This is my first solo post, so please consider being gentle with me

After re-watching the 1969 MSG backstage clips, I thought what a shame you can't hear the one audible conversation -- between Keith and Hendrix.

I looked everywhere (that I know how to look) online, but didn't find an existing transcript. If one already exists, great.

But I listened to it many times, and transcribed it, very carefully. I'm not claiming perfection, and if anyone hears anything else or I missed something, that's cool, no pride -- pls speak up.

And as short and sort of trivial as this conversation is: as far as I know, it's the only known audio/video one-on-one conversation we have between Keith and Jimi Hendrix, and of historical value to Stones, Hendrix, and us music fans.

Plus, if they're talking about Linda Keith, that's just kinda wild*

You can skip directly to minute 5:51 in this vid. My transcript --below-- is for the whole audio portion (minute 5:51 to minute 7).




AUDIO BEGINS

[5:51-5:54] Tony Funches, bodyguard [to Keith]: Well, like, no reaction. He went back to what he was talking about, so...

[5:54-5:56] Keith: Well, y'know, it's cool, y'know I, I [inaudible] we'll get it together.

[5:55-5:58] ony Funches: Yeah yeah ok (exits)

[6:00-6:07] Jimi: Been watching too many formal dinner parties on TV. Everybody HAS to do this. You HAVE to say [mock ass-kissing, bowing and scraping] "Oh yes, Mr Richards--"

[6:07-6:12: laughter - inaudible chit chat]

[6:12-6:14: silence]

[6:15-6:18] Jimi: D'you know--? nah, I shouldn't ask [scratching his head, laughing]

[6:18-6:20: Keith and Jimi laughter]

[6:19-6:26] Jimi: I dunno that's a big [inaudible] ever since I seen you Monday. Have--? When's last t-ttime you see- s-seen [clears throat]. Naaah, I shouldn't--

[6:25-6:26] Keith: [inaudible]

[6:26-6:27] Jimi: No. What was the last time you seen Linda?

[6:28-6:34] Keith: Oh, man, a long time ago. I mean, I tell ya, uh, some time last summer in--

[6:34] Jimi: Yeah...

[6:35-6:38] Keith: --on the coast [inaudible]

[6:38-6:39] Jimi: Oh, that far? You ain't seen her here?

[6:39-6:44] Keith: I haven't seen her for [inaudible]...You?

[6:44-6:45] Jimi: No. No...

[6:46-6:48] Laughter - Keith smooshes affectionately into Jimi.

[6:48-6:53] Keith gets up and walks away

[6:48-6:51] Jimi: I been watching too much TV too.

[6:54-7:01] Jimi sits smoking.

-------------

*I find the interchange incredibly human, and touching.

Caveat: I'm not claiming to be a authority on any of this. I'm pretty good with details, but not stellar. There are other people here who are more knowledgeable than I, more precise with details, can fill in gaps, correct data, or parse out where I may have made assumptions.

The trip to "the coast" "last summer" would seem most likely to refer to the trip to mix Beggars Banquet in July 1968, which Keith made with Anita, and met up with the other Stones in Los Angeles (and as we know, at which time he and Gram Parsons hung out for the first time in America together).

I don't know as much substantively about the reported history of tension or outright bad blood between Hendrix and Keith, that happened to center on Linda Keith. Had Hendrix and Keith hung out much together since then? afterward?

By bad blood I mean, for one: the tale of Linda giving one of Keith's guitars to Jimi when he came to London, which he promptly lost, and which led to Keith going after Hendrix with a gun. Perhaps the whole story is apocryphal or maybe only the latter detail is as credible as a Spanish Tony tale, but maybe the whole things's true(?).

Also, the story of Keith's phoning Linda's parents at some point after Linda hooked up with Hendrix, Keith's saying he was concerned about her drug use and relaying that Linda was involved with a "spade." Purportedly, that conversation led to her parents' subsequent hospitalization of Linda. History has suggested Keith and Linda never spoke after Keith made this call. But if what Keith says here is true, then they actually did see each other again. It would be interesting to know when/where Keith would have seen Linda during that trip.

To me, what I love about this exchange is how mundane it appears to be. Jimi's hesitation to bring up Linda, overwhelmed by his obvious desire to know whether Keith has seen her recently. And Keith's avuncular but completely casual reassurance.

