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==Post-mortem== ==Post-mortem==
To determine the cause of death, ] Gavin Thurston ordered a ] examination on Hendrix's body, which was performed on September 21 by Professor ], a ].{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=155–161, 172–174}} Teare did not find any evidence of violence or suicide and concluded that Hendrix accidentally ]d.<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=158–159}}: no evidence of violence or injuries; {{harvnb|Moskowitz|2010|p=83}}: no evidence of suicide, Hendrix had accidentally ]d; {{harvnb|George-Warren|2001|p=429: (tertiary source)}}.</ref> Teare gave the cause of death as: "Inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication."{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=159}} He reported that there were "no stigmata of drug addiction. Once these marks are there, they never go away. In this case, there were no marks at all."{{sfn|Black|1999|p=248}} He stated that Hendrix's ] was an insignificant 100 mg per 100 ml, "enough to fail a ] test&nbsp;... the equivalent of about four pints of beer."<ref>{{harvnb|Moskowitz|2010|pp=82–83}}: "the equivalent of about four pints of beer"; {{harvnb|Shapiro|Glebbeek|1995|pp=470–471}}: Hendrix's ] was an insignificant 100 mg per 100 mls.</ref> In addition to 1.8 grams of barbiturate that Teare estimates Hendrix ingested, he also identified 20 mg of amphetamine and 20 mg of cannabis.{{sfn|Moskowitz|2010|p=83}}{{refn|group=nb|In the mid-1990s, Dr. Rufus Crompton, a former student of Teare's and his successor at the Department of Forensic Medicine in ], re-examined Teare's post-mortem report. He concluded that the barbiturate level in Hendrix's blood, 0.7 mg/100 ml, was above the toxic level of 0.5 mg/100 ml. He stated that this level of barbiturate intoxication would have significantly inhibited Hendrix's ], making it difficult for him to breathe after he began to vomit.{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=164–165}}}} To determine the cause of death, ] Gavin Thurston ordered a ] examination on Hendrix's body, which was performed on September 21 by Professor ], a ].{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=155–161, 172–174}} Teare did not find any evidence of violence or suicide and concluded that Hendrix accidentally ]d.<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=158–159}}: no evidence of violence or injuries; {{harvnb|Moskowitz|2010|p=83}}: no evidence of suicide, Hendrix had accidentally ]d; {{harvnb|George-Warren|2001|p=429: (tertiary source)}}.</ref> Teare gave the cause of death as: "Inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication."{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=159}} He reported that there were "no stigmata of drug addiction. Once these marks are there, they never go away. In this case, there were no marks at all."{{sfn|Black|1999|p=248}} He stated that Hendrix's ] was an insignificant 100 mg per 100 ml, "enough to fail a ] test&nbsp;... the equivalent of about four pints of beer."<ref>{{harvnb|Moskowitz|2010|pp=82–83}}: "the equivalent of about four pints of beer"; {{harvnb|Shapiro|Glebbeek|1995|pp=470–471}}: Hendrix's ] was an insignificant 100 mg per 100 mls.</ref> Teare estimated that Hendrix had ingested 1.8 grams of barbiturate, 20 mg of amphetamine, and 20 mg of cannabis that night.{{sfn|Moskowitz|2010|p=83}}{{refn|group=nb|In the mid-1990s, Dr. Rufus Crompton, a former student of Teare's and his successor at the Department of Forensic Medicine in ], re-examined Teare's post-mortem report. He concluded that the barbiturate level in Hendrix's blood, 0.7 mg/100 ml, was above the toxic level of 0.5 mg/100 ml. He stated that this level of barbiturate intoxication would have significantly inhibited Hendrix's ], making it difficult for him to breathe after he began to vomit.{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=164–165}}}}


