An old man has revealed he’s got a pair of trousers that belonged to Jimi Hendrix and was personally given to him by the superstar.
They could’ve been worth more than $30,000 but unfortunately, the man got them altered to his size, rendering them worthless.
Mickey Martin, 73, remembers how he was left astonished upon getting a pair of red suede trousers by the superstar guitarist after a performance in Cheltenham back in February 1967.
He was just 21 back then.
Watch the video to find out more about this incident.
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Video credit: Rumble
The encounter between Hendrix and Martin was not a planned thing. Martin was playing snooker in Blue Moon club, Cheltenham, when the club’s owner came in and asked if someone was up for work for the evening as they were short on staff.
Martin accepted the offer and spent the evening providing Hendrix and his team with soft drinks that he bought from the bar.
Hendrix was deeply impressed by the dedication Martin worked with that evening.
Recalling the incident, Martin said: “Jimi came over to me, gave me a pair of trousers and said, ‘here you are man – thanks a lot for taking care, we didn’t talk much – he just smiled.
“The gig was fantastic though – I was blown away by him. He was awesome.”
A simple man, Martin didn’t get the trousers signed by the rock star. He said: “I didn’t bother with any autograph, the thought didn’t enter my head.
If I had that [the signature] they might be worth something.”
Martin used the pair of trousers as any other normal pair. He wore them for like a year and even got them re-sized to fit himself, because of which they lost their value.
Martin said: “I had about three and a half inches taken off the bottom.
“I wore them at least once a week. I would have thought altering the bottom would have affected the price too, they are not all intact. But, I wanted to wear them.”
“You know what it’s like when you are young – you want to show off!” he continued.
Lack of proper proof of the relation of the trousers to the rock star and the alterations Martin has had to them mean they are now practically worthless. But Martin has no regrets.
He said: “The trousers were the only thing he gave out that night.
“There was a story going round a few years ago that someone had his guitar – rubbish. He didn’t let it out of his sight – even when he went off at the interval.”
Martin, who worked in the Royal Navy of the UK, wore the trousers regularly till the end of the 60’s.
The old man said he can consider selling the pair of trousers, only if he gets a reasonable price. “If somebody offered me silly money I would sell them, but I’ve got no proof,” he said.
A pair of Hendrix’s colorfully striped trousers having olive, red, green, blue and black lines was sold for a little under $31,000 (£25,000) at Christie’s in 2018.
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