Food orders and phone bills: Jimi Hendrix memorabilia to go on display in London

Jimi Hendrix lived in a bohemian London flat in the 1960s and often ate meals delivered from Mr Love, a restaurant on the ground floor. While celebrities dined downstairs at heart-shaped tables served by waitresses in hot pants, Hendrix ate upstairs, ordering steaks and hamburgers. Receipts from those meals are preserved among newly uncovered materials related to his life and music, to be exhibited at 23 Brook Street, now a museum. One bill for food over a couple of months totaled 32/16s/6d, roughly equivalent to 485 today. Hendrix preferred Mr Love’s American menu and criticized English food for relying on mashed potatoes. The archive also includes corporate records from Anim Records, covering contracts, calendars, recording details, flight information, and invoices for music equipment. His day-to-day affairs were handled by personal assistant Patricia “Trixie” Sullivan, who booked sessions between 1966 and 1973.

"When Jimi Hendrix lived in a bohemian London flat in the 1960s, he had little need for its kitchen as he had meals sent up from Mr Love, a groovy restaurant on the ground-floor of his building. While celebrities were downstairs, dining at heart-shaped tables and served by waitresses in hot pants, the American rock musician was upstairs, tucking into steaks and hamburgers."

"Now receipts for those meals are among a vast archive of previously unseen material relating to Hendrix's life and music to be exhibited for the first time at 23 Brook Street, the Mayfair Georgian building where he lived, which is now a museum. One bill, covering food over a couple of months, totalled 32/16s/6d, which would be about 485 today."

"He particularly liked Mr Love's American menu, once saying that the problem with English food is you get mashed potatoes with just about everything, and I ain't gonna say anything good about that. The restaurant receipts are part of a collection that brings to life a guitarist, singer and composer who pioneered the expressive, explosive possibilities of the electric guitar, in music that mixed rock, soul, blues and jazz."

"Many of the documents to be displayed for the first time are the corporate records of Anim Records, the company that managed the Jimi Hendrix Experience and other acts. They include everything from contracts to calendars, recording historic performances and flight details, as well as invoices for the music equipment that helped shape his trailblazing sound. Hendrix's day-to-day affairs were looked after by his personal assistant, Patricia Trixie' Sullivan."

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