Teare concluded that Hendrix was "well nourished and muscular", and he identified a quarter-inch scar on Hendrix's left wrist.{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=158}}{{refn|group=nb|Etchingham said the scar was there when Hendrix arrived in England in 1966.{{sfn|Shapiro|Glebbeek|1995|pp=471–472}}}} Teare observed that the right side of Hendrix's heart was widely dilated, but found no evidence of ]. He discovered a partially collapsed left lung and 400 ml of fluid in Hendrix's chest. Both lungs were congested, and vomited material was found in the smaller ].{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=158–159}} According to Teare, Hendrix's stomach "contained a medium sized partially digested meal in which rice could be distinguished."{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=159}} Teare concluded that Hendrix's kidneys were healthy, but his liver was congested. His "bladder was half full of clear urine", and an analysis of his blood "revealed a mixture of barbiturates consistent with those from Vesparax".{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=159–160}} Teare did not attempt to determine Hendrix's time of death.{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=159–163}}{{refn|group=nb|According to Crompton, food usually remains in the stomach for less than four hours. Based on the post-mortem identification of whole rice grains in Hendrix's stomach and reports that Hendrix ate rice sometime between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., Crompton concluded that Hendrix died no later than 4 a.m.{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=164}}}} Teare concluded that Hendrix was "well nourished and muscular", and he identified a quarter-inch scar on Hendrix's left wrist.{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=158}}{{refn|group=nb|Etchingham said the scar was there when Hendrix arrived in England in 1966.{{sfn|Shapiro|Glebbeek|1995|pp=471–472}}}} Teare observed that the right side of Hendrix's heart was widely dilated, but found no evidence of ]. He discovered a partially collapsed left lung and 400 ml of fluid in Hendrix's chest. Both lungs were congested, and vomited material was found in the smaller ].{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=158–159}} According to Teare, Hendrix's stomach "contained a medium sized partially digested meal in which rice could be distinguished."{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=159}} Teare concluded that Hendrix's kidneys were healthy, but his liver was congested. His "bladder was half full of clear urine", and an analysis of his blood "revealed a mixture of barbiturates consistent with those from Vesparax".{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=159–160}} Teare did not attempt to determine Hendrix's time of death.{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=159–163}}{{refn|group=nb|According to Crompton, food usually remains in the stomach for less than four hours. Based on the post-mortem identification of whole rice grains in Hendrix's stomach and reports that Hendrix ate rice sometime between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., Crompton concluded that Hendrix died no later than 4 a.m.{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=164}}}}

Revision as of 02:38, 25 February 2013

Death of Jimi Hendrix
Samarkand Hotel in September 2008
DateSeptember 18, 1970 (1970-09-18)
LocationSamarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill, London, England
CauseAsphyxia due to
aspiration of vomit due to
barbiturate intoxication
BurialOctober 1, 1970 at Greenwood Cemetary, Renton, Washington, USA
InquestSeptember 28, 1970 in London, England
CoronerGavin Thurston
VerdictOpen

On September 18, 1970, American musician Jimi Hendrix died in London, at the age of 27 years. In the days before his death, Hendrix had been in poor health, due in part to severe exhaustion caused by overworking, a chronic lack of sleep, and a persistent case of influenza. Insecurities about his personal relationships and disillusionment with the music industry had also contributed to his frustration. Although the details of his final hours and death are unclear and disputed, Hendrix spent much of his last day with Monika Dannemann. She awoke on the morning of September 18 in her flat at the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill and found Hendrix unresponsive. Dannemann called for an ambulance at 11:18 a.m., and he was taken to St Mary Abbot's Hospital where an attempt was made to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 12:45 p.m.

The post-mortem examination concluded that Hendrix aspirated his own vomit and died of asphyxia, while he was intoxicated with barbiturates. At the inquest, no evidence of violence or suicide was found; nevertheless, citing "insufficient evidence of the circumstances", the coroner declared an open verdict. Dannemann later claimed that Hendrix, unaware of the brand's high potency, took nine of her prescribed Vesparax sleeping tablets. Intended to be taken in half tablet increments, nine whole tablets of the powerful sedative amounted to 18 times the recommended dosage.

On October 1, 1970, Hendrix was interred at Greenwood Cemetary in Renton, Washington. In 1992, Hendrix's former girlfriend Kathy Etchingham asked UK authorities to reopen the investigation into his death. A subsequent inquiry by Scotland Yard proved inconclusive, and in 1993 they decided against proceeding with the investigation.

Background

Jimi Hendrix (born November 27, 1942) was an American musician and one of the most influential guitarists of the 1960s. His Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music. Hendrix expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar into areas no musician had ever ventured before. His boundless drive, technical ability and creative application of such effects as wah-wah and distortion forever transformed the sound of rock and roll."

During the week before his death, he was dealing with two pending lawsuits, one a paternity case and the other a recording contract dispute that was due to be heard by a UK High Court the following week. He was also troubled with wanting to leave his manager, Michael Jeffery. Hendrix was fatigued and suffering from poor health, due in part to severe exhaustion caused by overworking, a chronic lack of sleep and a persistent case of influenza. Lacking trusting personal relationships, his insecurities about the future and disillusionment with the music industry contributed to his frustration.

