50 years ago on the 31st August, I was one of around 600,000 people who spent a glorious weekend on the Isle of Wight in the company of such legends as; Free, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Judy Collins, Leonard Cohen, Moody Blues, The Doors, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Chicago, Joan Baez, Sly and the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Ritchie Havens, Procol Harem, Miles Davis, Jethro Tull, Kris Kristofferson, Family, Taste and of course one of my all time Rock heroes – JIMI HENDRIX. This Friday (18th) will also mark the 50th anniversary of Jimi’s death. In the early hours of the final day of that unique event I had witnessed Jimi’s last ever live performance in the UK.
My poem Blue Wild Angel is my tribute to Jimi
You were purple haze
with glorious hair
a gripping tooth
in velvet corduroy
parachuting plucked
from Seattle roots
to Ronnie Scott’s
Right -handed fender
played upside down
fuzz pedals
Carnaby Street medals
A Voodoo child
God, you were wild
A spangled banner
using smoking keys
as passion ignites
you on your knees
with bandana tied
before orange flames
your red rooster calling
in a smoking daze
leaving needle stick
for opiated words
handfuls of barbiturates
pressed self-destruct
after Isle of Wight
in the middle of the night
I was there…