A PUB CRAWL FOR THE TRUTH – CONTINUED

thegeorge02
The first time a photo of this session appeared was in 2009, when Univibes fanzine (issue #58) published a photo, taken inside what appears to be a pub, with Jimi, Mitch and Noel posing at a round table. On the left we can see Mitch sitting on a church pew bench with the distinctive round head rest, and behind Jimi some sort of room divider with vertical wood panelling. The photo was included in an in-depth article about Jimi’s gigs at The Marquee. According to Univibes editor Caesar Glebbeek the photo was taken on 24 January 1967 at The George pub, 1 D’Arblay Street in London.

There does not seem to be cast iron proof for this assumption. Noel mentioned in his notes he went to The George on 24 January, as well as a photo session being done on this day, but not that the session actually took place at The George.
Univibes just put the two together.

Moreover, Jimi’s outfit does not match with the military outfit he wore in the afternoon during a pre-concert photo session at The Marquee, without Noel and Mitch, and without an audience.

Judging from the clothes Jimi is wearing I thought the photos were taken in early January, rather than at the end of the month. The best options were 5 and 6 January, as Noel noted
“interviews and photos” for these dates.

Apart from the pub photo, over the most recent years more photos of this session surfaced, most notably in British music magazines. All of these photos turned out to have been taken on an outside location. All of these photos are black and white, except one which is a colour photo of the group with some office buildings in the background.

FAB 208 15-04-67 kopie
So the first time those photos surfaced was in 2009, or was it? When I recently flipped through the Foxy Papers Volume 1 book, I noticed an article on page 73, a clipping from the Fab 208 magazine, issue 15 April 1967. It had a small photo on the top of Jimi’s face. It was one of the outside photos taken on the same date as the other “George” photos. At the same time I realised that Noel had noted for 6 January that the Fab 208 magazine had done a photo session on that date!

Apart from that small portrait of Jimi in the April issue, as far as we know the
Fab 208 magazine did not use any of the shots of that day. Perhaps they were deemed not good enough, or they were not ‘wild’ enough to match with Jimi’s image of the wild rock star.

Since the pub photo was published in 2009, it was assumed the session took place at some local pub, but in fact, if we look at the number of outside photos, it seems the session was done in the streets of London, with a one-off in a local pub. It was early January, so maybe the group got cold and went inside just to warm up again.

As far as the name of the pub goes, that will probably be a mystery forever. Noel went to ‘the office’ on the 6th (meaning the ANIM office of the JHE management on 39 Gerrard Street), and the photos were done afterwards, suggesting the session was done in the vicinity of the Gerrard Street office.

Noel’s local hangouts were all on walking distance of the ANIM office:

thegeorge

The Ship, 116 Wardour Street
De Hems, 11 Macclesfield Street (called by Noel ‘De Ems’)
The George (- Sheperd Neame), 1 D’Arblay Street

He used to frequent them regularly, and very often all on one day. Where the one pub shot was done we have not been able to find out. We do know Noel went to ‘The Ship’ after the
Fab 208 session, but if the one shot was taken there can not be proved. Yet.

A thorough Google search if those pub interiors did not provide sufficient evidence to get a final verdict on the location. But then again we must realise that it happened too long ago to find clues now. The pubs are still there, but changes in the interior during those 50 years are expected.

What also should be noted is that London is bulging from pubs, and many carry the name “The George” or “The Ship” in their original name, so when Noel noted those names, it could also refer to any other pub with the same name in it. To give an example of how confusing this quest is: I found a
Ship Tavern in Holborn, London, which has some wooden panelling and round tables similar to what we see in the photo with the Experience, but it seems too far away from the ANIM headquarters.

Steve Rodham published in 2016 the excellent
“Jimi Hendrix In London” booklet, with all the landmarks that are connected to Jimi’s stay in London. Steve walked miles and miles and visited many pubs, but was unable to find the right pub, or the outside location for the shoot.

In conclusion I can say the date of 6 January seems correct, as there was a
Fab 208 session that day, and subsequently on photo appearing in the April issue. As far as the name of the pub of the one photo, and the outside location, is concerned: we hope that some barfly will come forward and release us from our misery.