Jimi Hendrix fans are getting a new view of his life courtesy of Eric Barrett. The former Hendrix roadie recounts his adventures with the electric-guitar hero in his book, Experienced: On the Road With Jimi Hendrix and Beyond, out August 4 from Diversion Books.
Barrett began working with Hendrix on May 23, 1968, when the guitarist performed in Milan, Italy, at a trouble-plagued gig where the local electrical supply caused his amplifiers to malfunction. Hendrix took out his frustrations on the equipment — and on the 21-year-old Barrett, who suddenly understood why Hendrix’s previous roadie had quit mid-tour.
But as Barrett reveals in an excerpt from the book published by The Sunday Times, Hendrix was all sugar the next day, apologizing for his outburst and assuring him that everything would be fine going forward.
“When you were around Jimi you instantly knew you were in the presence of a star,” Barrett explains. “Of course I agreed to stay. I’d have agreed to just about anything when he spoke like that.”
Even when he was on his best behavior with his crew, Hendrix smashed guitars left and right during that short tour of Italy and Switzerland. Barrett made a point of telling him which guitars were good to pummel, hoping it would prevent him from taking out his anger on a pristine new model. It didn’t always work.
I remember one really beautiful Fender Stratocaster; I watched in horror as he destroyed it during the encore in Bologna.”
— Eric Barrett
“I remember one really beautiful Fender Stratocaster; I watched in horror as he destroyed it during the encore in Bologna,” Barrett writes.
“Backstage after the show, I asked him, ‘Why?’ I remember his response as if it were yesterday. ‘Eric, I just couldn’t get any more out of it, man. I squeezed every note and every sound that guitar was ever going to give me. It had nothing left to give.’”
One of Barrett’s most memorable shows with Hendrix came near the end of the guitarist’s life, at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1970. The performance is notable for many reasons, including the fact that David Gilmour lent a hand with Hendrix’s sound that night.
Barrett remembers it for another reason: Hendrix split his pants while performing his acrobatic moves onstage — and he wasn’t wearing underwear. Barrett immediately knew something was wrong when Hendrix gestured to him in a way he hadn’t before.
“Jimi moved over to the side of the stage as he played and said, ‘Can you get me a safety pin and a towel?’” Barrett writes. “I raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ve split my pants. And I’m not wearing any underwear.’”
Bass guitarist Billy Cox recalled that the mishap occurred after Hendrix did the splits in the middle of “Foxey Lady.” Cox and drummer Mitch Mitchell jammed to cover for him as Hendrix slipped behind his amplifier to repair his pants.
Barrett writes that Hendrix showed him the chords to play while he mended the split.
“All the crew and artists watching from the side of the stage — Pete Townshend from the Who among them — laughed at how zealously I attacked the whammy bar,” Barrett explains. “I got so into the feedback coming out of the amps, I started smacking the guitar with my fist.”
Suspiciously, no guitar can be heard on the recording during the bass-and-drum solo, (although radio interference that bled into his signal chain is prominent).
Regardless, the Isle of Wight performance would be among the last Hendrix played. He died less than three weeks later, on September 18, 1970.
Experienced: On the Road With Jimi Hendrix and Beyond, by Eric Barrett comes out August 4 from Diversion Books. 288 pages, $30.