On September 11, 1970, Hendrix gave his final interview in his suite at the Cumberland Hotel in London, where he talked with Keith Altham, a journalist for the Record Mirror. During the interview, Hendrix confirmed reports that bass player Billy Cox was leaving Hendrix's band, the Experience. Cox, who had also been suffering from severe exhaustion, was exhibiting symptoms of paranoia, and Hendrix decided that he and Cox should suspend their plans to collaborate musically. When Altham asked Hendrix: "Do you feel any kind of compulsion to prove yourself as King Guitar", Hendrix replied: "No, I don't even let that bother me. Because they say a lot of things about people that, if they let it bother them, they wouldn't even be around today ... King Guitar now? Wow, that's a bit heavy." Altham also suggested that Hendrix invented psychedelic music, to which he laughed and replied: "A mad scientist approach ... I don't consider the invention of psychedelic, it's just asking a lot of questions."

The following day, Hendrix received a phone call from one of his girlfriends, Devon Wilson. She heard rumours that he was dating another woman, Kristen Nefer, and was jealous. Nefer recalled: "I heard Jimi talk to Devon ... she was mad ... she went into fits ... Jimi said 'Devon, get off my back'". Hendrix was scheduled to perform in Rotterdam on September 13, but the show, along with three others, was cancelled due to Cox's incapacitation. During the evening of September 13, Nefer visited Hendrix at the Cumberland. After informing him that she would have to go back to work that evening, he convinced her to phone her boss, actor George Lazenby, and ask for the night off. Lazenby became angry and shouted over the phone to Nefer: "You're nothing but a fucking groupie", which Hendrix overheard. The exchange upset him, and he told Nefer: "Don't you ever go out to that guy again". Nefer explained to him that she had spent six months working on a film with Lazenby and that she did not want to quit her job; Hendrix eventually agreed. Nefer spent the night with him and left in the morning.

Hendrix spent most of the early afternoon and evening of September 14 with record producer Alan Douglas, discussing his career plans. In the early morning hours of September 15, he accompanied Douglas, who was returning to New York, to London's Heathrow Airport. Hendrix confidante Sharon Lawrence was in London, and she spoke with him that day. Lawrence commented: "Jimi tracked me down, detailing his pressures and discussing the 'so-called friends'. He was jittery and angry." According to Lawrence, Hendrix told her: "I can't sleep. I can't focus to write any songs." Later that afternoon, girlfriend Monika Dannemann arrived at the Cumberland. She and Hendrix then drove to her apartment in the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill.

During the afternoon of September 15, Hendrix was asked by friend Eric Burdon, formerly of the Animals, if he wanted to participate in a jam session at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with Burdon's newly formed band, War. Hendrix accepted, but when he arrived at the club that evening, he was not allowed to play due to his apparently drug-related disorientation. Burdon commented: "Jimi came down and was well out of it. He ... was wobbling too much to play, so I told him to come back the following night." When Hendrix returned the next night, he was in better physical form, though his guitar playing was uncharacteristically subdued when he sat-in with War on "Tobacco Road" and "Mother Earth". This was the last time Hendrix played guitar in public.

Final hours

Morning and early afternoon

A color image of a man sitting at a table in the outdoors holding a black guitar.
One of the last photographs of Hendrix, at the Samarkand Hotel, September 17, 1970.

Details of Hendrix's last day and death are unclear and widely disputed. He spent much of September 17 in London with Monika Dannemann, the only eyewitness to his final hours. He awoke late that morning at Dannemann's flat in the Samarkand Hotel. By around 2 p.m. he sat in a garden area outside the apartment enjoying some tea while she took photographs of him holding a favorite Fender Stratocaster guitar that he called the "black beauty".

According to Dannemann, by 3 p.m. they left the apartment to use a bank and then followed onto Kennington Market, where Hendrix signed an autograph for a young boy, purchased a leather jacket, and ordered some shoes. He also briefly spoke with ex-girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, inviting her to visit him at his hotel that evening at 8 p.m.; she declined the invitation due to prior engagements and later admitted that she had "regretted it ever since". Hendrix and Dannemann then went to a Chelsea antiques market, where Hendrix purchased more clothing.

After another stop to buy writing paper, which he later used to compose his final lyrics, Dannemann and Hendrix drove to his suite at the Cumberland Hotel, and met Devon Wilson as she walked down King's Road. Hendrix asked Dannemann to stop the car so that he could get out and talk with Wilson, who invited Hendrix to a party that evening. Dannemann reportedly became jealous, giving Wilson a cold stare during the brief meeting. Later, Phillip Harvey invited Dannemann and Hendrix to tea; they accepted. Prior to their arrival at Harvey's, they briefly stopped by the Cumberland.

