1970 Jimi Hendrix Collection
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GUEST:
I was 12 years old. It was in 1970, in, uh, Stockholm, Sweden. I was staying at my friend's house, who was, who was 13, and his older brother said, "Would you like to go see Jimi Hendrix?" I didn't know anything about Jimi Hendrix, but we went and we got to the front of the stage, and one guy had an army jacket on. Um, they had just got out of Vietnam. And the guy on the stage who was traveling with Jimi Hendrix, he had an army jacket on. They saw each other, and he said, "Come around to the side of the stage." And they hug each other. And we all got in, into the orchestra pit. So, uh, it was incredible. These things here, uh, Jimi Hendrix was playing, uh, and dropped his guitar pick. It was within reach, but I was 12 years old, so I asked him after the song was over if I could have it. And he handed it to me; the guitar string, um, we saw that he had broken it. And after the show, the roadie was standing there and we asked him if he could find it, and he did. We had a pocket knife and we split it between ourselves. The little pouch there, I bought that the day of the show. I thought I was pretty cool with that, then the drumstick. Uh, the roadie gave us, uh, the drumstick from Mitch Mitchell, so. I'd always been looking for pictures...
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
...of me in the orchestra pit. I found two of these pictures out of a book, but I wasn't in 'em. I was actually right behind, uh, Jimi Hendrix's bell bottom there.
APPRAISER:
So the-the '70s fashion blocked your head out of the photo.
GUEST (laughing): Exactly.
APPRAISER:
If it weren't for bell bottoms, perhaps that would have been it.
GUEST:
I'd be in it.
APPRAISER:
That's right, so, anyway, I really enjoyed the collection that I had. And so my wife framed it for me. I decided to film it and put it on YouTube. And I got an email from a guy who lived in, uh, New Zealand and he asked me if I had any pictures of the show. And I explained to him I didn't, but, um, I'd always been looking for a picture of a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old looking up at Jimi Hendrix. And he said, "I've got that picture."
APPRAISER:
Wow.
GUEST:
So he sent it to me. And in the bottom picture there, you can see me right there.
APPRAISER:
This one's you?
GUEST:
That's me.
APPRAISER:
And that's your friend.
GUEST:
And that's my friend.
APPRAISER:
And you guys are up here as well.
GUEST:
Yeah, and that's my friend there with the curlier hair.
APPRAISER:
Yup. And then—
GUEST:
And then that's me there.
APPRAISER:
Wow.
GUEST:
(chuckles) So, um... It was, it was pretty, it was pretty neat. I just remember how powerful the, the amplification was when he strummed the first E string.
APPRAISER:
(chuckles) What?
GUEST:
(laughing) Yeah, exactly.
APPRAISER:
So, that'll, that'll do it to you. So-- And so it got you going, obviously.
GUEST:
So from that point on, I mean, I went out and bought my first Hendrix album.
APPRAISER:
It's also kind of interesting because of the timing on this, this is 1970.
GUEST:
It's August 31.
APPRAISER:
And he died...
GUEST:
...On the 18 of September.
APPRAISER:
You framed this for your own gratification.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Clearly, this is something that means everything to you because this is such an extraordinary memory for you.
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
So it's fun that you have your pouch that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Hendrix...
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
...but you happen to buy it at that time and you have the pin from someone in the audience. And all of these things combined to create a wonderful memory for you.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
The values on these are not out-of-this-world, extraordinarily high, because they are items that they used every show. However, the fact that you're here and he picked it up from here and handed it to you and it's now in this frame is the most extraordinary provenance I've ever seen. And I love the fact that your story was that literally the power of the internet connected you with somebody how many years later...
GUEST:
Got me connected. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...that you were able to then find a picture of yourself. So normally, if a guitar pick might sell for $1,000, $1,500, a drumstick from Mitch Mitchell might be a few hundred dollars. Guitar strings don't really come up-- you have a piece of one. It's really cool. I think putting it all together, with the combination of your provenance and your story, turns this more into a $3,000 to $5,000 item at auction.
GUEST:
Exciting.
APPRAISER:
And who knows? With this kind of provenance, if that doesn't strike someone's imagination and they love your story and the fact that we're talking to the guy who picked it up...
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
...and put it in his pocket that day.
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