- Paperback: 206 pages
- Publisher: Orion; New edition edition (15 July 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752827251
- ISBN-13: 978-0752827254
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 120,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Kathy Etchingham was Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady", and the inspiration for many of his best-known songs. They lived together in London for nearly two years and she recently hosted a party to celebrate a blue plaque in his name, at the house they shared in Brook Street. This is her story, from gypsy stock to showbiz royalty. It is a story of the 1960s, of her life with Jimi Hendrix and the truth behind his untimely death.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A touching memoir of one woman's experiences with one of the iconic figures of 1960's popular culture and her quest to have a 'Blue Plaque' erected in recognition of his musical genius.
The story begins with Kathy Etchingham arriving to greet the crowd, who have gathered to pay a long overdue tribute to one of the greatest musical geniuses of the twentieth century.
A Blue Plaque is unveiled at the flat she once shared with Jimi Hendrix. It is an honour usually reserved for the elite of the classical music fraternity. For Mrs Etchingham, it marks the end of a long quest to see her former lover and friend gain the recognition he so rightly deserved.
The book then rolls back the years and the author tells of her first meeting with Hendrix and their subsequent relationship. Finally it tells of the feelings she had at hearing of Hendrix's death in late 1970.
The book doesn't offer us any new insights into the mysteries surrounding Hendrix's death, but it gives us a first hand account of a gentle and at times shy musical hero who found it difficult to say 'no' to the hangers on who eventually suffocated his creative spirit.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Kathy was Jimi's first girlfriend when he came to England in late 1966. She lived with him until he split for the States and fame started to get too much for either of them. Jimi is reputed to have written the song 'Gypsy Eyes' for Kathy, hence the name of the book. Kathy was one of the main people responsible for getting the case surrounding Jimi's tragic death to be reopened and she ended up proving that Monica Danneman (who was with Jimi when he died) had lied about the circumstances of Jimi's death. Tragically Monica later killed herself partly as a result of having her lies exposed.
Kathy gives a good insight into life in the swinging sixties of London, particularly for the elite group of musicians and their associates who were in the top bands of the day (the Stones, Beatles, Cream, Hendrix Experience, Traffic etc.). Kathy appears to have been very fond of Jimi and the feeling was mutual. When Kathy later married one of Eric Clapton's roadies Jimi apparently was very upset....although it was partly due to his infidelities on tour that led to Kathy leaving him. They remained friends until the end however and Jimi even looked her up when he was in London in 1970 just before he died. Kathy also campaigned for the Blue Plaque to be put on the house they shared in London, and she was part of a pro-Hendrix group (including original Experience bassist Noel Redding and Jimi's brother Leon) who lined up in opposition to the Hendrix family, led by non-biological stepsister Janie.
Kathy disputes Janie and Jimi's later father's accounts of a generally happy go-luckly childhood, and claims that Jimi was not particularly close to his father, who she believes was more interested in the money after Jimi died. Whilst this seems a little harsh, there does appear to be some truth in it, compared to the carefully manufactured PR ghost written account by Mr Hendrix in ' My Son Jimi'.
Overall Jimi comes across as a sensitive, gentle and shy man who loved his music, but was eventually burn't out and killed by excessive touring, unscrupulous management, hangers on, drugs and the pressures of fame. Jimi's death has been the subject of much speculation and it does now appear that something suspicious happened, especially as he apparently drowned in red wine. Whether this was poured down his throat by Monica or associates of his manager Mike Jeffrey (as recently claimed by Tappy Wright) we will probably never know: but what we do know is that it robbed us of one of the few true music giants and geniuses of the 20th Century. RIP Jimi.
Kathy gives a good insight into life in the swinging sixties of London, particularly for the elite group of musicians and their associates who were in the top bands of the day (the Stones, Beatles, Cream, Hendrix Experience, Traffic etc.). Kathy appears to have been very fond of Jimi and the feeling was mutual. When Kathy later married one of Eric Clapton's roadies Jimi apparently was very upset....although it was partly due to his infidelities on tour that led to Kathy leaving him. They remained friends until the end however and Jimi even looked her up when he was in London in 1970 just before he died. Kathy also campaigned for the Blue Plaque to be put on the house they shared in London, and she was part of a pro-Hendrix group (including original Experience bassist Noel Redding and Jimi's brother Leon) who lined up in opposition to the Hendrix family, led by non-biological stepsister Janie.
Kathy disputes Janie and Jimi's later father's accounts of a generally happy go-luckly childhood, and claims that Jimi was not particularly close to his father, who she believes was more interested in the money after Jimi died. Whilst this seems a little harsh, there does appear to be some truth in it, compared to the carefully manufactured PR ghost written account by Mr Hendrix in ' My Son Jimi'.
Overall Jimi comes across as a sensitive, gentle and shy man who loved his music, but was eventually burn't out and killed by excessive touring, unscrupulous management, hangers on, drugs and the pressures of fame. Jimi's death has been the subject of much speculation and it does now appear that something suspicious happened, especially as he apparently drowned in red wine. Whether this was poured down his throat by Monica or associates of his manager Mike Jeffrey (as recently claimed by Tappy Wright) we will probably never know: but what we do know is that it robbed us of one of the few true music giants and geniuses of the 20th Century. RIP Jimi.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
A Survivor Pulls No Punches
9 Dec 2003
Format:Paperback
Not long after arriving in London in 1966, Jimi Hendrix met Kathy Etchingham and was immediately smitten. Before long, the two were living together. Through Gypsy Eyes tells the story of their relationship and provides a window into the past of one of rock's most important innovators. A significant part of the book deals with Kathy's broken family during her childhood and although these chapters might seem a bit superfluous initially, eventually we see how her upbringing and his were so similar and no doubt helped them to see much of life through the same pair of gypsy eyes.
The most intense period of their time together is described in vivid detail and it fills in important voids left by other Hendrix biographers. But this time was relatively short and as Jimi evolved into a superstar, they began to slowly grow apart. Kathy even saw Jimi walking through London the day before he died, but by that point, they were no longer speaking. Kathy tells the story like it was and pulls no punches. Like a street-wise kid, she is an author that is unafraid of the truth. Her treatment of the debilitating effects of drug abuse on the bright young people of the late 60's is sad but enlightening and points clearly towards Jimi's death. I thank her for writing about the hard times in such a straightforward manner. Jimi no doubt would have wanted it that way.
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