Thurrock musical history

On the evening of the 14 February 1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience took to the stage at Grays Civic Hall, in the Blackshots complex. The newly formed trio had met in London the previous year and, at the time of the Grays concert, had released only one debut single, 'Hey Joe'. The rock classic, 'Purple Haze' would be released a few weeks later in March that year, followed by the band's first album, 'Are You Experienced', in August.

Jimi Hendrix, the innovative and influential rock guitarist, was born on 27 November 1942 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He first picked up a guitar at the age of 15 and quickly demonstrated a precocious talent in the speed and fluency of his playing.

He learned a great deal about performance and stagecraft in the late '50s and early '60s, working behind the likes of Little Richard and Curtis Knight and studying the techniques of such established players as T Bone Walker. Hendrix's emergence as a musical leader, however, coincided with the advent of Rock Music and Psychedelia.

After many years of mixed reviews in the US, Jimi Hendrix was encouraged to seek a more receptive audience in England. It was a British musician and manager, Chas Chandler of The Animals, who brought Hendrix to London to launch his solo career in September 1966. He was introduced to the bass player Noel Redding and the drummer Mitch Mitchell and the Jimi Hendrix Experience was born.

Chandler organised a tour of smaller venues and clubs across the UK to showcase the band. It has been claimed that the February show at Grays Civic Hall in Blackshots was the first venue of this tour. The event was advertised as The Jimi Hendrix Experience in the 2 preceding editions of the Thurrock Gazette: 3 February and 10 February 1967.

It is educated guesswork of course, but the audience that night in February would have been treated to the theatrical spectacle of Hendrix in hippy, style-guru regalia armed with his Fender Stratocaster, wah-wah pedal and Marshall stack playing a set which would have included Purple Haze, Fire, Foxy Lady and Third Stone from the Sun.

Local Thurrock resident Steve Read remembers the show: "I can assure you, 'Jimi Hendrix Experience' was an apt name – what an unforgettable night. I remember it as being the loudest sound I had ever heard in my life and that was probably the reaction of many as the crowd at the front slowly became the crowd pushed to the back. ...I was lucky enough to spend about 20 minutes or so with Jimi on stage after the show and he even allowed me to try and play his Fender Stratocaster guitar – impossible of course as it was strung upside down because Jimi played left-handed... Jimi was a surprisingly soft-spoken and gentle man who took time to talk to even a lowly music-lover and guitar player like me."

Around 2 weeks later on 26 February, Hendrix appeared at the Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff in a 'Pop Festival', alongside popular acts such as Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch. The Blackshots Complex, including the Civic Hall, was designed by the council's architect and had been opened just 3 years earlier, in 1964.

The genres of Blues, Soul and Rock converged and melded in the dazzling virtuosity of Hendrix's playing. While the band's potential was immediately recognised, few could have guessed the kind of fame and adulation that was to follow, let alone the legendary status that Hendrix was to achieve both before and following his untimely death at the age of 27.

By the end of 1967, Melody Maker had voted him 'Pop Musician of the Year'. In 1968, he returned to the USA where he replicated his UK success. For many, this culminated in his appearance at Woodstock less than a year before his passing on 18 September 1970 in London.

Those early shows, however, in what now might seem the least likely of venues, are the ones that are preserved in local legend. The town of Spalding in Lincolnshire has a blue plaque commemorating his headlining appearance at an event in May 1967, which included Cream and Pink Floyd as support acts! Whilst it may seem strange to regard the Civic Hall in Grays as a shrine to the late Jimi Hendrix, for adherents and fans of the greatest guitarist in the history of Rock music, that is one of its several functions.

Sources:

• Thurrock Nub News – a short article by Allie Cooper
• BBC News, Lincolnshire
• Wikipedia
• www.sonicnet.com
• www.collectguitars.com/hendrix
• Exploring Thurrock – Christopher Harrold, 1994