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 20 February 1967, standing in for Chuck Berry who had cancelled.
Before the concert, two local girls, aged 15 and 16, made their way to the backstage door in search of an autograph.
Hendrix stepped out to meet them but had no blank paper. Instead, he tore out a page from an exercise book he had to hand, 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 friends drifted apart as their lives took different directions, taking the two 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 wish to remain anonymous, agreed to sell their halves of the manuscript, which is now valued at a five-figure sum.
Paul Wane, owner of Tracks, said: “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.”
Hendrix formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966. They scored hits, particularly in the UK, with a cover of All Along the Watchtower and original songs Voodoo Chile and Purple Haze. The group broke up in 1969 after Redding’s departure.
Last month, it was reported that Hendrix’s estate is suing his former bandmates’ heirs after they allegedly threatened to sue for “millions of pounds” in unpaid royalties dating back decades.
Hendrix died in September 1970 at the age of 27. Redding died in 2003 and Mitchell in 2008. Lawyers for the group’s rhythm section claim that “both died in relative poverty having never received their true entitlement from their works, performances and founding membership of the Jimi Hendrix Experience”.
In a case filed on 18 January in Manhattan, the Hendrix estate and Sony Music, the exclusive licence-holder of Hendrix’s catalogue, requested a legal declaration stating that they owed nothing to the men’s heirs.
