Claire Tole-Moir
Head of Department
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Lot 53*
Jimi Hendrix: A Schreiber Sonata wooden recorder,
13 December 2017, 12:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge£22,000 - £25,000
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Jimi Hendrix: A Schreiber Sonata wooden recorder,
comprising two pieces (missing bell, but as purchased and used by Hendrix), customised with lacquered green, yellow, purple, and black string bands, engraved West Germany to head joint, housed in a decorative yellow and red silk cloth within a brown velvet cloth tied with three embroidered floral ribbons. Accompanied by a copy of the DVD, Rainbow Bridge, and a letter of provenance from Melinda Merryweather, recorder: 1 3/4in x 15in (4.5cm x 38cm)
Footnotes
Provenance:
This instrument was used by Jimi Hendrix on his song "If 6 Was 9" on the Axis: Bold As Love album (1967), which was then featured in the counterculture hit film Easy Rider (1969).
As mentioned on The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set put out by 'Experience Hendrix', "'If 6 Was 9' represented yet another bold creative leap forward for Jimi. With an extraordinary band performance in hand, Jimi, Chas Chandler, and guests Graham Nash and Gary Walker joined forces, stomping on a drum platform to create the distinctive percussion effect the guitarist desired. Jimi then added another offbeat touch, playing a battered recorder he had purchased from a London street vendor for two shillings. Hendrix had no formal training on the instrument. Nonetheless, he utilized the instrument to achieve a sound he apparently felt he could not realize on the guitar." Jimi admitted "I adore 'If 6 Was 9'...That was a complete jam session, then we put the words on afterwards. That's me on the flute...'If 6 Was 9' is what you call a great feeling of blues."
After Hendrix's death, the recorder was given by Hendrix's manager, Michael Jeffery, to Hendrix's friend and collaborator, Melinda Merryweather. Merryweather helped pitch the concept that became the Hendrix film Rainbow Bridge (1972), directed by her friend, Chuck Wein; she later acted in and was art director on the film. Merryweather and Hendrix became friends while working closely together on the film for several weeks in Hawaii. Merryweather stated "When I hear Jimi playing that recorder I hear his American Indian heritage, and I am just waiting for the Coyotes to show up, it is a sound he longed for but could not get on his guitar that small part meant so much to him."
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