Anyway, hope someone finds this useful or interesting. And maybe others will catch things I didn't.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-11-30 03:07 by swiss.

Great job swiss..........thanks

__________________________

nice detective work...!

swiss!

amazing job!

for me, this is the kind of post that helps sustain the time between tours - interesting, innovative, original - fantastic job, Swiss

I was thinking of posting this very video
-as it shows Mick T seemingly really enjoying himself.
*more than 5 million views!*
(Is that Astrid Wyman in the video?)

Thanks for commemts. The video gets 6,000 views/day. Mick T does look so happy, being so new to the Stones! he and Jimmy are clearly enjoying playing together--they're both shy, and probably happier jamming than making small talk.

am sure we will listen to the hold thing when Yas Yas deluxe ships november 3rd

thanks swiss!
Stanley Booth's excellent book The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones
mentions this little conversation about Linda Keith, but not that Keith said he had seen her in 68.
"on the coast" - that would be the trip when Michael Cooper took those photos of Keith and Anita and Gram Parsons at Joshua Tree.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-09-15 10:17 by with sssoul.

Great job swiss ! It's amazing ,how did you do that ?



I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

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with sssoul
Stanley Booth's excellent book The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones
mentions this little conversation about Linda Keith, but not that Keith said he had seen her in 68.

Thanks! I own the book but didn't remember that part--I'll check it out! However, I almost mentioned this earlier, I do believe in the clip that's Stanley Booth in the satin jacket, sitting next to Keith, no? (in the clip you also see Mick walk up and start massaging Stanley's shoulders in a moment when Mick looks really bored/restless; and another part of the clip where Stanley Booth is sort of trailing Mick around)

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with sssoul
"on the coast" - that would be the trip when Michael Cooper took those photos of Keith and Anita and Gram Parsons at Joshua Tree.

Yep. that's the July '68 trip I was referring to re: Keith and Anita going to LA where Beggar's Banquet was being mixed, and during that same time hanging out w/Gram for the first time in America. Joshua Tree Natl Park being in the desert a few hours inland from Los Angeles.

>> I own the book but didn't remember that part--I'll check it out! <<

sorry, false alarm! it looks like i misremembered where i read that - i'll edit my earlier post
so as not to confuse future readers. what Stanley writes about the backstage MSG scene is quite different.
but yeah [peering hard] i guess that is Stanley on the bench next to Keith. (we of course see him clearly
in the Gimme Shelter scene where they're listening to Brown Sugar in Keith's hotel room.)

fyi...

The black man who first speaks in the audio part of this clip is Tony Funches, the Stones bodyguard they hired in Los Angeles who went with them on the 69 tour--and at Altamount broke his hand in 2 places punching Hell's Angels. He went on to become Jim Morrison's bodyguard. He now lives in Las Vegas.

The woman with the frizzy hair in the middle of the room who Mick seems to like and chats with throughout the clip is Jo Bergman, their manager/handler. She lives in Los Angeles.

Stanley Booth is the guy sort of shadowing Mick or sitting next to Keith in a orange leather jacket looking v. happy to be there. He lives in coastal Georgia.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-03-17 02:30 by swiss.

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swiss
fyi...

The black man who first speaks in the audio part of this clip is Tony Funches, the Stones bodyguard they hired in Los Angeles who went with them on the 69 tour--and at Altamount broke his hand in 2 places punching Hell's Angels. He went on to become Jim Morrison's bodyguard. He now lives in Las Vegas.

I thought he was Everett Eddy who once was Muhammad Ali's bodyguard.
Thank you for your info.

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swiss
The woman with the frizzy hair in the middle of the room who Mick seems to like and chats with throughout the clip is Jo Bergman, their manager/handler. She lives in Los Angeles.

Stanley Booth is the guy capering after Mick or sitting next to Keith in a orange leather jacket looking v. happy to be there. He lives in coastal Georgia.

Stanley Booth who wrote the True Adventures of the Rolling Stones? Cool. I can't recall anything about Jimi Hendrix in the book though, but I've probably just forgotten.

