LOCAL Scene

30 years this month...
Paris musician remembers

Hendrix

by Tim Baker

Paris resident, singer-songwriter Sal Bernardi, who has just concluded an 8-week tour with Rickie Lee Jones, also recalled Hendrix's kindness during a recent conversation at singer Gabriela Arnon's house.

"It was ' 68 and we were just 15 and had a band in Jersey called the Blues Generation. Somehow one of us got a hold of his phone number, and we would take turns calling him up all the time. This was at the height of his fame, but he was really cool and friendly about our calls. He was going to play at the Fillmore East, and one of us called him up and asked him to dedicate "Foxy Lady" to our band. We went to the concert, never really dreaming he'd do it, and when he stepped forward and said, "I'd like to dedicate this song to the Blues Generation," we all looked at each other shocked and euphoric. For him, with all the fame, drugs and groupies, to remember to dedicate a song to a bunch of kids was really something."

When Manou heard about this story, he dug up a rare bootleg of the concert and confirmed the dedication. Bernardi was delighted. "It wasn't just some fantastic '60s hallucination after all!"