One for the maestro – JAMES MARSHALL HENDRIX
What a pleasant surprise this morning – as I sifted through some videos I’d been sent, the vast majority inevitably dishing out doom & gloom, I noticed among the selection of videos that relate to the one you’re watching the legendary Hendrix anti-vietnam war classic ‘Machine Gun.’ Now I’ve got pretty much everything this genius ever put down on – tapes, live recordings, jams, you name it & believe me, what this guy left behind in terms of body of work is unmatched in the annals of music. He released 3 albums – Are you Experienced; Axis Bold as Love & Electric Ladyland……. but though he was only 27 when Mike Jeffries had him killed, an astonishing 125+ albums have been released since his death. It’s simply mind-boggling.
Anyway, even though I’m certain I have every version of Machine Gun, some 15-20, I thought, I wonder. So I clicked on the link & it was a video I’d never seen before, damn good too. It flew into the library. The chap who posted it though neglected to inform punters that this was an edited version from Berkeley California where hendrix actually played two sets on May 30 1970. I have complete recordings of both concerts; they’re of the highest quality & I believe Hendrix never played better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR4MEEC5RSU
The man
Jimi Hendrix was murdered by his manager Mike Jeffery, plain & simple. At least two of his associates/thugs broke into Monica Dannemann’s apartment & proceeded to funnel 4 bottles of red wine along with several barbiturates down Jimi’s throat. Much as they would have prefered, they couldn’t kill Dannemann because this would have made it a case of double murder. Not only would Jeffrey kiss the $2 million life insurance money goodbye, he would be the chief suspect.
Dannemann was in all likelihood told “open your mouth; you’re dead!” Professional killers have no conscience & when it comes to putting the frighteners on, they revel in it. The poor lady must have been terrified. These vermin had just ended the life of one of the greatest musicians ever. Who was she? A German figure-skater! That’s as good as no one! Doesn’t bode too well when you’ve just witnessed a murder & the killers know it. I’ll bet it went something like this – ‘choice is yours girl. Live or die. Your family can live or die. What’s it gonna be?….. You can be sure the fear of God was put into her. She had to know if she opened her mouth, come what may, she’d be brown bread!
And you can be sure too, for the next 26 years Dannemann must have been absolutely driven round the bend. How could she ever meet anyone who wouldn’t say ‘so what actually happened that night?’ Also Dannemann must have experienced a chronic level of mental persecution. She knew many people felt she let Jimi & all his fans down by not speaking out. I would have loved it if she suddenly decided to pull the plug on Jeffrey but I understand why she didn’t. Sadly, most folk are unable to place themselves in a similar situation yet they nevertheless pass judgement. When Dannemann ended her own life in 1996, it was no surprise. I felt her death was a process that began 26 years earlier!
Just to give you an idea of what a toe-rag Jeffrey was, as well as show what Jimi had to put up with, in 1969, the Hendrix Experience, in Jimi’s mind at least, was done & dusted. It had served it’s purpose. It was time to move on. This is the only route a creative genius can take. Money doesn’t enter the equation. Most musicians however, especially the more successful ones, care first & foremost, for the money. With Jimi, music was the only thing that mattered. I mean imagine – you’re the highest paid act; offers coming in from every direction; order books full….. yet even though you see but a fraction of the colossal earnings, no one says a dickie bird. Small wonder Jeffrey was busy siphoning off lumps & stashing it in the Bahamas. Jimi just wanted to play.
However, Hendrix wanted to experiment. Not content with having stolen millions, Jeffrey saw this as the mother of all nest eggs vanishing down the Swanee river. Tragically, had this cretin not been so greedy & short-sighted he may have realised the truth – being head & shoulders above all his peers, both as player & writer, whatever Jimi decided to do was bound to be par excellence……& most importantly, CERTAIN TO MAKE MONEY! This is how thick these people are – unable to see further than a dollar bill. So in the summer of 69 Jimi was rehearsing for Woodstock but when Jeffrey got word Hendrix was dumping the Experience & intended to utilise a 7 piece band, he did his nut. Why else would he send two men to upstate New York where Jimi was rehearsing. They made their presence felt by firing rounds into a tree. Jimi would look out of the window; they’d look at him & then proceed to fire more bullets into the tree. Noel Redding confirmed this. These bastards were sending Hendrix a chilling message.
Can you imagine how Jimi must have felt? Bad enough being threatened but this good-for-nothing scumbag of chronic proportions ‘manager’ was undermining his awesome creativity, something that must have been gut-wrenching for Jimi. Now…… what I find so incredible is, after all this, how would Jimi fair on stage at Woodstock….. a new 7 piece band that’s never played a gig & they were closing this historical musical event? Well, okay, the band wasn’t so tight but for a debut gig, they sure put on some show. However, throughout the 2 hour 40 minute set, Jimi’s performance was something quite extraordinary. Here was the master. If ever you get the chance to watch the whole set….. DO SO! He was simply incredible.
Just for the record – finally someone realised Jeffrey had to be stealing lumps. Jimi was in the process of suing his manager when unbeknown to him, Jeffrey had taken a massive life insurance policy out on Hendrix. Jeffrey even revealed Hendrix was worth more to him dead than alive. The only higher order conspiracy involving Jimi’s death though was the fact the authorities really didn’t give a shit. As much as they probably felt something untoward had taken place, those in the upper echelons of power were only too happy to see another anti-war superstar musician bite the dust.