While at the hotel, Hendrix made several telephone calls. Dannemann said he phoned his lawyer Henry Steingarten, asking him to find a way out of his contract with his manager Mike Jeffery, and producer Eddie Kramer, for whom Hendrix left a voice message. Mitch Mitchell said that he called Hendrix at the Cumberland on September 17, after having been asked to do so by tour manager Gerry Stickells, who had spoken to Hendrix just minutes earlier. Mitchell said that during the phone conversation Hendrix agreed to join him around midnight at a previously arranged jam session, which included Sly Stone.

Late afternoon and evening

After stopping at the Cumberland, Hendrix and Dannemann followed Harvey to his luxurious apartment, arriving around 5:30 p.m. Hendrix and Dannemann smoked hashish and drank tea and wine with Harvey and two of Harvey's female companions while discussing their individual careers. Sometime around 10 p.m., Dannemann, apparently feeling left out of the conversation and jealous of the attention Hendrix was giving Harvey's attractive female friends, became visibly upset and stormed out of the flat. Hendrix followed her, and a loud argument ensued between them during which Dannemann reportedly shouted: "you fucking pig". Harvey, concerned that their yelling would draw unwanted attention from the police, asked Hendrix and Dannemann to quieten down.

Harvey, who had remained silent about the incident out of respect for his English nobleman father, gave a sworn affidavit after his father's death in 1994. In his statement, he claims to have been mildly concerned for Hendrix's safety, worried that Dannemann would "resort to serious physical violence". According to Harvey, Dannemann "verbally assaulted in the most offensive possible way". Approximately 30 minutes later, Hendrix re-entered the flat and apologized for the outburst before leaving with Dannemann at 10:40 p.m. Dannemann claimed to have then prepared a meal for them at her apartment around 11 p.m., when they shared a bottle of wine. Sometime after returning to the apartment, Hendrix took a bath, then wrote lyrics for a song titled "The Story of Life".

After midnight

At approximately 1:45 a.m. on September 18, wanting to attend the party that Wilson had invited him to earlier at the residence of an acquaintance and business associate, Pete Kameron, Hendrix asked Dannemann to drive him there. At the party, Hendrix complained to Kameron about business problems, ate some food, and took at least one amphetamine tablet. Approximately 30 minutes later, Dannemann rang the flat's intercom and said that she was there to pick Hendrix up. Another guest, Stella Douglas, respectfully asked her to return later, which she soon did. According to guest Angie Burdon, the estranged wife of Eric Burdon of the Animals, when Danneman came back, Douglas used an assertive approach with her to the point of being impolite. Undeterred, Dannemann demanded to speak with Hendrix. Burdon recalled: " got angry because wouldn't leave him alone." According to Burdon, other guests at the party shouted out the windows at Dannemann, asking her to leave. Hendrix eventually yielded and spoke with Dannemann before unexpectedly leaving the party around 3 a.m.

Dannemann said that sometime after 3 a.m., she prepared two tuna fish sandwiches for her and Hendrix. Around 4 a.m., Hendrix, struggling with insomnia after having consumed amphetamines hours earlier, asked her for sleeping tablets. She later said she refused his request hoping he would fall asleep naturally. Dannemann said she surreptitiously took a sleeping tablet sometime around 6 a.m., with Hendrix still awake, and awoke around 10 a.m. to find him sleeping normally. She claimed to have then left to purchase cigarettes, and when she returned around 11 a.m., found Hendrix breathing, though unconscious and unresponsive. She called an ambulance at 11:18 a.m.; they arrived on the scene at 11:27 a.m.

The ambulance crew left the hotel at approximately 11:35 a.m. to take Hendrix to St Mary Abbot's Hospital, arriving at 11:45 a.m. Medical registrar Dr. Martin Seifert stated: "Jimi was rushed into the room. He was put on a monitor, but it was flat. I pounded his heart a couple of times, but there was no point, he was dead". According to Seifert, the attempt to resuscitate Hendrix lasted "just a few minutes". Surgical registrar, Dr. John Bannister commented: "He was cold and he was blue. He had all the parameters of someone who had been dead for some time. We worked on him for about half an hour without any response at all." Bannister pronounced Hendrix dead at 12:45 p.m., on September 18, 1970. He later stated: "On admission he was obviously dead. He had no pulse, no heartbeat, and the attempt to resuscitate him was merely a formality."

Post-mortem

To determine the cause of death, coroner Gavin Thurston ordered a post-mortem examination on Hendrix's body, which was performed on September 21 by Professor Robert Donald Teare, a forensic pathologist. Teare did not find any evidence of violence or suicide and concluded that Hendrix accidentally overdosed. Teare gave the cause of death as: "Inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication." He reported that there were "no stigmata of drug addiction. Once these marks are there, they never go away. In this case, there were no marks at all." He stated that Hendrix's blood alcohol content was an insignificant 100 mg per 100 ml, "enough to fail a breathalyzer test ... the equivalent of about four pints of beer." Teare estimated that Hendrix had ingested 1.8 grams of barbiturate, 20 mg of amphetamine, and 20 mg of cannabis that night.

