Gary James' Interview With
Alan Douglas on
The Mysterious Death
of Jimi Hendrix
Last year, after the death of Kurt Cobain, (a death in which heroin may have played a part) Kurt's mother remarked, "Now he's gone and joined that stupid club. I told him not to join that stupid club." She was referring of course to the drug related deaths of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Well, the problem with that statement is, Jimi Hendrix did not die of a heroin overdose. He did not die free-basing cocaine. He did not die speed-balling (using both heroin and cocaine). He was not on hard drugs at the time of his death. His death in fact is shrouded in mystery. Years after the death of Jimi Hendrix, we still don't know the exact circumstances leading up to and surrounding his death.
In an attempt to gain a greater insight into Jimi Hendrix, we tried, and we really emphasize "tried", speaking with Alan Douglas. Douglas, from all accounts was friends with Hendrix. He was a record producer who worked on many of Jimi's recording projects. Maybe it was the fact that Douglas had root canal work the day we spoke to him (we offered to change the interview day and he refused) that best explains his attitude in this interview. Maybe our questions hit a raw nerve. It should be pointed out that according to authors John McDermott and Eddie Kramer (Hendrix: Setting the record Straight, Warner Bros. Books) Hendrix once said of Alan Douglas "I don't want that guy to have anything to do with my music." Guess what? Alan Douglas, through his company Are you Experienced, Ltd. is the overseer of Jimi Hendrix recordings. What follows is a very bizarre interview with Alan Douglas.
Q - Mr. Douglas, Jimi Hendrix recorded only three studio albums in his lifetime, yet Warner Bros. Records keeps finding all of this "new" material. Is there no end to the Hendrix recordings that are available?
A - Well, there's an end to everything, except it hasn't arrived yet. Warner Bros. has only access to what we give them. It comes from the Estate Library and there are a few more things in the can.
Q - This image of Jimi Hendrix has always been one of a guy who was "spaced out" and "stoned"...
A - Wait a minute. Where does that come from? I mean, that's your image of him do you mean?
Q - No. Not my image at all. People who I've interviewed like Davy Jones of The Monkees, Mark Farmer of Grand Funk Railroad and "Lemmy" of Motorhead, who served as a roadie for Hendrix to name just a few, have told me stories to tills effect.
A - That's not necessarily the image that's portrayed of him. I mean, you know, I don't understand the set-up to the question. What's the question?
Q - How could a guy like Hendrix be as creative as he was if he was always stoned?
A - The guy was not stoned. The guy was not a druggie. He was not anything. He just took drugs like everybody else in the '60s took drugs. He was obviously a very productive man or he could never have produced all this material. So, to set the question up in that sense, and then ask how could somebody who's stoned do those things, that's not quite fair. I mean, the point is he obviously was a very constructive, productive human being. If you want to keep in some sense of attaching, assigning drugs to the creativity, it just doesn't go, man. It just doesn't work.
Q - What exactly is your role as it has to do with the Hendrix Estate?
A - I supervise all of the activities of the Jimi Hendrix Estate. So, my role in all product is the supervision of the release, the production and distribution.
Q - So, you have control over all of the Hendrix tapes that may or may not be released in CD, cassette or whatever form?
A - Well, control is a heavy word. There's more than myself, but I essentially make the decisions.
Q - Are You Experienced is what?
A - Are You Experienced is a production company that produces all of the product.
Q - When did you first meet Jimi Hendrix?
A - In 1969.
Q - Was that at a dinner party?
A - He was at my house. Somebody brought him home to visit me.
Q - So, you knew him fairly well then?
A - Reasonably well.
Q - You spent a lot of time with him?
A - I was in the studio with him. I produced "Band of Gypsys" in the studio.
Q - Have you ever seen the movie Beyond the Doors, produced by Larry Buchanan?
A - Not interested.
Q - Would there be a reason why?
A - That I'm not interested?
Q - Yes.
A - It looks like it's of very poor quality. What's the question? C'mon. I mean I like the way you set shit up, man. Ask me the question, you know. What do you want to find out?
Q - Have you ever talked to anyone who was close to Hendrix towards the end of his life?
A - I was close to Hendrix towards the end of his life.
Q - How about a doctor or ambulance attendant who was in London with Hendrix the day he died?
