It’s funny, I’ve been immersed in all these books about the ’60s music scene in England because of the children’s biography of Jimi Hendrix I’m working on, and who do I see is playing at the Casino Regina Show Lounge in a few weeks? Eric Burdon & the Animals.
If I may quote myself, from the introduction to my book:
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The same evening he arrived in London, Hendrix was onstage at The Scotch, a club that attracted people in the music industry. As he started to play, the club fell silent.
“He was just amazing,” Kathy Etchingham, then just twenty-four and soon to be Jimi’s girlfriend (one of many), recalls. “People had never seen anything like it.”
Among the musicians in the crowd was Eric Burdon of the Animals. His take: “It was haunting how good he was. You just stopped and watched.”
Burdon was the first famous rock guitarist to be awed by Hendrix’s ability. He wouldn’t be the last.
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I wish I could have been there, in 1966, to say to Burdon, “Hey, guess what? In 35 years you’ll be playing at–wait for it–the Casino Regina Show Lounge!”
Anybody got a spare time machine lying around?