You got the Sun, You got the Moon,
and you've got
The Rolling Stones

>> Stanley Booth who wrote the True Adventures of the Rolling Stones? Cool.

yep, the very same cat! also on view in the film Gimme Shelter - he's the one they use a light meter on
in the scene where they're listening to the tape of Brown Sugar in Keith's hotel room.

>> I can't recall anything about Jimi Hendrix in the book though, but I've probably just forgotten.<<

the scene's described in chapter 25 (around pages 259-260 in the edition i have)

Quote
with sssoul
>> Stanley Booth who wrote the True Adventures of the Rolling Stones? Cool.

yep, the very same cat! also on view in the film Gimme Shelter - he's the one they use a light meter on in the scene where they're listening to the tape of Brown Sugar in Keith's hotel room.

>> I can't recall anything about Jimi Hendrix in the book though, but I've probably just forgotten.<<

the scene's described in chapter 25 (around pages 259-260 in the edition i have)

After your mentioning it last week, I trawled through True Adventures looking for reference to the backstage scene with Hendrix (it's a great book but so nonlinear and without an index) and found 2 brief references:


p. 259 - before the November 27th concert: "I went down the hall to the Stones dressing room where for a moment was alone with the concrete block walls and hard benches. I heard voices and in came the Stones with Jimi Hendrix. They were followed by the Maysles brothers, tape and film rolling.

"Jagger took off his shirt and walked around; Albert followed him, filming. Mick Taylor and I sat on a bench with Hendrix, who seemed subdued but pleasant. I told him about seeing Little Richard, and he said, smiling as if it cheered him up to think about it, that once when he was with Richard, he and the bass player bought ruffled shirts to wear onstage, and Richard made them change: 'I am the beauty! Nobody spoze to wear ruffles but Richard!'

"Mick Taylor handed his guitar to Hendrix and asked him to play. 'Oh, I can't,' he said, 'I have to string it different.' Hendrix was left-handed, but he went ahead and played the guitar upside down, a wizard he was.

"As Hendrix played I went into the bathroom, where Jagger was putting mascara on his lashes. Hendrix had tried to take Marianne Faithfull away from Mick, who wasn't about to stand around and listen to him play, upside down or sideways. I told him about my afternoon with Wexler...[etc]"



p. 267 - after the November 27 concert: "At the hotel we gathered in Keith's suite. Wyman went away with Astrid, and Mick went to a party at Jimi Hendrix's, where he would make off with the lady of the house and bring her to the Plaza for a few days to console him for his women troubles. (Her name was Devon Wilson; Hendrix's closest female companion, she was reputed to have an appetite for all kinds of drugs and sex. She would die a few years later of an unexplained fall from the window of the Chelsea Hotel.)"


What I'm finding from my research is slightly different. In late 1966, after beginning to see each other when Marianne was still married (back in August 1966), Marianne Faithfull moves in with Mick. In early 1967, Marianne, Mick, Pete Townshend, Anita, (Brian?), Eric Clapton, Linda Keith, and Glen Campbell go to see Hendrix play at the 7 1/2 (club). After this night, Marianne goes back to the 71/2 alone, to watch Jimi play (or rehearse? I'm not clear yet). By several accounts Marianne sat on the floor by the stage looking up at Jimi as he played. (You can imagine what that might've been like...Marianne at her prime with big doe eyes). Afterward, she invites Hendrix to a small party, I believe at what is now her and Mick's place, where Hendrix is treated well but as just another guest, and he finally realizes nothing is going to happen with between them. So did Hendrix try to "steal" Mick's old lady...?

Anyway, fast forward 2.5 years, to November 27, 1969. Marianne and Mick are now barely a couple anymore. Mick is upset about it. Booth says during the tour Mick gets a call that another woman is pregnant with this baby. And earlier that year, July 2, Brian has died. And July 7 Marianne ODed and went in and out of a coma (Faithfull says it was a dramatic gesture in response to Brian's death, which she felt Mick was taking too lightly). And they were going through the whole drug charge thing. By mid November rumor is Marianne is living with someone else (tho Mick and she get back together briefly in December).

All that to say, there's been a lot of water under the bridge between when Hendrix hit on Marianne and the Gimme Shelter concert. otoh, Stanley Booth must have heard that Mick was miffed somewhere. On the other other hand, in the film clip you see Mick and Jimi talking a fair amount, tho Mick is definitely hyper throughout the clip (then again -- he's about to go onstage at MSG!).

