Description:

Hendrix Jimi 1942 - 1970 Jimi Hendrix leather watch band, from the estate of his longtime friend and Woodstock rhythm guitarist, Larry Lee.

A thick, leather watch band, 10.5" long and 1.5" wide, with a brass buckle and riveted mount given by Jimmy Hendrix to Lawrence "Larry" Lee (1943-2007) who accompanied Hendrix at Woodstock in August 1969. Offered together with a partly printed Document Signed, "Lawrence Lee" 1p. 3.5" x 2.25" Nashville, 1967, being Lee's membership card for the Nashville Association of Musicians, additionally signed by the local's president: "R.T. Payne Pres" The watch band bears some mounting remnants on verso, expected wear including some fraying at the buckle end, else very good. The union card bears some light marginal wear and soiling, else very good.

Lawrence "Larry" Lee was a student at Tennessee State University, writing songs for Stax records on the side, when he first encountered Hendrix with Billy Cox at the Del Morocco, a Nashville nightclub. At first, Lee thought Hendrix to be "the worst guitar player I had ever heard." (John McDermott, Interview with Larry Lee, Guitar World, October 2005) Looking for someone to practice with, Lee thought Hendrix a perfect fit: "I was just happy I wasn't the worst guitar player in Nashville." As it turned out, Hendrix had been playing a very mediocre guitar and even worse amplifier. Lee encountered Hendrix a few weeks later and was thunderstruck. Jimi had acquired a new guitar, "and man did he surprise me! His ideas were different from other players-but he was good! Once he got that guitar, he was always great." The pair played together with Joe Fisher and the Barnevilles and other acts (including the King Kasuals with Billy Cox).

In late 1963, the pair parted: Jimi for the East Coast and Lee was drafted into the Army and spent some time in Vietnam where he was wounded. Lee hadn't been discharged for more than two weeks in mid July-1969 when he received a call from Billy Cox asking him to come and play with Jimi and him - Jimi was then forming a new group to replace the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Lee accepted the invitation, and he, together with Cox on bass, Mitch Mitchell on drums, Juma Sultan on percussion and Jerry Velez on congas, formed The Gypsy Sun & Rainbows. They spent the balance of July and early August rehearsing at an eight-bedroom house that Hendrix's management had rented for him for the summer near Shokan, New York. They most famously performed at Woodstock on August 18, 1969. The combo only performed again live once, at a street festival in Harlem in September 1969 before disbanding. The same month, Lee left New York for Memphis where he established himself as a session guitarist and band director, most notably for Al Green's touring band appearing on Johnny Carson and television specials worldwide.



Provenance: Lawrence Lee 1943-2007; Lee Family; Sotheby's, New York, December 17, 1991, Lot 461A. The watch band was part of a larger collection of Hendrix memorabilia obtained by Lee during the 1960s. Images and copies of the other pieces in the collection, together with the original typed notes, are included for reference.

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