Teare concluded that Hendrix was "well nourished and muscular", and he identified a quarter-inch scar on Hendrix's left wrist. Teare observed that the right side of Hendrix's heart was widely dilated, but found no evidence of valvular heart disease. He discovered a partially collapsed left lung and 400 ml of fluid in Hendrix's chest. Both lungs were congested, and vomited material was found in the smaller bronchi. According to Teare, Hendrix's stomach "contained a medium sized partially digested meal in which rice could be distinguished." Teare concluded that Hendrix's kidneys were healthy, but his liver was congested. His "bladder was half full of clear urine", and an analysis of his blood "revealed a mixture of barbiturates consistent with those from Vesparax". Teare did not attempt to determine Hendrix's time of death.

Thurston held the inquest on September 28, and concluded that Hendrix aspirated his own vomit and died of asphyxia while he was intoxicated with barbiturates. Citing "insufficient evidence of the circumstances", he declared an open verdict. Dannemann later stated that Hendrix, unaware of the brand's high potency, took nine of her prescribed Vesparax sleeping tablets, which were intended to be taken in half-tablet increments. Nine tablets of the powerful sedative amounted to 18 times the recommended dosage.

On September 29, Hendrix's body was flown to Seattle, Washington. After a service at Dunlop Baptist Church on October 1, he was interred at Greenwood Cemetary in Renton, Washington, the location of his mother's gravesite. Hendrix's family and friends traveled in twenty-four limousines. More than two hundred people attended the funeral, including several notable musicians such as original Experience members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, as well as Miles Davis, John Hammond and Johnny Winter.

Inconsistencies

Tony Brown, author of Jimi Hendrix: The Final Days (1997), had been in regular contact with Dannemann from 1980 until her death in 1996. He visited with her on more than one occasion and spoke with her several times over the phone. Soon after contacting her, Brown came to the conclusion that her account of the events of Hendrix's final days "would change from one call to the next." In the days following Hendrix's death, she gave two significantly different statements to the police.

At approximately 4 p.m. on September 18, Dannemann gave a statement to Police Sergeant John Shaw. According to Shaw, Dannemann told him, "We went to sleep about 7 a.m. When I woke up at eleven his face was covered in vomit and he was breathing noisily. I sent for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital. I also noticed that ten of my sleeping tablets were missing." In a statement given to P. Weyell of the coroner's office on September 23, Dannemann said that she and Hendrix stayed in the previous night and that she prepared a meal of tuna fish for them at her apartment. Etchingham later refuted Dannemann's account, insisting that Hendrix strongly disliked tuna and would never have asked for it. Dannemann commented: "He did take one tiny bite, then put down the sandwich and didn't touch it anymore." She also told Weyell that she and Hendrix talked until 2 a.m., when she dropped him off at a party, where he remained for about 45 minutes before she picked him up again, returning to her flat. Dannemann told Weyell: "On our arrival I made a sandwich and we talked until about 7 a.m. He then said that he wanted to go to sleep. He took some tablets and we went to bed. I woke up about 11:00 a.m., and saw that Jimi's face was covered in vomit. I tried to wake him but could not. I called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital in Kensington ... Prior to going with him to the hospital, I checked my supply of Vesparax sleeping tablets and found that nine of them were missing."

Although Dannemann said Hendrix was alive when placed in the ambulance at approximately 11:30 a.m. and that she rode with him on the way to the hospital, the ambulance crew later denied she was there. Statements from the paramedics who responded to the call support that they found Hendrix alone in the flat when they arrived at 11:27 a.m., fully clothed and apparently already dead. Ambulance crew member Reg Jones later commented: " we arrived at the flat, the door was flung wide open, nobody about, just the body on the bed." John Saua, the other ambulance crew member stated: "There was just me and the casualty and Reg the driver. Nobody else." According to Jones, Hendrix's bowels and bladder had released some of their contents prior to the ambulance crew's arrival at the Samarkand. Saua stated that the vomit was dry when they arrived, making use of their aspirator ineffective. Saua commented: "When we moved , the gases were gurgling, you get that when someone has died".

