"Experienced": A Former Hendrix Roadie Revisits the Legend's Final Stage

A new memoir from a man who stood at Jimi Hendrix's side during the musician's final years is offering fresh perspective on one of rock history's most turbulent final chapters and the tragic weeks that followed.

Eric Barrett, who served as Hendrix's roadie and confidant from 1968 to 1970, has published "Experienced: On the Road with Jimi Hendrix and Beyond." Barrett went on to spend nearly five decades working behind the scenes with other major artists, including Madonna, David Bowie, and Aerosmith.

A Festival Gone Wrong

The book recounts what Barrett describes as Hendrix's last official concert performance, at a festival on the Isle of Fehmarn in Germany. The event quickly deteriorated when hundreds of Hells Angels members descended on the venue and took control.

"We were playing on the Isle of Fehmarn, and the Hells Angels had taken over," Barrett recalled. "There was no control. It was a scary place to be. We had two cars there waiting to get us off the island and go back to London. But the Hells Angels didn't want us to get off the island. They wanted the boys to stay and party. And then it got violent."

According to Barrett's account, fans who had been camping out were beaten and robbed as festival security was chased off. Hendrix, seeing the chaos, retreated to his room "alone, sober," Barrett wrote. The next day, when he took the stage, the musician was met with boos.

Hendrix's response has become part of his legend: "I don't give a f- if you boo, as long as you boo in key, you mothers." He closed the set with, "Thank you, goodbye. Peace!"

The Blow That Ended Everything

Barrett was ushering Hendrix and the band toward waiting cars when the situation grew dangerous. He spotted a Hells Angel raising a baton to strike tour manager Gerry Stickells.

"I put my arm up to take the blow," Barrett said. "I nearly passed out from the pain, but imagine if it had landed on Gerry's skull? We managed to get inside the car. Jimi kept looking at me because he saw me take the blow. He just said to me, 'Are you OK, Eric? Are you OK?' He kept asking me if I was OK. That's just the kind of man he was. And that was the last thing he ever said to me."

The News from London

On Sept. 18, 1970, paramedics responded to the Samarkand Hotel in London, where they found Hendrix unresponsive in the apartment of his girlfriend, Monika Dannemann. He was 27.

Stickells called Barrett with the news. "I couldn't believe it," Barrett said. "I remember walking around London in a fog. It was a stupid, tragic accident. He took too many of Monika Dannemann's sleeping pills. She supposedly had these incredibly powerful German tranquilizers. And she said he took nine of them. She couldn't wake him. She called Eric Burdon of The Animals, who was a good friend of Jimi's. He screamed at her, 'Call the f-g ambulance!'"

Barrett's account aligns with the official post-mortem findings: Hendrix died of asphyxia after inhaling his own vomit while intoxicated with barbiturates.

"He threw up," Barrett explained. "He asphyxiated. That was the accident. The pills were the accident. Tragedy was him dying."

Rejecting the Conspiracy Theories

For decades, rumors and conspiracy theories have surrounded Hendrix's death. One persistent claim came from former roadie James "Tappy" Wright, who wrote in his 2009 memoir "Rock Roadie" that Hendrix's manager, Mike Jeffery, had confessed to having him killed.

Barrett forcefully rejects that account. "I don't believe for a second that Mike Jeffery was the cause of Jimi's death," he said. "The circumstances don't add up. And I was told by so many people that Tappy only wrote that to try and sell books. But I've never believed it. I will never believe it. I was there, and right now I'm probably the last man standing. All the lads are passing. So no, I wouldn't believe that for a second."

Jeffery died in a plane crash near Nantes, France, in 1973. Dannemann died in an apparent suicide in 1996, two days after being found guilty of contempt of court in a legal dispute with Kathy Etchingham, another former girlfriend of Hendrix's. She was 50.

Lying to Protect a Legacy

In the immediate aftermath of Hendrix's death, Barrett told reporters a version of events that downplayed his friend's drug use.

"I was, what, 24 when he passed?" Barrett said. "I didn't want to besmirch his memory. So I lied. I just wanted people to see him in a good light. But I came to realize as I got older that I didn't have to lie. Yes, he took drugs. Did he take heroin? I've never seen heroin anywhere near him. I've worked on many backstages for almost 50 years. I know it's a drug that has killed a lot of musicians. But I don't believe Jimi was taking it. He smoked pot. He took a lot of LSD. He took pills. But I don't believe he was into heroin."

The Man Behind the Guitar

Barrett's memoir also offers an intimate portrait of Hendrix away from the spotlight. On stage, Hendrix was a force of nature, famous for playing guitar behind his head and with his teeth, smashing instruments and amplifiers, and occasionally setting his guitar on fire. Offstage, Barrett remembers someone entirely different.

"He talked to everyone," Barrett said. "He was very charming. And he was shy. People were in awe of Jimi. And when he had his guitar around his neck, over his shoulder, he was comfortable. That was his crutch. But I also remember Paul McCartney walking towards him, and he's gasping, 'It's Paul McCartney!' He was just a shy man who didn't know how to take the accolades of his talent."

One of Barrett's fondest memories came during a stay in Benedict Canyon, when Hendrix learned it was Barrett's birthday. "Jimi came out in no shirt, just velvet pants. He goes, 'Eric, Eric!' I responded, 'Hey Jimi, what do you need?' He smiled and went, 'Happy birthday, man. Here's some money. Go and buy yourself something you really want.' He gave me $500, which was a huge amount back then."

Barrett spent the entire sum on a long leather coat from North Beach Leathers, a shop where he'd seen Hendrix shop. When he returned, Hendrix admired the purchase. "He went, 'Wow, that's a coat! I wish I had seen that before you.'"

A Lingering Question

Perhaps the memory that has stayed with Barrett longest came on a plane after a show. Hendrix turned to him with an unexpected question.

"Jimi looked at me and said, 'Eric, what do you think, will they remember me?' I was flabbergasted," Barrett recalled. "I went, 'Will they remember you? You're huge over here.' But he was so insecure. 'Are you sure, Eric? What if the kids don't come?' I just told him, 'When it comes to success, you have nothing to worry about.'"

Barrett paused. "That was Jimi, a gift to the Earth from the Lord. And I miss him."