By Martin H. Rots

Jimi Hendrix started off his last day on the planet by riding with Alan Douglas to the airport.  This in itself seems odd, unless Hendrix wanted to discuss business on the trip.  Jimi was working a different shift from most people.  He went to bed around the time most people were starting their day.  Never-the-less, Hendrix accompanied him to the airport, presumably to discuss their pending business relationship.

Back in the city, Jimi and Monica Dannemann went to the bank followed by a shopping trip to the Kensington Market.  While browsing at the market, Hendrix and Dannemann encountered one of Hendrix's many female friends, Kathy Etchingham.  After a brief conversation, Jimi invited her to join him later in the afternoon in his suite at the Cumberland Hotel.

Most men in the company of their alleged fiancé, would be reluctant to invite another woman back to their hotel.  This casts a shadow over the whole issue as to whether Dannemann was indeed Hendrix's fiancé.  Most women would not look kindly at her man inviting another woman for an afternoon tryst.  If there were any words between the two women, they have been lost in the mists of time.  Most likely, Monica stood there and scowled as was her habit when confronted with Jimi's many female friends and lovers.

From Kensington, the pair went on to browse the shops on the King's Road.  In Chelsea, they encountered Stella Douglas and Devon who invited Jimi (but not Monica) to a dinner party that night.  At this point, it had to be tough being Hendrix's "fiancé."  During the course of just a few hours, Jimi had arranged two encounters with other women while in Monica's presence.  Whether Jimi was putting her in her place or was simply oblivious is questionable.  Whatever the motivation, it had to be disconcerting to Monica.

Hendrix and Monica returned to his suite at the Cumberland Hotel that afternoon and Jimi made some phone calls while Monica cooled her heels.  Around 7:00, Mitch Mitchell called to remind Hendrix of a jam scheduled that evening with Sly Stone.  It was a gig Hendrix would miss.  Kathy Etchingham never showed up and around 8:00 PM the two of them went to Monica's basement flat at the Samarkand.

Per Monika Dannemann, around 1:00 AM on September 18, Hendrix asked Monica to drive him to the dinner party he had been invited to by Stella and Devon.  Surprisingly, Monica agreed and dropped him off at the Cumberland Place flat soon after.  According to Monica, Jimi was going to tell Devon he never wanted to see her again, but that may have been wishful thinking on her part.  Hendrix gave her a phone number and arranged for Monica to pick him up later.

According to Angie Burdon (Eric Burdon's wife) who also attended the party, Hendrix actually arrived much earlier with her and Devon.  At the party, Hendrix and Devon both took a Black Bomber (barbiturate) and followed it up with a little LSD.  Devon ended up passing out, but Hendrix enjoyed the evening, socializing with the many guests.  Early on the morning of September 18, Monica called the number Hendrix had given her from a nearby hotel.  Hendrix had Stella talk to her, claiming that Jimi couldn't come to the phone.  When Monica insisted on talking to Hendrix, Stella grew belligerent and hung up on her.  Monica returned to the flat and engaged in several heated conversations over the intercom before finally being allowed to talk to Jimi, who left the party soon after.

From the party, they picked up Jimi's friend, Alvinia Bridges and went for a drink.  From there, the trio went to Ronnie Scott's where Alvinia was looking forward to seeing Eric Burdon's new band, War.  Jimi and Monica dropped off Alvinia and headed back to Monica's flat at the Samarkand early in the morning of Friday, September, 18.  Monica prepared tuna fish sandwiches and poured two glasses of red wine.  They shared the meal and Hendrix went to the bedroom where he wrote a last poem before falling asleep.

What happened in those final hours before the ambulance was called at Eric Burdon's insistence is vague.  Monica Dannemann changed her story several times before she herself died in April, 1996.  Burdon's story also changed with time.  The only thing that is known for certain is that sometime on the morning of September 18, Jimi Hendrix died.

Some accounts say he was already dead when the ambulance arrived, others that he died in the ambulance or soon after arriving at the hospital.  There is a great deal of inconsistency in the stories that were told regarding his last twenty-four hours. What is certain is that Jimi Hendrix died that morning under very mysterious circumstances.

Over the years, different accounts have appeared regarding Hendrix's final hours and the events leading up to his death.  There are murder conspiracy theories galore regarding Hendrix's premature death all those years ago.  The passage of time has not added any clarification to the issue.  No earthshaking new information has been revealed that can be corrobrated. 

In the next installment, we'll explore the different theories as to what actually occurred that September morning in London.