吉米·亨德里克斯伦敦公寓改建为博物馆对外开放

AS IT IS 2016-02-16 Jimi Hendrix London Apartment Opens As a Museum 吉米·亨德里克斯伦敦公寓改建为博物馆对外开放

The London apartment of American guitarist and rock legend Jimi Hendrix has been restored as a museum.

Hendrix was an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.

He and his girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, lived in a top floor flat of an 18th-century house in London’s Mayfair neighborhood in 1968 and 1969.

Every detail of the living space has been re-created. Persian rugs are on the floor, a Victorian shawl hangs above the bed, newspapers lie on the dresser and a clamshell ashtray¹ sits next to it.

Another room of the new museum has a wall of album covers,

including Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?” That was his first album with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bass² player Noel Redding. Some of Hendrix’s own album collection –- including a copy of Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” stained with Hendrix’s own blood -– are on display.

Christian³ Lloyd is a professor at Queen’s University in Britain and the author of a new book, “Hendrix at Home: A Bluesman in Mayfair.” He says Hendrix had no neighbors when he rented the flat, so he could make music as loud as he wanted to.

“I think it was the kind of place where, after they’d been to ‘The Speakeasy’ – one of the music clubs just five or 10 minute’ walk away  they’d come back here later and hang out and so on. So yeah, Jimi was 25 when he was here, so yeah they had some fun, yeah.”

Lloyd says the display also features Hendrix’s acoustic⁴ guitar that was always nearby.

“That guitar was always leaned up against the bed there. It was always within hand’s reach, he composed many of his most famous songs on that guitar, not on an electric guitar actually. He’s also someone who worked really, really hard on his music.”

The apartment at 23 Brook⁵ Street is next to the former house of composer George Frideric Handel. It was originally office space for the Handel House Museum. Hendrix’s old apartment had been open only for special events. Museum directors decided⁶ to open a permanent museum in the flat.

Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle and was almost unknown when he first came to London in 1966.  Word soon spread in the music community of his extraordinary talent. The following year he released his debut⁷ album, “Are You Experienced?” with his band. The Jimi Hendrix Experience made him an international star.

Although most of Hendrix's last years were spent touring, he returned to make London his base in 1968. The Brook Street house is his only surviving home.

Barrie Wentzell is a former photographer for Melody Maker⁸ magazine. He photographed Jimi Hendrix in the flat in the 1960s.  Some of his images are on display in the exhibit. He says Jimi would be pleased with the exhibit.

“Every time I hear that ‘Hey Joe’ on the radio, I’m back in the darkroom again. The music and the pictures are a mnemonic to bring you back into that. And I think it’s very important for the younger generation who don’t know that world of freedom and hippyness and money wasn’t an issue and hey you walk down the street and there’s Jimmy Page or Richie Blackmore or you go to The Speakeasy and there’s Keith Moon destroying somebody’s drum it and drinking somebody to the floor in the bar.”

Jimi Hendrix died in London in September 1970, at the age of 27, of a drug overdose. Had he lived he would now be 73.

Words in This Story

flat – n. an apartment usually on one floor

mnemonic – n. something that helps people remember something

hippy – n. a young person who rejects established social customs and who opposes violence and war

1 ashtray   

n.烟灰缸

参考例句：

• He knocked out his pipe in the big glass ashtray.他在大玻璃烟灰缸里磕净烟斗。
• She threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray.她把烟头扔进烟灰缸。

2 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

5 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。