Hendrix In Ilkley??!!
The cache, a 35mm film canister, is hidden at the entrance of this substantial building which entered into music history as the venue of a memorable if very brief gig by a certain Jimi Hendrix . . . ' whatever happened the night Jimi Hendrix came to Ilkley, it will remain in rock legend forever. Ilkley had seen nothing like it before, and it probably hasn't since! For a fleeting moment the town was at the beating heart of rock'n'roll - even if it was for one night only!'
. . . To mark the 50th anniversary of one of the most unlikely gigs in rock & roll history, the renowned British broadcaster & DJ Andy Kershaw tracked down the promoter and a number of veterans of the Jimi Hendrix Experience concert at the Troutbeck Hotel, Ilkley, on 12th March 1967. They revisited the Troutbeck, now a residential care home, to recall the chaos and farce which followed the arrival of the police, who stopped the gig during Hendrix’s second number on the grounds of safety. Around 900 [may be an exaggeration] people were cramming a functions room licensed for only 250. Promoter, Stuart Frais, had booked the band for Ilkley in late 1966 when Hendrix was still unknown, and had yet to release a record in the UK. But by the time of the Ilkley gig, however, Hendrix had just hit the Top 10 with his first single 'Hey Joe' [see here for a video made at the Marquee Club in London on 18 March 1967 - in which reference is made to the release of 'Purple Haze' on 17 March 1967].
So, the world and his wife descended on the Troutbeck [home to the popular music venue - the Gyro]. For the Ilkley gig and two others, in Leeds and Newcastle, Stuart paid The Jimi Hendrix Experience a total of £60 [see a copy of the contract in the Gallery]. The resulting short documentary Hendrix in Ilkley was shown on The One Show, BBC1 on 15 February 2017). See also here for a Yorkshire TV short video on the same event with some fascinating interviews with fans who were there and the policemen who pulled the plug - including a couple who saw Jimi in the queue for take-away fish and chips at Harry Ramsdens in Guiseley later that evening.
See the following for some fascinating background info on the gig [with added notes]:
On Ilkley Moor: the Story of an English town, Tim Binding (2002) pp298-306 has a fascinating and detailed statement on what happened at the gig by Thomas Chapman PS 770, the policeman who stopped the show.
18 Sept 2006: BBC Bradford & West Yorkshire page (now archived) Hendrix plays Ikley!: article on the 40th anniversary of the gig.
'Jimi and his band The Experience had travelled to Ilkley after a poorly-attended date earlier that evening at Leeds International Club'
'As the gig heated up, Ilkley policeman Tom Chapman decided enough was enough and stopped the gig. One boy in blue versus nearly a thousand Blues fans was never going to end well - and Hendrix just kept on playing. What happens next is unclear - some say there was a 'riot', others say people just went on their way. For his part, Tom Chapman [who died in 2011] denies there was big trouble'
'there must have been 300 to 400 fans in a small dance hall and all I could see was the very top of Hendrix's head'
'I remember this particular night Christine was wearing one of her creations a purple cat suit which had bell bottom trousers, low on the midriff, and there were holes cut out in the top and trimmed with silver lurex. We remember being in the dressing room with Jimi Hendrix when he looked Christine up and down and exclaimed "HEY PURPLE HAZE" to this day Christine is convinced that the song Purple Haze (see also here for the video of the original version) was inspired about her cat suit! [Her friend] Jackie went off with Jimi and we never saw her again that night'
'I remember the gig because the Troutbeck was our trio's resident job at this time. We didn't compete with Jimi though, we played every Saturday night for sedate dinner dances etc. I don't recall much damage being done as a result of the supposed riots; this was possibly a "good story" put about by the Gentlemen of the press'
'The Troutbeck held many gigs in the sixties I remember seeing Rod Stewart, Alan Price and Georgie Fame there. Also the Little Fat Black Pussy Cat Club in Bradford (situated under the steps to Sunbridge Road from Aldermanbury) held regular gigs where people like Alex Korner, Graham Bond and many others appeared on a regular basis'
'There were lots of other top bands played there, and Prince Charles used to stay there. It was one of his retreats'
12 March 2007: BBC Look North marks the 40th anniversary (shown on BBC1)
When Jimi Hendrix rocked Ilkley (12/12/09): BBC Bradford & West Yorkshire page with more responses confirming the gig took place.
'My children didn't believe me when I said I saw Jimi Hendrix at the Troutbeck! The police stopped the show after Jimi had played several numbers - brilliantly - because they said the room was too crowded. There certainly wasn't a riot. We were a well-behaved lot!'
