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- Herausgeber: Icon Books
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Serie: The 50
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
A trip around the world, played out to the most eclectic soundtrack, discovering hidden musical gems along the way. From mosh pits to cabarets, Berlin's beatnik band haunts to Korea's peppy k-pop clubs, from visiting the infamous Dollywood, to tracing Freddie Mercury's childhood in Zanzibar, The 50 Greatest Musical Places of the World has something for music fans of all genres. Discover the places where iconic songs were written, groups were formed, music legends were born and extraordinary talent is celebrated.
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DISCLAIMER
The descriptions given in these articles are for general guidance only, and should not be used as a substitute for a proper travel guide or route plan. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss, injury or damage allegedly arising from any information contained in this book.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
As a soul-stirring force, music can soothe pain, mend hearts, rebel rouse, celebrate, woo and challenge, powering endorphins and adrenaline to unparalleled highs. It enhances travel, inspires change and transports us – spiritually and physically – to new places. We carry with us thousands of messages, anthems, choruses and refrains that, quite literally, have struck a chord.
Music is unifying, storytelling, culturally distinctive, decisive, homogenous, and life-changing. We, the fans, each have our own relationship with the music, the band or artist, the track or the album. Fandom is an exclusive club to which any one of us can join; all of us, anywhere in the world.
Certain places are musically significant for a variety of reasons: some for the songs that are sung there, others as the birthplace of a musical genius, many made famous by videos and album covers. Wherever you are in the world, there will be a musical Mecca nearby; from the high-energy, peppy pop bars of Korea; the juke-box joints of America; and the pieces of history left behind by the many legends who helped define music’s pantheon: Vienna; to Berlin with its beatnik band haunts; New York with its fabled studios, venues and auditoriums, and Ghent’s bluesy basement bars. London has its eclectic mix of singer-songwriters from all musical genres, Memphis its snake-hipped ghosts of rock ‘n’ roll history, and Iceland has its awe-inspiring landscape that has helped to create music that is second-to-none. Head out to the South American rolling plains where cowboy music is king, or to the honky-tonk, boot-scooting bars of Nashville. Check out Tennessee, with its musical mix of rock, country, bluegrass, jazz and more, or savour the places with secret musical relevance far off the main tourist drag with their iconic guitar riffs, choral giants, fine orchestral compositions and heavyweight gods of rock. From old-time gypsy folk and spontaneous jazzmen, to keyboard wizards with sonic boom, the foremost musical places to visit are seducing a growing number of music lovers prepared to journey further afield to follow in the footsteps of tunesmiths, lyrical legacies, opera heroes and party-starting DJs.
From awesome acoustics to mosh pits and festivals, The 50 Greatest Musical Places of the World embraces every music-making genre and seduces readers with journeys to pay homage to pan-African fusion, choral verses and techno beats. From the back-blocks of Nigeria to the exotic locales of Miami and the Caribbean, it showcases 50 places that deserve a place on every music fan’s fantasy itinerary, paying homage to a diverse mix of musical shrines, including the obvious, the curious and the obscure: an awe-inspiring musical migration that guarantees to seriously rock your world.
THE 50 GREATEST MUSICAL PLACES OF THE WORLD
UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
It may only be the fifth largest city in the UK in terms of size and population, but Manchester’s influence on the UK’s culture scene is immense. As an important hub over many generations that has produced some of Europe’s finest musical artists across the genres, music has been at the heart of the city for several hundred years. In Elizabethan times, the finest musicians in the city were summoned to the Court Leet to play for royalty and noblemen. Before long, the reputation of Manchester’s musical masters was well known in aristocratic circles far and wide. During the classical performances of the early 1800s, the public of Manchester soon became famous for their responsiveness and rapturous applause. This encouraged the composers of Europe, including Liszt and Brahms amongst others, to add the city to their European concert tours. The importance of musical pursuits in Manchester elevated to such a level that the role of music advisor for all Manchester schools was created in 1918. This ensured each school had a choir and orchestra and offered tuition in a variety of instruments. Popular ensembles began to spring up around the city, including the Gentlemen’s Glee Club, the Manchester Vocal Society and the Brodsky Quartet. Today Manchester has three symphony orchestras, a chamber orchestra and numerous centres for musical education, including the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and Chetham’s School of Music.
