TMZ did a terrible job reporting this exclusive about a Jimi Hendrix lawsuit -- it's just a five-paragraph excuse to end on a "Wind Cries Mary" joke -- but here's what we could distill: The Hendrix estate is suing an unspecified-by-TMZ company over the ownership of master tapes recorded during Hendrix's two concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall in February 1969. The two shows marked the last time the original Jimi Hendrix Experience ever played in Europe, so these tapes are worth fighting over. Supposedly, the battle over these tapes have been going on four decades, but it's recently been renewed, probably because the reissue-happy Experience Hendrix LLC, Jimi's family's company, plans on officially releasing those landmark shows. The estate is seeking ownership on the tapes once and for all, as well as $2 million for the 40 years of legal fees.
The problem with being incredibly prolific musically while being lost in a hallucinogenic fog is that you're not always paying attention to who's recording what and why. It's hard to imagine Hendrix with a head full of acid bickering over royalties and ownership, and when Jimi died in 1973, he left a harvest of unreleased material that was put out on a string of bootlegs and such. Record labels and now Hendrix's family have spent the last 40 years trying to put all of Jimi's music under one umbrella. The Experience Hendrix crew has done a great job so far, but the Royal Albert Hall affair is just the latest (horribly reported) chapter in a legal battle that will probably stretch on for another four decades (Hendrix was really prolific).
[Photo: Chris Walter/WireImage.com]
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