Meeting Jimi Hendrix—and Discovering ‘Magic Dust’—at Fillmore East
‘Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever’ Book Excerpt
Jimi Hendrix made his debut at New York’s Fillmore East on May 10, 1968 when the Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared with Sly & the Family Stone with tickets priced at three, four and five dollars. In this excerpt from Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever, drummer Corky Laing of Mountain — the thunderous band with guitarist Leslie West and bassist Felix Pappalardi — recalls meeting Hendrix at Fillmore East’s 1970 New Year’s Eve show.
Corky Laing: Dec. 31, 1970. We played with Mylon and David Rea. I can’t forget that because it was New Year’s Eve and it was a big party.
Bill Graham would put on a real party. He really took care of the bands. Bill Graham, he loved music and he really took care of the acts. Everybody was special. Here I was, a kid coming down from Montreal, but I felt like king of the world when you’re hangin’ with Bill and you go back to the office. And everybody walks in.
It was that night Jimi Hendrix came to the show. It was backstage. A lot of people hangin’ out, promo people, and I remember we finished the show. We did two shows that night. And I finished the first one. I was sweatin’ my ass off, so I had to change.
In the Fillmore, you’d go up to the second and third floor, it was where the dressing rooms were. I decided I’d go upstairs and change. So I went upstairs, it was pretty dark. I go into this dressing room and I start changing, grab my stuff, and I noticed there’s a character over on the side. I didn’t make anything out of it.
But then he gets up, he walks over to me, and he says, “Hey man, I’m really sorry, man, I don’t mean to get in your space.” And of course, it was Hendrix. And I looked up at him and went, “Wow.” I said, “Oh, hey, did you enjoy the show?”
He says, “Yeah, yeah, it was cool. It was a cool show.” And then he says to me, “Hey, would you like some Magic Dust?” And I go, “Magic Dust?” And he says, “Yeah.” That’s all he said.
He took a little vial, a little spoon, a little snort. Now I’d never done blow before. I knew about smoke and I knew about it but never done it. And I figured if Jimi Hendrix is offering you Magic Dust, you don’t refuse.
Of course, needless to say, I got a super buzz off the whole thing, just seeing him. And then he said, “Thanks, we’ll see you later.” He was really, really nice about the whole thing and there I had this little sort of personal moment with him.
And I remember coming downstairs and Felix Pappalardi says, “Where were you, man, we’re doing promotion, where were you?” And I said I was upstairs with Jimi. He went, “Jimi?” I played on that one for a bit.
Frank Mastropolo is the author of Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever and the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