A - Listen to me. If you want to get into all of those areas, all of that subject matter, I really don't want to talk about that. That's been in the press one thousand times. You've read it. I've read it. Everybody in the world has read it. There's nothing new to say about it. Honest to God there isn't. There's no other stories. There's nothing hiding behind the words and so on. He died in the hospital. He suffocated from asphyxiation. Choked on his own vomit. And that's it. Everybody's gonna say you're looking for some mystery meaning behind it all, man. I mean, you know. You've read it. We've all read the stories.
Q - Sure, I've read the stories. Mr. Buchanan, whom I've interviewed does not believe the official story.
A - Oh, fuck Mr. Buchanan! Mr. Buchanan is selling his movie, man.
Q - The movie never did get all that much attention, Mr. Douglas.
A - The movie sucks that's why, to be frank. Have you seen it?
Q - Yes, I have.
A - And, what do you think of it?
Q - I think the quality leaves a lot to be desired.
A - That's why it doesn't sell.
Q - I think the idea of it...
A - What, the conspiracy?
Q - Yes.
A - Oh, c'mon.
Q - The conspiracy aspect has never been addressed.
A - I am not the person to address that to. You address that to the FBI or somebody. C'mon, that's all old shit. I thought you were a music critic.
Q - I'm not a critic. I'm an interviewer.
A - But isn't music your subject?
Q - One of them, sure.
A - What is this about, music, or is this about... (Laughs)
Q - It's about music. It's also about the man who made the music.
A - Okay, well c'mon. Ask me the questions and I'll be glad to answer them. But all of that stuff is just Star newspaper and all that stuff. You know, did Jimi Hendrix die or was he alive... I mean, I can't answer those questions. Nobody can, obviously. All we can do is take the doctor's report, who was at the hospital when he arrived alive.
Q - So you don't believe there might have been foul play involved in Hendrix's death?
A - I don't know man. I don't know and I don't care. It's so unimportant and insignificant. What is the difference? What is the significance of it today? Let's say it was a conspiracy. Let's say the FBI killed everybody. Janis, Jim Morrison and Jimi. What would it matter today?
Q - It would resolve the mystery surrounding the deaths of the performers.
A - Oh, really? What's the mystery? Couldn't Jimi Hendrix die like he died? Couldn't Janis die like she died?
Q - I believe they could have, sure.
A - Did you know that Janis died of an overdose of heroin?
Q - That's what I've been told.
A - That's not what you've been told. It's the hospital report. She over-loaded on heroin, right? So, I mean what is the mystery to that? She's not alone. That's not a mysterious death. Lots of people die like that.
Q - That's true.
A - And lots of people die like Jimi Hendrix. Cass Elliott (Mamas and Papas) died the same way. So why is everybody looking for some kind of mystery and conspiracy behind it?
Q - Because there are so many unanswered questions, Mr. Douglas. And when you do talk to a Noel Redding (Hendrix's bass player), he clams up. He's afraid to talk.
A - They don't have anything to talk about. That's why they don't want to talk about it. What is there to say? Noel Redding doesn't have any information on the death of Jimi Hendrix.
Q - At the very least, he certainly has raised some rather interesting questions.
A - Well, I mean, you know, so what? So what? Does he have some authenticity that makes you think there's some veracity behind his confusion?
Q - Yes.
A - He didn't see Jimi Hendrix for the whole last year and a half of his life. So where like does he have some veracity relative to his death?
Q - I would imagine that after all these years he has some kind of insight into the people who surrounded Hendrix.
A - Oh man, listen to me. I was around him. I saw Jimi. I spent all the time in the world around him. I didn't get to know Noel Redding. I never even met him. But Noel Redding is irrelevant. I mean, if you think there was a conspiracy because you think there's a conspiracy, then you go to the FBI and work it out.
Q - Now that is totally ridiculous and you know it.
A - Why? Are you gonna work it out with somebody like me? Somebody like Noel Redding?
Q - Sir, throughout this interview, I thought you might have provided some kind of new information, some insight. I didn't know. I had no way of knowing.
A - What insight? How could myself or Noel Redding have an insight into an FBI conspiracy? How could we possibly?
Q - Maybe someone approached you or Noel with information over the years.
A - Noel was not there. Noel was nowhere near Jimi Hendrix in his last days, okay?
Q - Did you read Noel Redding's book?
A - Yes, I did read Noel Redding's book.
Q - What did you think of the book?
A - It's a bad book.
Q - Why do you say that?