In 1929 the 250-strong Manchester Children’s Choir recorded Henry Purcell’s ‘Nymphs and Shepherds’ and the ‘Evening Benediction’ from Hansel and Gretel with the city’s Halle Orchestra at the Free Trade Hall. It followed a year of rehearsals by the 60 boys and 190 girls and was released by Columbia Records, selling a staggering 1 million copies. In 1989, 60 years after it was recorded, EMI awarded the choir a Gold Disc.
Since 1996, Manchester has had an ultra-modern, acoustically-balanced, high-tech 2,500 seat concert venue called the Bridgewater Hall in Lower Mosley Street, where the Halle Orchestra are in residence. Though the old Free Trade Hall has long gone, other historical venues remain, including the RNCM, the Royal Exchange Theatre and a wide variety of halls that are home to many of Northern England’s leading brass bands. In England in the early 1990s, the working-class industrialised communities each had a band, usually sponsored by the colliery, steam-powered mill or pit that was the main employer. Manchester has very little pre-industrialised history to speak of, having been powered by the industrial revolution when several of the tall, smoke-spewing chimneys of the area’s large-scale cotton mills were visible for miles and miles.
Finally, of course, there is Manchester’s richly-endowed pop music scene that played an integral role in every decade from the 1950s to the present day. From the Saints Jazz Band, Derek Atkins’ Dixielanders and Smoky City Stompers in the 1950s, Freddie and the Dreamers and Herman’s Hermits in the 1960s, 10cc and the Buzzcocks in the 1970s, The Smiths and Joy Division in the 1980s and a whole slew of artists in the 1990s that formed part of the so-called ‘Madchester Scene’ such as the Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, The Charlatans, James and, arguably Manchester’s most popular band, Oasis.
Manchester’s main pop music venue is the award-winning Manchester Arena: a 21,000-capacity stadium that ranks as Europe’s largest. However, many bands prefer to play the more atmospheric venues, such as the Manchester Apollo and Manchester Academy as well as very smallest, the Band on the Wall, the Ruby Lounge and the Bierkeller. As a music city, Manchester is a location to rank alongside New Orleans with its unique sound, high standard of musicianship and innumerable musical outlets. The city’s Factory Records, the legendary oh-so-hip Hacienda nightclub and the old stomping grounds of bands that range from Elbow, The Smiths and Oasis to The Hollies, The Chemical Brothers and the Bee Gees makes Manchester a great place for music-lovers to explore. Manchester tourist offices have a map of the top places to experience the best bands and sounds in the city. There are also musical tours that guide you around the Manchester urban landscape to point out the ordinary city buildings that became iconic once they’d appeared on album covers and posters. Meet the people that inspired Manchester’s great musicians, walk in their footsteps and hear first-hand how Manchester has produced more pop-stars per capita of population than any other city in the world.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Manchester’s finest walking musical tour isn’t running due to the sudden death of tour guide Craig Gill – a true stalwart of the city’s music scene. As the drummer in Inspiral Carpets, Gill notched up twelve top 40 UK hits, three top ten albums and worked with all of Manchester’s most famous music maestros, including Noel Gallagher, Tony Wilson, Johnny Marr, Shaun Ryder, Mark E Smith, Peter Hook and Dr John Cooper Clarke to name but a few. Gill, who died aged just 44, is survived by the four remaining members of Inspiral Carpets – Graham Lambert, Clint Boon, Martyn Walsh and Steve Holt. A celebration of Gill’s life was held at Salford Lads Club: a red brick Manchester venue that famously appeared on The Smiths’ 1986 album The Queen Is Dead. The club, located in Ordsall, Greater Manchester, has become a place of pilgrimage for Smiths fans ever since the release of the LP. With a capacity for just 200 people, this former youth club is now a much-sought-after venue for intimate, exclusive gigs.
Gill joined the band when he was just 14, and was still touring at the time he died – 30 years after becoming its drummer. Hits by the Inspiral Carpets include ‘This Is How It Feels’, ‘Saturn 5’ and ‘She Comes In The Fall’. His death shocked the music world with thousands of tributes paid from his contemporaries in bands like Oasis, Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Gill’s highly popular music walks took fans through the city to landmarks synonymous with some of the bands that came out of the Manchester music scene, and his informal, magical personal insight ensured he won 5-star reviews. Gill’s relaxed character, easy pace and good humour – coupled with his detailed knowledge of his subject – ensured he always had lots of stories to share.
