable in the bedroom were also subjected to listening that was far from superficial, as [musicologist Christian] Lloyd explains: ‘Visitors to the flat recall he’d play along to them. He played along on his guitar to Handel.’ This is borne out by the fact that Hendrix quoted Handel’s Messiah at his Winterland concerts in San Francisco in 1968.” Not to mention others recall Hendrix saying he had seen Handel’s ghost coming through one of the London flat’s brick walls.
Perhaps that vision was inspired by one of the many drugs Hendrix was known to take, which led to his death by asphyxiation only one year after his London residency, at age 27. Handel, by comparison, died at age 74, in poor health for much of his later life and overcoming these adversities to continue creating music that still fascinates, centuries later – a legacy that Hendrix may also someday enjoy.
Main photo: An original over-mantle mirror provided by Jimmy Hendrix’s girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, in the re-creation of their London flat from 1968-69, reflecting another musical odd couple. By Kelley Teahen.
