Hendrix murdered by his manager, says former aide - The Independent »
Posted By gamahuche 6 months, 1 week ago in Arts & EntertainmentThe rock legend Jimi Hendrix was murdered by his manager, who stood to collect millions of dollars on the star's life insurance policy, a former roadie has claimed in a new book.
James "Tappy" Wright says that Hendrix's manager, Michael Jeffrey, drunkenly confessed to killing him by stuffing pills into his mouth and washing them down with several bottles of red wine because he feared Hendrix intended to dump him for a new manager, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday.
In his book, Rock Roadie, Mr Wright says Jeffrey told him in 1971 that Hendrix had been "worth more to him dead than alive" as he had taken out a life insurance policy on the musician worth $2m (about £1.2m at the time), with himself as the beneficiary. Two years later, Jeffrey was killed in a plane crash.
Hendrix died in September 1970, aged 27. An ambulance crew found his body in the Samarkand Hotel, west London, in the room of a woman called Monika Dannemann, whom he had known for only a few days.
Hendrix was alone in the room, lying on his back, with the gas fire on and the door open. There was no record of who had called the ambulance. His inquest recorded the cause of his death as barbiturate intoxication and inhalation of vomit, and recorded an open verdict.
Describing the night of Jeffrey's confession, Mr Wright wrote: "I can still hear that conversation, see the man I'd known for so much of my life, his face pale, hand clutching at his glass in sudden rage."
Wright claims Jeffrey told him: "I had to do it, Tappy. You understand, don't you? I had to do it. You know damn well what I'm talking about.
"I was in London the night of Jimi's death and together with some old friends... we went round to Monika's hotel room, got a handful of pills and stuffed them into his mouth... then poured a few bottles of red wine deep into his windpipe.
"I had to do it. Jimi was worth much more to me dead than alive. That son of a bitch was going to leave me. If I lost him, I'd lose everything."
John Bannister, the surgeon who dealt with Hendrix at hospital, has said he was convinced the star had drowned in red wine, despite having very little alcohol in his bloodstream.
"I recall vividly the very large amounts of red wine that oozed from his stomach and his lungs and in my opinion there was no question that Jimi Hendrix had drowned, if not at home then on the way to the hospital," he wrote in 1992.
Read Full Story at independent.co.uk »
772 Views Share Story 66 Comments Report
Submitted By:
gamahuche
"I would rather be a square peg than fit in a pigeon hole" -
an essay which won me the "Lamb Essay Prize" at the Religious ...
Who Also Submitted: All »
Other Related Articles: All »
RSS Join the Discussion
+ Add CommentComments So Far: 66 (view all)
-
100%
gamahuche6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
What a long strange trip..
Reply
Yes - used many times, but as true for Jimmy Hendrix as for anyone..
I remember him first for "Hey Joe" - his first English hit after he suddenly appeared on the English scene - as exotic as hell and soon deeply involved in everything that anyone in the rock world could get involved in..
This sensational story may or may not be the definitive version of his death and I'd probably not have posted it had it not been for the comment of the doctor who examined his body after his death.
Here's "Hey Joe" - I wasn't able to watch before posting because of a sleeping household. Playing with his teeth was one of his early gimmicks..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsgHyauIUZY -
100%
gamahuche6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I didn't realise that was such a short clip :(
Reply
Here's a fuller version from Monterey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeems8BzURY=related-
100%
gamahuche6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Except that its NOT! Sorry about that!
Reply
And I coudn't get off the Czech youtube site to find the monterey one again..
But I HOPE and believe THIS is Hendrix burning his guitar - also at Monterey..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wt12fRoCOY
Way past bedtime!! -
-
-
100%
Eagle_Eye6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
WOW, that is incredible if it is true. I wonder why it took so long for this to come out
Reply
I loved Jimmy, "Purple Haze" was one of my all time favorites!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hSW67ySCio=related
I have a lot of good memories regarding Jimmies music..some of my best trips!!
Another all time favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqQOaA2LPRo
I still rock the nest on that one!!! And .....LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfPgj4bviKY=related
Yes I Am!!!! Rock on-
100%
uncle-dave6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
EE if you drop the =related from url it will take you to the video you want. Beau taught me that.
Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfPgj4bviKY -
-
-
-
100%
uncle-dave6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I was fortunate enough to see Hendrix twice in concert. I’ve been trying to remember who the opening act was. I think it was Terry Reid, but I’m not sure. There are a lot of things about those concerts I don’t remember. LOL!!!
Reply
I wonder if Michael Jeffrey was Janis Joplin’s manager.-
100%
Eagle_Eye6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
OMG uncledave "I wonder if Michael Jeffrey was Janis Joplin’s manager." now that is an interesting comment!! I wonder if there were others???
Reply
"There are a lot of things about those concerts I don’t remember. LOL!!!", LOL me to!! But I do remember awesome music, awesome people, awesome dancing, awesome light shows, awesome experiences and awesome acid..lol -
-
-
annthatcherComment removed: Hard Banned
-
-
-
sonofreasonComment removed: Hard Banned1 Reply
-
PsychoHosebeastComment removed: Spammer, Abusive2 Replies
-
100%
DarkWizard6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Thank you for this post gamahuche.
Reply
Both interesting and tragic if true. So many influential musicians have died due to alcohol, drugs, or a combination not to mention airplane crashes (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jim Croce, Buddy Holly).
To be murdered like Lennon and possibly Hendrix is such a waste. We are lucky that their music lives on. -
-
100%
Radiofreeeuropa6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Loved Hendrix, The music speaks for itself. Remarkably original.
Reply
Yet rooted in blues...by way of Venus perhaps. Jimmy's death was always a little questionable..as was Jim Morrison's...(In his case if it had been alcohol poisoning, it would have been easier to believe). If Jimi was removed from this world so some chimp could make a buck that would be so tragic. I hope this isn't true but it isn't easily denied, and I remember the reports claiming he had "drowned"...seems plausible. Pathetic.
I loved the fluid chordal movements in "The Wind Cries Mary"...today it whispers perhaps the name of another...no? -
Neutral
AnteUp6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Working in the folk-rock clubs of Southern California
Reply
during the good old days - we heard that rumor shortly
after his death. So much was going on and nothing official
ever came of it - guess we assumed it was untrue.
Wouldn't that be awful? They WERE wild times, but there
was fun crazy........and really bad crazy too.
It took some of us a while to notice the difference.
Add a Comment
Sign In With Your Propeller Account
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.