Morrissey fans should head to the painted iron bridge (where Morrissey decreed, ‘Under the iron bridge we kissed, and although I ended up with sore lips’ in the song ‘Still Ill’), Strangeways (Manchester’s high-security male prison designed by Alfred Waterhouse that opened in 1868), his old family house on Kings Road, the Southern Cemetery gates (beyond which many of the city’s great and good are buried) and, of course, the Salford Lads Club. Those keen to do a Stone Roses pilgrimage should check out the Hacienda Night Club (now a block of flats after its entertainment license was revoked in 1997 due to financial mismanagement, theft, drug dealing and violent gangs), Factory Records (the independent label at the heart of the 1990 boom started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus – now a club called FAC251) and Eastern Bloc Record Shop on Stevenson Square (where John Squire first heard the funk-laden drumbeat from the James Brown song ‘Funky Drummer’, that he used so brilliantly on ‘Fool’s Gold’ – the Stone Roses’ first UK top ten single). If you are keen to follow in the footsteps of Oasis then be sure to visit the road in which the Gallagher brothers grew up, in truly humble beginnings, before heading to Bonehead’s old house in Burnage, where Oasis filmed the music video for their single ‘Shaker Maker’ in 1993. For added Mancunian ambience, plug one of the great Manc bands into your headphones and pray for grey skies and dark clouds – there is nothing quite like genuine, relentless rainfall for a truly authentic Manchester experience.
Contacts: Manchester Music Toursmanchestermusictours.com
Visit Manchestervisitmanchester.com
THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND
For over a century, The Prom Season has delighted London’s concert goers with a rousing annual classical music extravaganza of more than 70 concerts over 58 days of music festivities – and more than a few surprises too. An integral part of the classical calendar since 1895, the BBC Proms combines world-class orchestral music and solo performances in the heart of the UK capital, allowing music fans to revel in a world of symphonies, arias and concertos, featuring works from some of history’s greatest composers. Yet aside from such luminaries as Elgar, Vivaldi and Beethoven you’ll find the innovative, untested and contemporary. In past years, The Proms has showcased British film scores and unknown homespun composers to provide an eclectic mix of chaotic, daring performances – earning a much-deserved reputation as a not-to-be-missed musical jamboree of distinction that champions new music, composers and artists. Each annual Proms Season involves many hundreds of musicians and singers from a wide variety of musical disciplines at concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. However, the highlight of the festival is arguably the world-famous Last Night of the Proms event – a rowdy celebration of over a million people swishing Union Jacks and blowing whistles in patriotic merriment. A perennially popular and grand affair now firmly established as a pinnacle of the UK’s music calendar, the Last Night of the Proms offers a chance to revel in an elaborate historic musical tradition of considerable pomp, pageantry and circumstance – an exhilarating, fun-filled finale conducted with energetic aplomb.
Now in its 123rd season, The Proms remains true to its original aim: to present the widest range of music, performed to the highest standards, to large audiences. Since the very first concert in 1895, the tradition has owed much to the brainchild of the event, the impresario Robert Newman, manager of the then newly built Queen’s Hall in London. Newman could see that there was a need to bring symphony orchestras to the general public but deliver them in a less elitist format: inexpensive ticket prices were key as was the informal style of the event. Over time, he developed the project and concluded that it would work best as nightly concerts that eased the audience in via easy stages. His plan involved introducing more popular music at first, gradually raising the standard to incorporate lesser-known and more complex classical and modern music. Each three-hour programme was just one shilling (5p) or a season could be bought for a guinea (£1.05). The series was known as ‘Mr Robert Newman’s Promenade Concerts’ and concert-goers were allowed to eat, drink and smoke during the concerts – though they were asked not to strike matches during the vocal numbers.
