Previously unseen documents from the life of Jimi Hendrix, including restaurant receipts and phone bills, are set to go on display in London. The exhibition, held at Handel Hendrix House on Brook Street, will feature a vast archive of material relating to the rock icon's life and music.
Domestic Details Revealed
The collection includes food orders from Mr Love, a restaurant located on the ground floor of Hendrix's building. One bill covering meals over a couple of months totalled £32/16s/6d, equivalent to about £485 today. Hendrix, who lived in the Mayfair flat from 1968 to 1969, often had steaks and hamburgers delivered upstairs while celebrities dined below.
Other items on display include work permits, dry cleaning tickets for a striped suit and gold jacket, and phone bills amounting to tens of thousands of pounds. These documents offer a glimpse into the domestic life of the musician, who once described the flat as the only place he felt truly at home.
The Archive's Journey
The material was preserved by Hendrix's personal assistant, Patricia 'Trixie' Sullivan, now 83. After the death of manager Mike Jeffery in 1973, she collected documents left behind by bailiffs. She kept them in plastic trunks under her bed in Spain, and later her grandson stored them in a shed in Dorset.
The archive includes corporate records of Anim Records, which managed the Jimi Hendrix Experience, featuring contracts, calendars, and invoices for music equipment. Sullivan's diaries also provide insights, such as notes from Hendrix's 1969 German tour, where a gig in Munster nearly sparked a riot.
Exhibition Details
The exhibition opens on 19 June at 23 Brook Street, part of the Handel Hendrix House museum. Claire Davies, the curator, noted that the receipts tell a story of domesticity in Hendrix's life, showing his purchases of high-end Persian rugs worth about £30,000 in today's money. The exhibition is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Sullivan described Hendrix as introverted and self-doubting, often playing his guitar when she visited. Her grandson remarked that she acted as his babysitter, bringing order to his life by managing his finances. Davies emphasised that Sullivan was the epicentre of Hendrix's operations, running the show behind the scenes.