This was hardly a complicated case. Dannemann declared she couldn’t wake Jimi up. With a shitload of Elephant tranquilisers in the stomach, DAMN RIGHT SHE COULDN’T! Crucially the autopsy revealed 4 BOTTLES OF RED WINE IN HIS STOMACH TOO! Having bought a lorry-load of wine & having drunk the lot, pretty much in record time, I can safely say, having the equivalent of 4 bottles worth in the stomach, at any one time, is impossible. I’m one of the few idiots on the planet daft enough to have drunk 4 bottles in a day. Yet, had I kicked the proverbial bucket, an autopsy would confirm I was off my trolley but my stomach never possessed more than a bottle, maybe bottle & a half of wine. There’s a limit to how much one can guzzle, especially when one’s taken several strong sleeping pills. This was murder – end of story.
Here is the account of John Bannister, the Doctor who was on duty when Hendrix was brought in –
“The amount of wine that was over him was just extraordinary. Not only was it saturated right through his hair and shirt but his lungs and stomach were absolutely full of wine. I have never seen so much wine.”
All of a sudden, almost as if to affirm this, even though Jimi had no needle marks on his body & the fact he’d never been a Heroine addict, the media declared he died of a Heroine overdose. Of course the contemptible media know they’re up for none – able to plant erroneous seeds into the minds of the uninitiated to further whatever agenda they have while losing nothing for getting it all arse about face! Job done. Everyone confused. Hendrix, a genius the likes of which we will never see again, died by choking on his own vomit! The 4 bottles of red wine & a shitload of barbs that were in his stomach really didn’t matter that much. Yeah right!
The Death Certificate
http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/deathcert/hendrix,%20jimi_dc.pdf
Legend! One of THE greatest and original Legends!
Very interesting article Michael.
On a side note, i have been one of the few idiots, to a degree, but never managed 4 bottles.
Think i done about two and a half at some Jazz band gig, to be fair i am not a wine drinker and
wasn’t accustomed to wine. Always thought it was foul. But as it was a wine and cheese night i
went with the flow. Been a hard drinker in my past and could drink (sadly) most people under the table.
The point being, 4 bottles is more than enough to knock near enough ANYBODY sparko! 3 would do the trick with even the most stupid people (like i was).
It is quite clear to many that the deaths of most of the ‘freedom fighters’ or ‘Peacemakers’ whatever you want to call them, are extremely suspicious. Well, they would be, when the same thing repeats a pattern starts to emerge.
Indeed he was Simon.
Is t true that he put his trips in his bandana and when he played the acid would seep into his pores?
Indeed he was Simon.
I can’t say I heard that one Denis but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Thanks Michael, your page is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorites! Just listened to machine gun for the first time in a while and my hair is standing up on end, I am in total agreement he was the best ever to pick up a guitar bar none!
I had no idea he was murdered but it completely rings true and I must say I too could represent my country at drinking-I have draught peroni and cider in my kitchen FFS and I can handsomely confirm that it is impossible to down 4 bottles of wine, end of! As a composition, machine gun is unsurpassed in its musical rendering of the horror and evils of war, it completely floored me when I heard it for the first time as a guitar slinging teen and it still has the same impact today, I hope a lot of people who have never heard it will be similarly impressed, thanks mate!
Well thank you Sam. Much appreciate that. Courting popularity never enters the equation yet paradoxically, I tend to drive myself to the point of exasperation because I care so much about what I deliver. Long gone are the days where merely posting a caption qualifies as a job well done. There’s nothing wrong with that but since some good friends created this website for me, it gives the opportunity to package a post better than one may do on FB. Of course, it’s a fine balancing act writing about key issues without boring people & providing variety without being too self-indulgent. I rarely write about subjects close to my heart – astro & quantum physics, several sports & of course music but every so often one indulges………
I see we’ve got some serious drinkers here.. Excellent….. though I’m more than pleased to have vastly curtailed the amount guzzled. The key to Jimi’s death is what was in his stomach & the fact these critical details did not in the final analysis provide the foundation to explain why Jimi died means something was up. Then it’s simply a question of connecting the dots. As you rightly say Sam – though it’s not impossible to drink 4 bottles of wine one after the other, NO ONE DOES THAT!
As for the song Machine Gun, to adequately gauge such a thing requires that little extra & your description is a damn good one. For me this is as near an art form can get to perfectly depict pain, suffering & the horrors of war. Music offers the opportunity to outdo what painters, poets or writers can do. However, though there are musician aplenty who’d dearly love to dig deep into the soul to produce something that mirrors how they feel about a certain subject matter, to have one capable of doing it almost at will is something truly remarkable. Virtuosos abound. this is not about technique. Of course one has to be damn good but to get into the realms where one’s instrument appears almost as if it’s part of your body? Paganini, Mozart, Beethoven – they could do it. Larry Adler’s Harmonica – one only has to listen to his unbelievable rendition of Summertime, the Gershwin classic, to know something very special is going on. I believe Jimi Hendrix didn’t just have this rare ability; with the electric guitar being the perfect instrument, Hendrix could reach levels no musician had ever attained. His version of Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock & Machine Gun live on the Band of Gypsies album at Fillmore East are testament to this.
Most internet dummies don’t accept the fact Jimi was murdered. It’s good that people are catching on.
There’s a couple of minor errors on this article. The barbiturates were taken at least an hour before Jimi was drowned in wine. They had to have time to take effect – which was the plan in the first place, to make him pass-out so there was no resistance. Monika died 25 years later. And there was no wine registered at the autopsy. It was witnessed at the hospital when they tried to save Jimi. Otherwise this is pretty much it. The reason governments and the media ignore these facts is because they were involved and continue to cover it up.
Thank you SD. Everything I said was off the top of my head but I’m sure what you say is correct.
Wow, Michael! I was just a kid back then! Thank you for posting this! So very sad!
So was I Mary & you’re most welcome