'Danny [Pollock] even e-mailed us to tell us that he was the man who - along with business partner Stuart [Freis] actually booked Hendrix to play at the Troutbeck. Danny told us: "After
seeing Jimi on Top of the Pops I booked him for three nights at £50 per night. The Sunday was at the Troutbeck Hotel in Ilkley. By the time Jimi was due to play there, he'd become the hottest act in the country . . . The atmosphere was electric as Jimi took to the stage. But it was over all too soon when the police stopped the show. After the gig and back at the flat we were hanging out with Jimi and the band - now there's a story to dine on. My recollection of Jimi was that he was quiet, polite, friendly and funny and he enjoyed a nice cup of tea. Wish I'd had a video camera!'
Telegraph & Argus (8/3/10) ’Scuse me, can you turn the amps off? Bradford newspaper article the week before 43rd anniversary of the gig
' Winter Sundays are usually quite sedate affairs in Ilkley. But on the afternoon of March 12, 1967, the roads to Ilkley Moor were crowded with cars. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was coming. The former US paratrooper’s three-man band was dropping into the Gyro Club at the Troutbeck Hotel, before flying out to Amsterdam the following day.
The band was hired for £150 to do three shows in Mansfield, Leeds and Ilkley before they took off with the release of Hey Joe, which hit the charts in January, 1967. By the time they arrived at the Gyro, their reputation as an exciting live act, with Hendrix pre-eminent as a guitar virtuoso, was established'
'What happened at Ilkley is open to debate. Some people who were there say the police stopped the show almost as soon as Hendrix played the first notes on his Fender Stratocaster. According to other reports, the band played at least one number and were just starting a second – perhaps Howlin’ Wolf’s Killing Floor – when the law intervened, claiming the Gyro was overcrowded'
Gerry Stickells, the band’s road manager, commented at the time: “Jimi and the boys were very disappointed that the show had to end so suddenly.” Refunding the audience proved to be tricky, and minor damage to the hotel – a broken door, pictures torn off walls, smashed drinking glasses – was reported, although some people say this was exaggerated by newspapers 
who would later caricature Hendrix as ‘the wild man of rock’.
Amplifiers, guitars and drums back in the van, the band drove down the hill to the Crescent Hotel for an overnight stay. A couple of years ago, the hotel’s manager, Steve McGriskin, a Hendrix fan, named a new beer from the Moorhouse’s brewery ‘Jimi’s ale’. It’s still a favourite. There is a photograph in the bar of Hendrix supping a pint.'
Telegraph & Argus (22/3/10) A chat with Hendrix at Ilkley club
'I remember being told to leave at the first instance, then asked by Chas Chandler (Hendrix’s manager) why we were leaving. Because we couldn’t make ourselves heard, he took me into a small room where Hendrix and the band were. I was then asked again why we were leaving. After explaining why, he proceeded to tell me to get the crowd back in and he would put the group on. In the meantime, I had spoken to Hendrix, who seemed to be tired at the time. Upon leaving the room, I told the crowd the group was going on. After fighting to the front I was treated to Hendrix playing 'Red House' [see here for a marvellous 1969 live version of this - you can imagine the impact that the song would have had in the packed Troutbeck ballroom]. After playing this song, the police made their way to the front and stopped the concert. A memorable evening for myself, not only meeting Hendrix but watching him perform up close.'
BBC Leeds page 13/11/14 (now archived) Hendrix experiences Leeds: an account of the background to the Leeds gig with reference to the Ilkley gig.
'by the time of the [sparsely attended Leeds] gig, "Hey Joe" had reached the Top 10 and his second UK single, "Purple Haze" had just been released, so really we should have garnered some interest'
'of those that did turn up [at the Leeds gig] one or two were less than impressed - one guy accosted Jimi outside and shouted "Hendrix, you're sh*t"!!'
'Stuart [Freis - the promoter] remembers Hendrix as a really nice man: 'He was a sensitive, sweet guy - a really lovely bloke. Perhaps that was why he ended up as he did - maybe he couldn't say no to people!'
Ilkley Gazette, and Wharfedale Observer 'Did you experience gig when Hendrix visited Ilkley?' 16/1216 - Andy Kershaw's appeal for witnesses of the gig as preparation for filming the documentary.
Ilkley Gazette 'Filming at Ilkley Care Home ahead of 50th anniversary of historic Hendrix gig' 26/1/17
' To Dad though, this [pulling the plug on the gig] was always safety decision, well over 850 people trying to squeeze into a ballroom with a legal capacity of 250, accessed by a long narrow corridor; it simply couldn’t be allowed to continue. It was a recipe for disaster' [reminicences of Ned Chapman the policeman's son]
*** Update 31/3/20: I recently came across a wonderful, comprehensive map-based resource for information on Ilkley which has a whole page devoted to this unique part of Ilkley's History . . . see here ***