A new walking tour in London takes in the debauchery of the Swinging Sixties – pinned on rock legend Jimi Hendrix’s time in the capital
They say if you can remember the swinging ‘60s, you probably weren’t there.
With an exploding music scene, miniskirts, psychedelic drugs and youth culture reigning supreme, it was a time when it felt as if the UK – and London in particular – was the centre of a revolution.
But if all that passed you by, there’s now a way to travel back in time to the decade which became a byword for hedonism.
Music Heritage London runs a range of tours for fans of the ‘60s and has just launched a new one centred around Jimi Hendrix and his London haunts.
It’s a joint venture between MHL and Handle Hendrix House, a Mayfair museum which cares for the adjacent homes of the American guitarist and the composer George Frideric Handel.
The pair were neighbours, albeit separated by a couple of centuries, and two blue plaques adorn the building marking the careers of both.
“I’ve known the Handel Hendrix house for years; it’s an amazing museum. But one thing I thought was lacking was the opportunity to actually see more of Hendrix’s London,” explains Paul Endacott, the man behind the music tour.
“Many of the venues are still there – The Troubadour hasn’t changed since 1955; you can almost imagine Hendrix coming out of the men’s lavatory!
“We go to as many locations as we can – where he lived, where he chilled and where he partied.”
Paul, himself a semi-professional musician who launched Music Heritage London in 2015, explains it was also important to use the story of the guitarist’s arrival in London to illustrate how British promoters brought Black American artists over to the UK.
“It started with the Blues – bringing artists over where they were getting a much bigger following here than in the States because of the colour bar.”
And what an arrival it seems to have been for Hendrix, who the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame calls “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music”.
It apparently took him less than 24 hours to make his mark, touching down in September 1966 as a struggling musician yet within hours jamming in the Fulham hangout of legendary bandleader Zoot Money.
Then it was on to one of the coolest members’ clubs in town, the Scotch of St James, where he spontaneously joined the house band and met the woman who would become his girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham.
All that and more is covered in Paul’s 90-minute tour which goes on to chart the American’s stellar rise, his legendary gigs at The Royal Albert Hall and the place where it all came to an end in 1970 in a former hotel in Notting Hill.
His death was officially recorded as being due to inhalation of vomit. Hendrix was just 27.
There are plenty of warm anecdotes along the way, including the guitarist’s visit to Aberfan in Wales just months after the waste tip disaster which claimed the lives of 144 people.
“Jimi met Ray Lovegrove, a roadie with the Kinks, and asked him to take him to Wales. They drove six hours to the disaster site so he could pay his respects.”
It’s those sorts of insights which, says Paul, bring his tours to life – he has a plentiful supply given his contacts book bulges with names such as Pattie Boyd, Jo Wood, Kinks’ drummer Mick Avery and Tommy Steele.
Ready for a new challenge after a career in advertising and marketing, Paul launched his business after spotting a gap in the market.
“I went to Liverpool and saw what they were doing with the Beatles tours. They were great but London has five times the music heritage collateral. So I set about doing some research and developed the idea.”
Now he runs tours aimed at fans of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks as well as a general Swinging ‘60s tour.
“Over the last 10 years I’ve actually got to know many of the music legends and 60s celebrities that we talk about.
“I’m good friends with Mick Avery. I remember once ringing him and saying, ‘what are you up to today?’ Any chance you can ring me at about 12 o’clock – I’ve got six Kinks fans that have flown over from America doing the tour.’
“So, the phone goes in the minibus, which goes through the speaker system. I say, Paul here, who’s speaking? And he says, ‘It’s Mick Avery’.
“Every jaw dropped.”
What is it about the decade which is still so compelling?
“Swinging London was one of England’s biggest exports. It was such a creative time; a time of counter culture, of amazing fashion and ideas.
“It was a time for teenagers – the word was only first used in 1959 to describe young people with money who wanted to build their own identity – and that’s so resonant; we can all remember that.”
His clients aren’t restricted to a certain age group. Paul has taken tours with students from as far away as the USA and South Korea.
“You have to make it interesting and fun – I’m happy for them to sing along!
“And don’t forget the Stones have had a number one album and The Beatles a number one single very recently. They’re still relevant.
“We’re keeping tours as they are because that gives a total cross section; we get fans of that music from across generations.”
But as resonant as the 1960s are, there are other musical heritage opportunities Paul would love to explore.
“The template is there. I’ve got somebody already interested in buying into the ‘40s decade. Glenn Miller played at the 100 Club in Oxford Street during the War – the anecdote goes he told the audience: ‘Forget about the doodle bugs, let’s do the jitter bug!’”
What does he think Jimi Hendrix would make of fans still visiting his London hang-outs almost 60 years after he arrived in London?
“I hope he’d be pleased. I am trying to perpetuate the legacy of these names, promote their history.
“I love the quote: ‘It’s not what you tell them, it’s how you make them feel’; that’s what Jimi and all the others tried to do and now so do I.”
Where else can you do a rock n’ roll walking tour?
London may have been the epicentre of the swinging ‘60s tours but there are plenty of other cities still capitalising on their famous musical inhabitants..
In Liverpool, there are a number of Beatles excursions which take you to key sites associated with the Fab Four, including the Magical Mystery Tour run by The Cavern Club itself.
For something quirkier, Fab 4 Taxi Tours offers an intimate black cab experience including a visit to the childhood homes of both Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
Fans of Oasis can follow in the shoes of the Gallagher brothers in the city where it all began with a walking tour through the streets of Manchester.
The Wonderwalk Tour takes fans from the earliest days of the boys jamming in local bars to headlining some of the world ’s biggest venues.
Along the way there’s a chance to call in at Liam and Noel’s best loved locals, learn about their Irish heritage and visit the site of the iconic Hacienda club.
Glasgow’s musical heritage is brought to life with its Music and City Tour. The Music Mile experience takes you on a two-hour whistlestop jaunt around the city centre venues, including the famous King Tut’s.
Along the way you’ll hear tales of the famous bands which have played there from Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys to The Killers and Franz Ferdinand.
Meanwhile, in Brighton, fans of The Who’s rock opera Quadrophenia can relive the spirit of the Mods and the Rockers by exploring key locations featured in the 1979 film.