Once the crowds had been entertained by some familiar cherry-picked pieces from popular operas, the programme would bring more adventurous pieces to the audience within a wide range of music. This revolutionised how music was showcased to new audiences and allowed young talent to feature alongside leading compositions. Despite sell-out concerts, The Proms ran at a loss. In 1927, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) took over the event and it became a firm fixture in the calendar of the BBC Symphony Orchestra once it was formed in 1930. However, nine years later when Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, the BBC decentralised its Music Department and announced that it was unable to support The Proms. It returned as the sponsor in 1942, by which time the venue was the magnificent Royal Albert Hall, built in 1871.
The Proms have altered over the years to reflect styles and tastes, such as the introduction of a more experimental style of programming in the 1950s and the doubling of the number of bold, new works. In the 1960s, the event expanded its reach to include a great number of international artists as well as concerts by ensembles from non-Western cultures, including India, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan; music for percussion; jazz, gospel and electro-acoustic music; and concerts devised especially for children. The Proms today is a major global music festival on an exciting scale for which the BBC commissions new works each season, offering Proms audiences a chance to hear the latest in musical trends, and creating a unique platform for dozens of contemporary composers. It retains a number of the features introduced in the 1970s, such as a series of Late Night concerts and Pre-Prom Talks. By the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, the programme included more than 70 main Prom concerts every year, ever widening the range of symphonic and operatic music presented.
Don’t own a tuxedo, ball-gown or limo? No worries: normal attire or fancy dress, wigs and flags are what lends this unique event its informal atmosphere and allure – especially for the Last Night. This amazing, bizarre, uniquely British event is incredibly popular and tickets for the Last Night are invariably the first to be sold out when the box office opens in mid-May each year. This enthusiastic finale recaps music from each of the main themes for the season, during which the Prommers will behave as impeccably as they normally do, even though they’re wearing unusual clothing festooned with Union Jacks and are carrying Union Jack flags. The closing programme is a patriotic finale: ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ (or Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ March No. 1), the ‘Fantasia on British Sea Songs’ (including the very popular ‘Rule, Britannia!’), and finally ‘Auld Lang Syne’, ‘Jerusalem’ and the National Anthem. This is when Promgoers sway in their seats, rousingly flag-waving, singing along to the music – the atmosphere is amazingly uplifting and everyone is encouraged to join in with whistles and hooters.
Contacts: The Promsroyalalberthall.com
BBC Live Music Eventsbbc.co.uk/events
BBC Philharmonic Orchestrabbc.co.uk/philharmonic
BARNES, LONDON, ENGLAND
With his flawless skin, pretty face, rose-bud lips and corkscrew, shoulder-length hair, Marc Bolan caused a stir when he first appeared on British TV. Visually, he mixed all-male sex appeal with androgynous rock pizzazz. In canary-yellow satin shirts, a corduroy peaked cap, velvet trousers and strings of coloured beads, London-born Bolan epitomised kooky boho-chic. Sitting cross-legged to play guitar, the songs of this musician-poet-singer-songwriter were more flowery than the usual glam-rock offering. Born plain old Mark Field he had changed his name to Toby Typer after a stint as a catalogue model – a job he owed to his fine, exotic beauty, which in turn owed much to genetics (his father was an Ashkenazi Jew of Russian and Polish descent). He hung around in Soho’s coffee bars, mixing in arty circles and falling in love with the rock ’n’ roll of Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, with his eyelashes coated with mascara and his cheeks dusted with glitter. He rarely left home without six-inch platform boots and his signature purple feather boa. The 1970s mixed up rock ‘n’ roll with flower power and plenty of psychedelia but, even so, elfin Bolan’s daring style cut an outlandish dash. As a musician, Field underwent another change of name to Marc Bolan. In August 1965, he signed to Decca Records and laid down the track ‘The Wizard’ as his first single, which failed to cause much of a stir. With his band T. Rex he went on to have four UK No.1 hits, including ‘Ride A White Swan’ and ‘Hot Love’. It was a wild, hysterical, weird and hedonistic time and Bolan enjoyed living it to excess.
All that came to a sudden end on 16 September 1977 when he died in the tangled wreck of his purple Mini. It was being driven by his American lover, singer Gloria Jones, when it hit a tree in Barnes, South-west London. Bolan was two weeks from his 30th birthday and they were less than a mile from his home. Texas-born Gloria was a talented soul singer – she recorded the original version of ‘Tainted Love’ and had worked with Marvin Gaye – when she met Marc. In 1972 he was recording in Germany while she was touring Europe, and he told her how much he liked her music. Both Jones and Bolan were married at the time – he to former publicist June Child, an ex-girlfriend of Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett.