According to Ian Smith, one of two police officers who responded to the emergency call at around 11:30 a.m.: "The ambulance men were there, but Jimi was dead ... There was really nothing they could do for him." Smith also disputes Dannemann's claim that she was there with Hendrix at the flat and in the ambulance: "No, I remember quite clearly the doors shutting on the crew and Jimi ... there was no one about. If she had been in the flat, they would never have called us to come ... But because no one was there, he was dead and circumstances were a little odd, suspicious, they radioed ... us in. It wasn't until later in the day that I found out that it was Jimi Hendrix." In 1992, after having conducted an extensive review of the events of September 18, 1970, the London Ambulance Service issued an official statement: "There was no one else, except the deceased, at the flat when they arrived; nor did anyone else accompany them in the ambulance to St. Mary Abbotts Hospital."

According to Bannister, Hendrix asphyxiated mainly on red wine, which filled his airways. Bannister's statement was made in January 1992 to Harry Shapiro, co-author of Electric Gypsy, a book which also featured accusations of malpractice by Dannemann in regards to Bannister's not performing a tracheotomy on Hendrix. No one else at the time, the other doctors, ambulance crew, or the police mentioned wine. Only Dannemann mentioned wine, in the first edition of Electric Gypsy (1990) which Bannister read previous to making the statement. The autopsy found relatively low levels of alcohol in his system and never mentioned wine, only vomited matter. Jones commented: "It was horrific. He was covered in vomit. There was tons of it all over the pillow—black and brown it was. His airway was completely blocked all the way down ... We felt his pulse ... showed a light in his eyes. But there was no response at all. I knew he was dead as soon as I walked in the room".

Scotland Yard inquiry

In 1992, having arranged for a private investigation of Hendrix's death, Etchingham supplied the results of the effort to UK authorities and requested they reopen the coroner's inquest. After a several-month inquiry by Scotland Yard, during which every concerned party to the events was interviewed, officials were confident the request would be granted. The investigation eventually proved inconclusive in 1993, when Attorney General Sir Nicholas Lyell decided that proceeding with the investigation would not serve the public, due in part to the excessive period of time that had passed since Hendrix's death.

Final lyrics

Sometime during the morning of September 18, Dannemann phoned Eric Burdon, frantically complaining that she could not wake Hendrix, Burdon urged her to call an ambulance and was one of the first people to arrive on the scene. When Burdon arrived at the Samarkand, he found that Hendrix was already dead and he immediately became concerned that police would find drugs at the apartment. As he was collecting incriminating evidence, he found some lyrics that Hendrix had written hours earlier, titled "The Story of Life". The following is an excerpt from those lyrics:

The story of Jesus
so easy to explain
After they crucified him,

a woman, she claimed his name

We as men
can't explain the reason why
the woman's always mentioned
at the moment that we die

The story of life
is quicker than the wink of an eye
The story of love
is hello and goodbye
Until we meet again

Burdon, who said he had previously discussed suicide and death with Hendrix and knew him to have been depressed, assumed that the lyrics were a suicide note. Under this assumption, Burdon made comments to the press regarding his belief that Hendrix had committed suicide that he has since recanted: "I made false statements ... I simply didn't understand what the situation was. I misread the note ... I thought it was a goodbye". Dannemann later commented on the lyrics, stating that Hendrix told her: "I want you to keep this forever, I don't want you to forget anything that is written. It's a story about you and me".