So, November 27th is not only this great show -- it's Hendrix's 27th birthday. The party that Booth mentions is a birthday party for Jimi, thrown by Devon. It's true that Devon is a close companion of Hendrix's, but stetching it to say "closest," since he's also living with someone in London and he and that woman last for years, and he also may still be carrying a torch for Linda Keith.

Devon Wilson is a really unusual person. Some people claim she's the woman you see in that scene in @#$%& Blues where a light-skinned black woman in a hat is singing a long sustained note. It looks like her, but Devon Wilson died in February 1971 (5 month after Jimi), and @#$%& Blues started filming in 1972.

Devon and Jimi had a wild relationship by all accounts. She was into all drugs, including heroin, and some say turned Jimi onto heroin. She would actually pimp girls for Jimi and sometimes join in or take the leftover girls Hendrix didn't want.

At this 27th birthday party, which Mick attended, the story is (I've found 3 sources so far that corroborate this) Mick slices his finger, probably on a beer can. He starts bleeding and calls out for a band-aid! Devon comes over, saying he won't need a band-aid, and sticks Mick's finger in her mouth, sucking off the blood. Hendrix leaves the party. He later wrotes Dolly Dagger about her:

Her love’s so heavy, gonna make you stagger
Dolly Dagger, she drinks the blood from a jagged edge...aw, drink up baby

The "jagged edge" is said to refer to Mick Jagger.

BUT...in the one existing interview with Devon Wilson another story emerges about the night of the November 27th concert (with clear errors...like the Stones weren't in NYC for 6 days and 6 nights as she says, so who knows what's true?):

"I met the Stones a couple of years ago at their press party at the Playboy Club where I was working. I went out with Brian Jones first. I was closer to him than any of the others. He was the true rolling stone. Last years when I heard that the Stones were coming for a tour, I knew I would hear from Mick. He called and asked me to go to Philadelphia for their concert. Then we spent the week together in New York. Six beautiful days and nights....What did Jimi think? Oh, he loved it but he was jealous too. Mick and Jimi liked each other a lot. The night of the Stones' concert, I gave a surprise birthday party for Jimi at the apartment. Mick came in an out-of-sight black and white checkered Zoot suit and a Mafia sized ruby ring on his little finger. It was their big night out and everyone had a fantastic time."

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Toru A

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swiss
fyi...

The black man who first speaks in the audio part of this clip is Tony Funches, the Stones bodyguard they hired in Los Angeles who went with them on the 69 tour--and at Altamount broke his hand in 2 places punching Hell's Angels. He went on to become Jim Morrison's bodyguard. He now lives in Las Vegas.

I thought he was Everett Eddy who once was Muhammad Ali's bodyguard.
Thank you for your info.

I can see why you'd think that -- he does look like Everett Eddy.

There's an audio interview maybe I'll post here (it's an MP3) of Tony Funches from 2008, talking primarily about Altamont. No "new" information here, per se, but still pretty interesting.

When asked about the Angels trying to ambush Mick by boat, in Montauk, he basically says he's not surprised because there is still serious bad blood between the Angels and the Stones, then laughingly says to the effect that these angry Angels are basically geezers now like him, collecting Medicaid checks.

Swiss, a great contribution.

- Doxa

great thread

thanks for that insightful analysis, swiss. it is indeed rather odd that Stanley decided to write about
'Hendrix [trying] to take Marianne away from [Mick]' when what was in fact going on was Jimi and Keith discussing Linda -
there's a way in which that almost makes sense ... but only *almost* :E

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with sssoul
thanks for that insightful analysis, swiss. it is indeed rather odd that Stanley decided to write about 'Hendrix [trying] to take Marianne away from [Mick]' when what was in fact going on was Jimi and Keith discussing Linda - there's a way in which that almost makes sense ... but only *almost* :E

I know what you mean - it does almost make sense.