Marc bought a mansion in Richmond, Surrey, and he and Gloria set up home together. Their happiness as a family was complete when she gave birth to their baby boy Rolan. Bolan’s eponymous teen music show on Granada (ITV) – Marc – was a hit at teatime in Britain. It showcased new bands (British band The Jam got its big break on Marc) and attracted some megastars, such as Bolan’s close friend David Bowie. After Bowie’s appearance and the wrap party for the last show in the series, Gloria and Bolan drove home, talking non-stop and in high spirits. Gloria was at the wheel as Bolan had never learned to drive. In the absence of seatbelt laws at that time, neither was strapped into their seat.
Gloria has always denied she was drunk and, though the owner of the restaurant where the couple had dinner that night claimed they had a bottle of wine with their meal, no tests were taken by the police which implicated her. They struck a tree after spinning out of control. Both were thrown through the windscreen: Gloria was found lying on the bonnet and Bolan died instantly after landing on the road. Gloria lay in intensive care for some weeks and awoke to learn that she had lost the love of her life. The accident had also damaged her vocal chords and, as Bolan was still legally married to June when he died, she no longer had a home, any money, or an income. The funeral was a hugely emotional affair, with thousands of Marc Bolan fans sobbing as his swan-topped coffin was carried into the crematorium at Golders Green. Gloria returned to America almost destitute, to live with her parents. David Bowie came to the rescue and arranged to pay for Rolan’s education and upkeep. Today she and Rolan have just a handful of mementos of Bolan, including a gold disc, a book of poetry he penned – entitled The Warlock of Love, and an autographed tambourine.
Today, 40 years since his death, Marc Bolan’s fans continue to maintain a presence at the road that claimed his life. The sycamore tree that their purple Mini 1275GT (registration FOX 661L) hit that fateful night has become one of the world’s great, unknown rock shrines. A fastidiously fan-maintained memorial has been erected in Barnes, on Queen’s Ride (part of the B306) close to Gipsy Lane and the South Circular. Ever since 16 September 1977, the accident site has been a place for Bolan pilgrims to converge. Two decades after his death, the Performing Rights Society (PRS) installed a memorial stone at the base of the embankment of the ‘Bolan Tree’. A bronze bust of Bolan, paid for exclusively by T-Rex Action Group (TAG) founder Fee Warner, and sculpted by Canadian sculptor Jean Robillard, was unveiled by Rolan. Speed humps are now a feature of Queen’s Ride, a relatively quiet road which rises to a blind summit on a railway bridge. TAG has diligently cared for the site and was granted an in perpetuity lease on the land, with ownership and full responsibility for the ‘Bolan Tree’. Steps were built to improve access up the muddy embankment to the tree and memorial. In 2005, additional memorial plaques were fitted to the steps to remember other members of T. Rex that have since passed away: Steve Peregrin Took, Mickey Finn, Dino Dines and Steve Currie. Bolan’s wife June, who died in 1994, is also recognised for her contribution to his success. Bunches of flowers, potted blooms and brightly-coloured feather boas are draped over kerbstones. In 2007, the site was awarded ‘Shrine’ status by the English Tourist Board – one of just 113 ‘Sites of Rock ‘n’ Roll Importance’ in England, joining such iconic musical landmarks as Abbey Road. Scenes of tragic road traffic accidents (RTAs) are turned into temporary shrines all the time, of course. Yet with its black glossy arc-shaped memorial stone, sprouting shrubbery and fine plinth-mounted bronze bust, surrounded by posters, photos and cuttings, this roadside monument to Bolan has stood the test of time. Fans prune the plants, top up the bark chippings and replace the railway sleepers. Fundraising continues for additions such as the spring bulbs that were planted around the capped stump of the sycamore tree when the branches were felled in 2015.
Contacts: Marc Bolanmarc-bolan.com
T. Rex Action Group (TAG)mercurymoon.co.uk
Visit Londonvisitlondon.com
HANDEL AND HENDRIX HOUSE, LONDON, ENGLAND
In one street in the west end of London, two neighbouring houses share an extraordinary musical heritage as the former homes of history-changing virtuosos. One, was where George Frideric Handel lived, a composer who gained fame at the Royal Academy of Music in England; the other was home to probably the biggest rock legend in music history, the guitar hero Jimi Hendrix.
