Jimi Hendrix

25 lines hand-written in blue ink on the blank versos of  3 Steve Paul's "The Scene" promo cards, 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.; 105 x 135 mm.; formerly folded, a few minor stains.

"Singled Out Classics: Jimi Hendrix's Room Full of Mirrors," [http://www.antimusic.com/news/09/april/21Singled_Out_Classics-_Jimi_Hendrixs_Room_Full_of_Mirrors.shtml] quoting from John McDermott, Billy Cox, Eddie Kramer, Ultimate Hendrix (2008)

formerly folded, a few light stains
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the genesis of a late-era Hendrix live tune

"Room Full of Mirrors" was a return to the introspective style of tune found on his first album. Hendrix was losing his sense of direction, and he renewed his friendship with Billy Cox, bringing the bassist from Memphis to New York in an attempt to return to his roots.  He spent a lot of time at Steve Paul's Scene, a club on West 46th Street, where he could play after hours for as long as he liked. He recorded the song on 21 April 1969 at the Record Plant, recording 31 takes before the final version was complete. It became a staple of his live concerts in the last two years of his life, only released posthumously on the album "First Rays of the New Rising Sun."

The present manuscript represents an early stage of the song with lines unlike any found in the final version: "Reflections I see of one woman - Her body shined like burning ice - And as I hungered for that woman, She broke up into a mirage of paradise ... I will never die never die - You may see me in a Grave but that's not me no more no more - the Earth gives and takes away But my soul will outlive any Black day."