I don't "know" Mick enough to know whether he holds the kinds of grudges that would lead to "exact revenge" on Jimi Hendrix. A tit-for-tat you-stole-my-chick-so-I'll-steal yours. I kinda doubt it. However, it's possible that it seemed that way to Stanley Booth. Like, Stanley Booth bops into the area where Mick is applying makeup and starts chatting him up (as his book says he did). If Mick were in a bad mood---or simply distracted before going on stage (in the video Mick looks quite hyper, and Jo Bergman wrote in her tour notebook of that night: "Tried talk Mick imposs...Mick better but must keep his mind on necessary things" ) Mick may have answered Stanley Booth's question Hendrix in an offhand manner, like: "ah yeah, he tried to steal my old lady one time," and that was what Stanley remembered and wrote down. Later, when Stanley heard about Devon staying with Mick at the Plaza, Stanley put 2+2 together, albeit not coming up with an entirely accurate conclusion. Thereby becoming a linear, dramatic narrative of Mick steals Hendrix's woman.

More likely, things were pretty loose. It's likely (and if I stay thus fascinated, I'll find out for certain) that Devon did sleep with Mick during the previous tour, as she says (as well as other Stones), possibly before knowing Jimi, Jimi had hundreds of women, Mick was in the mood to hook up that night, there was an ongoing rivalry but also sharing re: women with all those guys at that time. And who knows where Jimi went that night? who was he with?

If Mick is vengeful and petty (which I just don't know), I suppose it's possible that he would've gone out of his way to "steal" Jimi's "girl." Tho most likely 2.5 years prior in the blush of a new romance Mick would have been more insulted by Hendrix hitting on Marianne in his own house, than Hendrix certainly would be regarding the hijinx of Devon Wilson and Mick Jagger.

What think? I thought about asking Stanley Booth, but it's so esoteric, and if at the time he didn't have a clear sense of what was going on and kinda guessed at it (and came close), why would he have more insights now, when his memories of short conversations 40 years ago are surely dimmed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-09-25 05:09 by swiss.

I would bet Jagger is a very vengeful person.
It makes sense he'd try and "steal" another person's girlfriend certainly if they did the same to him....
Where was Marsha Hunt all this time ?

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Eleanor Rigby
Where was Marsha Hunt all this time ?

Could she be the woman Stanley Booth refers to when he says on the night backstage at MSG: "I didn't know that in the distance a black girl was telling him she was going to have his baby" ? (True Adventures... p. 260)

_____________

Oddly enough, the mention of Marsha Hunt brings us almost full circle to Jimi Hendrix

Scotsman. "Undefeated after battle with cancer" by John Gibson October 26, 2005

"Marsha was busy writing the life story of Jimi Hendrix when she discovered a lump in her breast. But she refused to let it stop her from finishing it. After five months, the lump was the size of an egg. When a Dublin surgeon confirmed that she had cancer, she decided, in typical style, to treat her battle with the disease like a dangerous adventure.

" 'I told myself that if I was going to die, or be so sick that I couldn't write, I had to finish the book I'd been working on for the past five years. It's about Jimi Hendrix, but also about how and why society changed in the 1960s. I have a unique perspective on the Jimi Hendrix Experience that no-one else alive has because he and I shared something - black Americans who came to London were transformed and re-packaged for the US, although I never became successful there and he did.

" 'I decided that I would die for this book. It is the most important thing I have to leave behind'."

>> Could she be the woman Stanley Booth refers to when he says on the night backstage at MSG:
"I didn't know that in the distance a black girl was telling him she was going to have his baby" ? <<

yep, that seems to refer pretty plainly to Marsha Hunt -
at least, it never occurred to me that it could mean anyone else

and swiss, once again your analysis of the "opennness" of the scene at the time, and what led Stanley to that misconclusion,
all sounds real plausible. if i recall the book right, there was also the added element
of Stanley getting some "medical treatment" just before going to the venue and being higher than a kite at the time. :E

i think you should run your theory past Stanley, if you're in a position to -
memories can fade with time, but it also happens that we acquire insights that help us fit things together better.

I can't remember if I have THANKED YOU for this post you've made, so ... just ta play it safe ... THANKS AGAIN!

Cheers & Jollies,

TF

Best "first solo post" EVER! Thanks swiss,
I didnt see this first time around, but it IS GREAT.

Me neither! What a great first post and thread. Thank you Swiss!

thanks for posting.

every time I see this clip I'm thinking: "What if Jimi played with the Stones on stage"