Notes

  1. The contract dispute stemmed from a three-year deal Hendrix had signed with producer Ed Chalpin in October 1965, less than one year before Hendrix went to England, signed with Track Records, and formed the Experience. The paternity suit was brought against Hendrix by Diane Carpenter after the birth of her child, Tamika James Lawrence Carpenter.
  2. On September 16, Hendrix refused to meet with his lawyer, Henry Steingarten, who wanted to discuss the pending court cases.
  3. In the opinion of author Tony Brown, "Jimi doesn't look particularly healthy in these photographs: his face seems a little puffy and on only a few of the pictures does he attempt to smile." After Hendrix's death, Dannemann took possession of the guitar. It is now owned by former Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth.
  4. Cumberland staff reported seeing Hendrix that afternoon. He ordered room service and arranged for his shoes to be cleaned.
  5. According to Jeffery's assistant Trixie Sullivan, Hendrix called and left a message for Jeffery that afternoon.
  6. According to Mitchell, this occurred sometime around 6:45 p.m.
  7. Dannemann claimed that Mitchell telephoned Hendrix at the Samarkand around 8:30 p.m. on the evening of September 17; however, Mitchell denied knowing the telephone number of the Samarkand or that Hendrix was with Dannemann in London and said that he called Hendrix at the Cumberland. In light of Mitchell and Harvey's statements and Dannemann's account of Hendrix making telephone calls from the Cumberland earlier that day, its more likely that Hendrix spoke with Mitchell and Stickells from his suite there at around 4:30 p.m.
  8. Hendrix tour manager Gerry Sticklles identified the body sometime around 12:00 p.m. Until Sticklles' identification, neither the police, doctors, nor ambulance crew knew that the patient was Hendrix. Soon after he was pronounced dead, a hospital spokesperson told the press: "We don't known where, how, or why he died, but he died of an overdose."
  9. In the mid-1990s, Dr. Rufus Crompton, a former student of Teare's and his successor at the Department of Forensic Medicine in St. George's Hospital Medical School, re-examined Teare's post-mortem report. He concluded that the barbiturate level in Hendrix's blood, 0.7 mg/100 ml, was above the toxic level of 0.5 mg/100 ml. He stated that this level of barbiturate intoxication would have significantly inhibited Hendrix's cough reflex, making it difficult for him to breathe after he began to vomit.
  10. Etchingham said the scar was there when Hendrix arrived in England in 1966.
  11. According to Crompton, food usually remains in the stomach for less than four hours. Based on the post-mortem identification of whole rice grains in Hendrix's stomach and reports that Hendrix ate rice sometime between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., Crompton concluded that Hendrix died no later than 4 a.m.
  12. Although Dannemann says she awoke sometime between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., according to Burdon, Dannemann phoned him as "the first light of dawn was coming through the window." Further, Stickells said he received a phone call regarding a problem with Hendrix "between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m."
  13. The second police officer who arrived at the scene, Tom Keene, has never been located.
  14. On April 28, 1992, in connection with unrelated matters, Bannister was reprimanded for three counts of medical malpractice, and struck off the medical register for fraud.
  15. In 2009, a former roadie for the Animals, James "Tappy" Wright, published a book which claimed that Hendrix's manager, Mike Jeffery, admitted to him that he had Hendrix killed because Hendrix wanted to end his management contract with Jeffery. In 2011, Bob Levine, Wright's long-term business associate and Jeffery's assistant manager in New York, said Wright made up these stories to sell his book.
  16. Dannemann stated that tour managers Gerry Stickells and Eric Barrett had been present before the ambulance was called, and had removed some of Hendrix's possessions, including some of his most recent messages.
  17. In 1996, after being found guilty of libel against Etchingham and contempt of a UK court, Dannemann committed suicide.

