Every detail of the central London top-floor flat at 23 Brook Street, where musician Jimi Hendrix and his girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, lived between 1968-69 has been recreated. There are Persian rugs on the floor, a Victorian shawl above the bed, and newspapers and a clamshell ashtray on top of the dresser. A pot of tea brews on the floor. Jimi was a white-and-two-sugars man, in case you’re a tea person. Jimi’s Epiphone FT79 acoustic guitar was always nearby, “always within arm’s reach, usually beside the bed and, invariably, played at raucous parties” according to his girlfriend.
Also on display are Jimi’s turntable and vinyl record collection, which includes Hendrix’s debut album Are You Experienced, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited stained with Hendrix’s own blood, The Band’s Music From Big Pink, and The Roots of Lightnin’ Hopkins. When Hendrix lived there he had no neighbors, so he could make and listen to music as loud as he wanted to. He was also just five or ten minutes away from the coolest music clubs, like ‘The Speakeasy.’
Believe it or not, only a wall separates Hendrix from another famous musician. In the 1700s classical composer George Frederic Handel lived right next door, which is also a museum. It was mentioned on this blog in a guest post from a few years ago. The Handel House Trust is actually the one who is responsible for the renovation of Hendrix’s home. Thanks to them “Handel & Hendrix in London” is now a public permanent exhibit.