Hendrix enjoyed living in Brook Street, in the heart of London, welcoming the freedom it offered. He would walk from the flat to pop into HMV and flick through its shelves of vinyl. Legendary venues like the Marquee and the Speakeasy were also close by. With his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, he would go out to the local Indian restaurant: there were no paparazzi to bother him and he was rarely asked for autographs over his pile of poppadoms. Hendrix and Etchingham were together for three years, and he once claimed that she was ‘my past girlfriend, my present girlfriend and probably my future girlfriend; my mother, my sister and all that bit. My Yoko Ono’. He wrote ‘Foxy Lady’, ‘Gypsy Eyes’ and ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ for her and the couple were inseparable: she booked the recording studios and watched as he auditioned his band. According to Etchingham, Hendrix was fundamentally a sensitive and shy guy.
Born in America, Jimi Hendrix grew up in Seattle where he was shunted between foster parents and relatives of his dead, alcoholic mother. He spent the last four years of his life in London – one of his happiest periods – describing Brook Street as ‘the only home I ever had’. He was discovered playing in a Greenwich Village coffee house by the Animals’ bassist Chas Chandler, who declared him ‘the greatest guitarist ever’. Chandler brought him to London, where Hendrix arrived with a white Fender Stratocaster guitar, some hair curlers and a tube of spot cream as luggage. On his first night out on the town, he met Etchingham whilst performing at the Scotch of St James’s nightclub. He had formed a trio, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and went on to have hits with ‘Hey Joe’ and ‘Purple Haze’. Kathy gave up her job as a hairdresser and found the flat in the Evening Standard newspaper for a rent of £30 a week. Hendrix loved it, especially when he learned that the German composer Handel had lived next door for 36 years. After rushing out to buy a copy of ‘Messiah’, Handel’s superlative Easter oratorio, he claimed to have seen the composer’s ghost disappearing into a wall, describing him as looking like ‘an old guy in a night shirt and grey pigtail’.
Stories that Etchingham has shared about her time with Hendrix conjure up a conservative domestic scene, quite unlike the hedonistic headlines that described his demons after his premature death. They’d go shopping, enjoy quiet time out of the limelight drinking tea and watching Coronation Street (Hendrix was a great Ena Sharples fan), and would go ice skating in Bayswater Road. Sure, they’d also party until breakfast and sleep until dusk too – it was the height of the Swinging Sixties in London. Paid for by Hendrix’s management company in Gerrard Street, their Brook Street home was open to anyone and visiting musicians would often knock on the flat door – Keith Moon and Keith Richards would often pop by, sitting on the end of the bed in the absence of chairs. But it wasn’t all domestic bliss. Hendrix wasn’t faithful, inventing the term ‘Band Aids’ for the groupies that hung on his arm, and ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ (Etchingham’s middle name is Mary), was written after Kathy hit him with a frying pan. Despite his dalliances, Hendrix was prone to extreme jealousy when his girlfriend attracted male attention. With his army jacket, Afro hair and flowery shirts, the black American was like nothing London had seen before – women were enthralled; men admiring.
Hendrix died on 18 September 1970, of an overdose, aged just 27, after his occasional glass of Mateus rosé and celebratory whisky and coke had escalated to regular use of cocaine, LSD and finally heroin. Hendrix and Etchingham had split up by then because she couldn’t cope with the hedonistic rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle – he was devastated and moved into the Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch. She saw him in Kensington Market the day he died – haggard and prematurely grey. Later that night, in the company of German former skating champion Monika Dannemann in Kensington’s Samarkand Hotel, Hendrix is believed to have inadvertently overdosed on sleeping pills mixed with booze and choked on his own vomit – though his death is still an open verdict. Claims of something more sinister continue to be made today, and Etchingham spent three years investigating the circumstances of Hendrix’s death in the 1990s. Dannemann lost a libel case against her, committing suicide 48 hours later in her fume-filled Mercedes. Theories surrounding the time and cause of death have become the stuff of legends. The fans he had made through his intense period of playing in London clubs, as well as venues across the UK were distraught at his untimely passing. Hendrix, who once confided that his father used to beat him ‘senseless’ for trying to learn the guitar by putting string on a broom, had made the big time and had headlined at the Royal Albert Hall.