Citations

  1. Brown 1997, pp. 172–174.
  2. George-Warren 2001, pp. 428–430.
  3. "Biography of the Jimi Hendrix Experience". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  4. Brown 1997, pp. 5, 100.
  5. ^ Brown 1997, p. 100.
  6. ^ Brown 1997, p. 103.
  7. Brown 1997, p. 5.
  8. Brown 1997, pp. 5–6.
  9. ^ Brown 1997, p. 81.
  10. Brown 1997, pp. 79–80.
  11. Brown 1997, p. 82.
  12. Brown 1997, p. 90.
  13. Brown 1997, p. 99.
  14. ^ Brown 1997, p. 101.
  15. Brown 1997, p. 107.
  16. Unterberger 2009, p. 226.
  17. Hendrix & McDermott 2007, pp. 58–60: Hendrix spending most of September 17 with Dannemann and Dannemann as the only eyewitness to Hendrix's final hours; McDermott 1992, p. 284; Unterberger 2009, pp. 119–126: the disputed details of Hendrix's final hours and death; Moskowitz 2010, p. 82: uncertainty in the specific details of his final hours and death.
  18. Cross 2005, pp. 329–330.
  19. Brown 1997, p. 109.
  20. ^ Brown 1997, pp. 133–134.
  21. Heatley 2009, p. 100.
  22. Brown 1997, pp. 109–110.
  23. ^ Brown 1997, p. 110.
  24. ^ Cross 2005, p. 330.
  25. ^ Brown 1997, p. 110–111.
  26. Brown 1997, p. 120.
  27. Mitchell & Platt 1990, pp. 157–159.
  28. Mitchell & Platt 1990, p. 157.
  29. Mitchell & Platt 1990, pp. 157–159: (primary source); Shadwick 2003, p. 243: (secondary source).
  30. Brown 1997, pp. 120–121.
  31. ^ Brown 1997, p. 122.
  32. ^ Cross 2005, pp. 330–331.
  33. Brown 1997, pp. 116–118.
  34. Brown 1997, p. 117.
  35. ^ Hendrix & McDermott 2007, p. 59.
  36. ^ Cross 2005, p. 331.
  37. Brown 1997, p. 123.
  38. Cross 2005, pp. 331–332.
  39. Cross 2005, p. 332: Dannemann secretly taking a sleeping tablet around 6 a.m.; Hendrix & McDermott 2007, p. 59: Dannemann waking at 10 a.m.
  40. ^ Brown 1997, p. 139.
  41. ^ Brown 1997, p. 145.
  42. Moskowitz 2010, p. 82.
  43. ^ Black 1999, pp. 248–249.
  44. Cross 2005, p. 336.
  45. Brown 1997, p. 146.
  46. Brown 1997, p. 147.
  47. Brown 1997, pp. 155–161, 172–174.
  48. Brown 1997, pp. 158–159: no evidence of violence or injuries; Moskowitz 2010, p. 83: no evidence of suicide, Hendrix had accidentally overdosed; George-Warren 2001, p. 429: (tertiary source).
  49. ^ Brown 1997, p. 159.
  50. Black 1999, p. 248.
  51. Moskowitz 2010, pp. 82–83: "the equivalent of about four pints of beer"; Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, pp. 470–471: Hendrix's blood alcohol content was an insignificant 100 mg per 100 mls.
  52. ^ Moskowitz 2010, p. 83.
  53. Brown 1997, pp. 164–165.
  54. Brown 1997, p. 158.
  55. Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, pp. 471–472.
  56. Brown 1997, pp. 158–159.
  57. Brown 1997, pp. 159–160.
  58. Brown 1997, pp. 159–163.
  59. Brown 1997, p. 164.
  60. Brown 1997, pp. 172–174: Coroner Gavin Thurston's September 28 inquest; Moskowitz 2010, p. 82: Hendrix's September 21 autopsy.
  61. Brown 1997, p. 174.
  62. McDermott 2009, p. 248.
  63. Cross 2005, p. 332.
  64. Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 475.
  65. Cross 2005, pp. 338–340.
  66. Brown 1997, p. 102.
  67. Brown 1997, p. 149.
  68. Brown 1997, p. 157.
  69. ^ Brown 1997, p. 127.
  70. Brown 1997, p. 156.
  71. Brown 1997, pp. 156–157: Dannemann's contradictory accounts of her time of waking, 134: Burdon quote regarding Dannemann's phone call to him.
  72. Brown 1997, p. 135: Dannemann claiming to have rode with to the hospital; Cross 2005, p. 334: paramedics denying that Danneman was there.
  73. Brown 1997, pp. 136–137.
  74. Brown 1997, p. 135.
  75. ^ Brown 1997, p. 136.
  76. ^ Brown 1997, p. 137.
  77. Brown 1997, p. 138.
  78. Brown 1997, pp. 158–161.
  79. The Supreme Court Of New South Wales Court of Appeal (April 30, 1992). "Bannister v Walton" (Document). p. 1. {{cite document}}: Cite document requires |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  80. Redding & Appleby 1996, p. 224: (primary source); Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 475: (secondary source); Brown 1997, pp. 6–8: (additional secondary source).
  81. Brown 1997, p. 7.
  82. Redding & Appleby 1996, p. 224: (primary source); Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 475: (secondary source); Brown 1997, p. 7: (additional secondary source).
  83. Roby & Schreiber 2010, p. 87.
  84. Bosso, Joe (May 26, 2011). "Jimi Hendrix was not murdered by his manager, says former business partner". MusicRadar. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  85. Roby & Schreiber 2010, p. 183.
  86. Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 504.
  87. Cross 2005, p. 335.
  88. Lawrence 2005, pp. 264–265.

Sources

Further reading

  • Brown, Tony (1992). Jimi Hendrix – A Visual Documentary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-2761-2.
  • Doggett, Peter (2004). Jimi Hendrix: The Complete Guide to his Music. Omnibus. ISBN 978-1-84449-424-8.
  • Hendrix, James A. (1999). My Son Jimi. AlJas Enterprises. ISBN 978-0-9667857-0-8.
  • Hendrix, Leon; Mitchell, Adam (2012). Jimi Hendrix: A Brother's Story. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-66881-5.
  • Murray, Charles Shaar (1989). Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and the Rock 'n' Roll Revolution (First US ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-04288-2.
  • Potash, Chris, ed. (1996). The Jimi Hendrix Companion. Omnibus. ISBN 978-0-7119-6635-2.
  • Roby, Steven (2002). Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix. Billboad Books. ISBN 978-0-8230-7854-7.
  • Roby, Steven, ed. (2012). Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-61374-322-5.
Documentaries
  • Joe Boyd, John Head, Gary Weis (Directors) (2005) . Jimi Hendrix (DVD) (in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround and Dolby Digital 5.1). Warner Home Video. ASIN B0009E3234. {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  • Bob Smeaton (Director) (2012). West Coast Seattle Boy: Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child (Blu-ray DVD) (in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Sony Legacy. ASIN B007ZC92FA. {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
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