Guitar Archeology

Jimi Soundcheck

Buck Munger was ready for my meeting with Jimi and his manager, Chas Chandler. Because of the reaction to his Monterey appearance, I was fully expecting a prima donna attitude, and was actually surprised at how easily the whole deal went. I met Chas and Jimi in the big corner booth of the coffee shop, and before the waitress got b…ack with our coffee, Chandler stabbed his finger at Jimi’s itinerary on the table, “Can you have us amplifiers by this date here?” Absolutely. Delivery seemed to be Chandler’s prime concern. There were no questions about conditions of an agreement or other managerial concerns. Jimi was quiet but smiling and friendly. Knowing he had opened for the Walker Brothers in the UK, I told him, as a musician, my agent was Judy Maus, sister of John Maus, WB founder. Jimi laughed and said the first time he ever torched a guitar was opening for the Walker Brothers, and that he’d burned his hand, badly. He liked the Walker Brothers and the connection warmed our conversation. I used another piece of information Pete gave me. “Say Jimi,” “I understand you were in the 101st Airborne?” “Oh, ya” he smiled brightening. ”Marines,” I said. We spent the next few minutes on the inevitable exchange of Duty Station highlights and shortcomings. After a few minutes it became obvious we had a rapport and the beginnings of some kind of a deal. The next step was Jimi’s evaluation. The meeting ended with smiles and handshakes all around. The big scramble was on. Jimi ordered two 100S tops and four bottoms for himself and two 200s tops and four bottoms for bassist Noel Redding, along with a complete Coliseum PA system. Now I would find out if Sunn was up for the challenge. The guys in the Tualatin factory seemed pumped over the phone. My seven-page hand-written Monterey memo urging Sunn to pull out the stops and jump on this guy with both feet had been well received. The break room in the factory had a stack of British music fan magazines that had been talking about Jimi Hendrix for months and people from the Portland music scene had been in Monterey too. In the days and weeks after, the word on the music industry’s lips was “Hendrix”. I had committed to provide the equipment and Jimi would be there with his guitar cord hanging out, waiting.

Buck Munger