A - It's a bad book. It's not quality. The writing is not good. It's uninteresting. It's boring. That's why it's a bad book. It's simply boring.
Q - Besides that...
A - There are no facts in there. There are suppositions all the way through it, right? What Jimi was thinking, what might have happened, you know? Did you read fact? Did you read any basic facts about the subject you're talking about? Because Mike Jeffrey (Hendrix's personal manager) was this, and so on. I mean, you know. I don't know what it has to do with music. If you think Jimi died that way, then you think Jimi died that way. Then you think Morrison died that way and I can go on and on and on, you know. And what is the point of the whole exercise? You know, are you gonna try to reveal something that those guys have been writing about for years now?
Q - Certainly if it's not true, you'd like once and for all to put it to rest.
A - Well, how do you know if s not true? Maybe it is true. But maybe it isn't true.
Q - That's right.
A - And that's where you are. One foot in one side and one foot on the other, and that's where you're gonna stay unless you go to the FBI and you get an admission from the FBI or somebody there. You're not gonna get it from people like myself or Noel Redding or anybody who knew Jimi Hendrix.
Q - Mr. Douglas, it's possible that someone knows a lot more than they've revealed up to this point.
A - Anything is possible, but that's not what you want. Of course it's possible. Doubtful in my mind, but possible. I mean, please. What was Jimi Hendrix doing that the FBI would want to take him out? Influencing the people to revolt? On acid? Great revolt. Throw flowers at everybody. C'mon, I mean, you know. It don't make sense, the whole thing. Why would they want to take him out? What did they want to take Janis Joplin out for? What was she doing? Was she influencing a rebellion or something?
Q - First of all, I don't believe the FBI had anything to do with the deaths of those individuals. Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix were more than just singers and musicians. There was a political edge to some of their material. What you're asking me is something I don't have the answers to.
A - Well, you're not asking for answers. You're asking for logic from people. You know, what do you believe? What is possible? For me, anything is possible, however, it is not probable, because of what I just told you. There was no reason for them to do that.
Q - Why doesn't Noel Redding share in the royalties of the Jimi Hendrix estate?
A - Noel Redding sold out his royalties in 1971 for $300,000. That's why he does not share.
Q - Was he under some kind of pressure to...
A - Yes. Somebody had a gun to his head and said, "Sign this contract. Take this $300,000 or else." Are you guys serious? What kind of a fucking question is that? I mean really.
Q - This is what I was told by Noel Redding.
A - I don't care what he told you. $300,000 in 1971, was that no money? If he was under that pressure we would've given him $50,000, or $25,000. These questions are insane.
Q - No they're not.
A - Sure they are man. C'mon, you know. Noel Redding is bitchin' and moaning because he sold out and he's not getting any money now, so he's gonna tell you anything he wants to tell you. He should be getting royalties now, right? Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell (Hendrix' drummer) were both represented by very sophisticated New York attorneys. So don't tell me they were under pressure. Those stories are B.S. Stories from two bitter, cynical human beings who made a mistake. They did not believe in the music. If they believed in the music, they would not have sold out, you know. So, all the people who sold out, in this whole situation are bitchin' and moanin'. Chas Chandler (Hendrix's first manager) is bitchin'. Noel is bitchin'. Mitch is bitchin' because they sold out and took their money too early. But it's done. It's finished. They can bitch and moan forever, but the people who own the assets are not gonna pay any more because they don't have to.
NOTE: This interview was conducted in April 1992. In December 1993, Scotland Yard re-opened the investigation into the death of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix died on September 18th, 1970 after leaving the following message on his manager's answering machine, "I need help bad, man." According to Noel Redding, the supposition is now that he died much earlier and supposedly someone, whoever that is, tried to cover it up. There were conflicting reports about how and when an ambulance was called for help. The inquest by Scotland Yard was prompted by a plea from Jimi Hendrix's former girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham. On June 5th 1995, Al Hendrix, Jimi's father, brought a civil suit against his former lawyer, Leo Branton and Alan Douglas for "20 years of abuse of (Hendrix's) trust, misrepresentations, mismanagement, unjust enrichments, and self-dealing." (According to) Yale Lewis, attorney for Al Hendrix and Janie Hendrix (Jimi's half sister), Alan Douglas's continuing administration of the Hendrix catalog is "enormously upsetting to the family." And finally, on July 26th, 1995, Al Hendrix regained control of his son's music.
© Gary James. All rights reserved.
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