Two halves of a rare signed manuscript of lyrics by Jimi Hendrix have been pieced together 55 years after they were torn in two.
The legendary guitarist was in the early stages of his career when his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, played the Bath Pavilion on the evening of Feb. 20, 1967, standing in for Chuck Berry, who had canceled.
Before the concert, two local girls, aged 15 and 16, made their way to the backstage door in search of an autograph.
Photo: AFP
Hendrix stepped out to meet them, but had no blank paper. Instead, he tore out a page from an exercise book, ripped it in half and signed both pieces.
Fellow band members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding also added their signatures.
As the teenagers walked home after the gig they turned over the pieces of paper to find handwritten lyrics headed “51st Wedding Anniversary” with the side heading “Key of B.”
Just three weeks later, 51st Anniversary was released as the B-side to Hendrix’s second top-10 UK chart hit Purple Haze.
The two teens drifted apart, taking the pieces of paper with them.
However, last year one of the women approached Lancashire-based rock ’n’ roll memorabilia store Tracks Limited for a quote for her set of autographs.
At the request of Tracks, the seller managed to track down her friend — despite limited contact over the past five decades — in Bath to find she had also kept her piece of the page intact.
Both women, who want to remain anonymous, agreed to sell their halves of the manuscript, which is now valued at a five-figure sum.
“There are extremely few Jimi Hendrix manuscripts in existence and even fewer that have been signed by Jimi and the other two members of the Experience,” Tracks owner Paul Wane said.
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