George Frideric Handel, who lived at neighbouring 25 Brook Street for 36 years, wrote many of his greatest works there, including the ‘Messiah’. Both properties are now owned by the Handel House Trust, which has been using Hendrix’s former home as an office, only opening it occasionally to the public. Acknowledging that few streets in the world could claim such a concentration of musical genius, the trust decided to open Jimi Hendrix’s flat as a permanent attraction in 2016, following painstaking research into the building and Hendrix’s circle of friends and acquaintances to understand exactly how it looked when he lived there. At the heart of the Hendrix flat is the main living room where he spent many hours of writing and countless jam sessions with visiting musicians. He slept here, entertained here and played records so loudly his two giant speakers kept breaking. The level of detail used to recreate the flat is remarkable, right down to Hendrix’s two telephones – one old-school black Bakelite, one modishly angular – on the floor and the scallop shell ashtray on the bedside table. The bed, draped in hippy-ish fabrics under a canopy of embroidered silks, is scattered with brightly-coloured cushions. Kathy Etchingham, who now lives in Australia, was a consultant on the replication project – insisting Hendrix was fastidiously tidy and obsessively neat, after a spell in the army. The flat has a modish pink bathroom suite and a kitchen that was barely used as the couple relied on ‘room service’ from Mr Love’s, the restaurant downstairs. Some beautiful black and white photographs snapped for Melody Maker in January 1969 have also been used to help recreate the room. There is also a wall of album covers, and an index of the music played on the Bang & Olufsen turntable, including records by Acker Bilk, the Beatles, the Band, Ravi Shankar and Bob Dylan – whose track ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, Hendrix said, ‘made me feel that I wasn’t the only one who’d ever felt so low’. In the corner of the room there stands the Epiphone FT79 acoustic guitar, which the rock star bought in New York at the end of his first US tour. A peacock screen and a pile of old newspapers also help to transport visitors back to the ’60s.
On 14 September 1997, Hendrix’s old flat at 23 Brook Street was chosen for an English Heritage blue plaque commemorating his life and work. It is the only officially recognised Hendrix residence in the world. London has become an important destination for rock pilgrims and a number of award-winning tours visit rock’s monumental landmarks. These include places featured on album covers, stars’ homes, recording studios, gig sites, clubs and video and film locations – the places that inspired the lyrics and the bands. Some of the most important sites for rock pilgrimages include the London homes of the Beatles, the Apple offices (the Beatles’ own record label) and all the other key Fab Four-related places. Other tours focus on the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Clash, The Who, The Kinks, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Coldplay, Blur and Amy Winehouse.
Contacts: Handel-Hendrix Museumhandelhendrix.org
Rock and Tripsrockandtrips.co.uk
London Rock Tourslondonrocktour.com
London Rock Walkslondonrockwalks.com
EISTEDDFOD FESTIVAL, WALES
The lilting timbre and mellow tone of the Welsh voice choir is musical shorthand for Wales and the choral tradition holds a special place in the emblematic culture of the Valleys. In the working class industrial communities of the Welsh heartlands, male voice choirs have long been a feature, especially in the south of the country. Throughout the written history of Wales, the propensity for gathering men in large numbers has been chronicled – in the coal mines, in the pub, at the rugby and in song. In the 1950s, Welsh rugby captain Cliff Morgan said that the singing at matches put a yard on every stride, and 20 yards on every kick. What made the music-making of Wales become so iconic lies in the incredible resonance of the voices working in harmony. Lyrics and their respective parts are learnt by heart, with the choir’s attention focused solely on the conductor – not written scores. Traditional songs and hymns remain the bedrock of the Welsh male voice choir repertoire, with the modern addition of some light opera and classic pop standards. A stirring rendition of ‘Men of Harlech’ – a song about Owain Glyndwr’s defence of Cambria from English invaders is a show-stopping favourite with audiences throughout Wales.
Rock and pop icons of Wales – from Tom Jones, Catatonia to Stereophonics – have performed with male voice choirs (côr meibion
