Linda Keith

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swinging Sixties - London street scene 1966

Linda Keith (*  1946 in Hampstead , London ) is a former British model from the swinging sixties . She was instrumental in promoting Jimi Hendrix's career .

Life

Linda Keith is the daughter of British actor , disc jockeys and radio presenter Alan Keith (1908-2003) and his wife Pearl Rubeck. Both parents were descendants of Russian Jewish immigrants. Her father was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire for his services . She has an older brother, Brian Keith, who has served as a judge on the High Court of Justice since 2001 . The actor David Kossoff (1919-2005) was her uncle and the guitarist Paul Kossoff of the rock band Free (1950-1976) was her cousin.

Linda Keith was discovered as a model when she was delivering mail to Vogue's main London office in her teenage years . Keith was initially hired as a model for hats. She later worked with the renowned photographer David Bailey (* 1938), who had also successfully shot Jean Shrimpton (* 1942). Keith also became a favorite model for Raymond (Ossie) Clark (1942–1996). She was associated with the bohemian scene in West Hampstead, which included influential artists, musicians and fashion people.

Keith Richards (1965)

In the fall of 1963, Linda Keith met the guitarist of the Rolling Stones , Keith Richards (* 1943), at a party. Her best friend Sheila Klein was with Andrew Loog Oldham (* 1944), the manager of the Rolling Stones, whom she later married. Linda Keith wasn't a huge fan of the band, but Keith and Richards shared a passion for blues music . They went out together and soon became a couple. Linda Keith was Keith Richards' first boyfriend. He later referred to her as the great love of his life.

Jimi Hendrix (1967)

At the end of May 1966, Linda Keith was in New York ahead of the Rolling Stones' US tour and visited the Cheetah Club with some friends . On stage she saw and heard Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) play guitar with the band Curtis Knight and the Squires . She was enthusiastic about his performance and invited him to her table after his performance. Linda Keith decided to help Hendrix get a recording deal and met with him regularly. Keith Richards also came to New York in June 1966. Linda Keith gave Hendrix access to the Richards suite and loaned Hendrix a guitar from her friend, a white Fender Stratocaster . Hendrix's guitar was in a pawn shop at the time . Hendrix had previously played with the Squires because they had given him a guitar, but now Hendrix could perform again with his own band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames . Linda Keith's commitment to Hendrix was putting an increasing strain on her relationship with Keith Richards.

Linda Keith got Sheila Klein and Andrew Oldham to listen to Hendrix and his band perform. Both were not particularly impressed, however. Rather, Sheila Klein suspected that Linda Keith had fallen in love with Hendrix. Linda Keith then invited producer Seymour Stein (* 1942) to Cafe Au Go-Go in Greenwich Village to listen to Hendrix. At this performance Jimi Hendrix smashed the Fender Stratocaster entrusted to him, which angered Linda Keith very much. On Stein, however, the performance did not make the hoped-for positive impression and he left the bar. In August 1966 she asked Chas Chandler (1938–1996) to meet Hendrix at Cafe Wha? to watch on stage. Chandler was on the final tour with the Animals and planned to leave the band to establish himself as a producer and manager of new talent. Chandler liked Hendrix's performance and persuaded him to come to London to start a musical career.

Linda Keith returned to London after the Rolling Stones' US tour with Richards. There the couple became further estranged and Linda Keith traveled back to New York to see Jimi Hendrix. There she went to different clubs every night and was a regular drug user . Linda Keith apparently introduced Jimi Hendrix to LSD . Keith Richards was very concerned about the situation and called Linda's father in August 1966 to tell him that his daughter was in danger. He urged him to bring his daughter back to London immediately. Alan Keith traveled to New York, brought his daughter back to England and placed her under guardianship . After their return, they saw each other again, but their relationship ended. Keith Richards composed the song Ruby Tuesday during this time , which, according to Richards, relates to Linda Keith and the separation.

Jimi Hendrix came to London in early September 1966, but Linda Keith subsequently lost contact with Hendrix. He had found new band members, sponsors, management and a friend in Kathy Etchingham , and under her influence he stayed away from Linda Keith. It was not until shortly before his death in 1970 that Hendrix reconnected with Linda Keith. He told her he had written a new song, See Me Linda, Hear Me, I'm Playing the Blues , that was about her. There's also a 1970 recording of Hendrix called Send My Love to Linda , which is likely related to Linda Keith.

Brian Jones (1967)

In 1967 Linda Keith had a brief relationship with Brian Jones (1942–1969), the founder and guitarist of the Rolling Stones. They remained friends afterwards and shared a common tendency towards excessive drug use. In 1968 Linda Keith hit the headlines due to a drug overdose. From an apartment on Chesham Place in Belgravia that Brian Jones used because it was close to the recording studios, she called a doctor and told him where she was and that she had taken a drug overdose. The police engaged found Keith unconscious and arranged for a transport to a hospital. Linda Keith made a quick recovery and was discharged from the hospital the next morning.

Linda Keith lived much of her life at her parents' home at 81 Cholmley Gardens in West Hampstead, London. In 1983 Linda Keith married the British musician and record producer John Porter (* 1947) and started a family. She now lives in New Orleans with her family . English actress Imogen Poots played the role of Linda Keith in the 2014 biographical film Jimi: All Is by My Side , which shows the guitarist's formative years . She herself can also be seen in a series of documentaries that deal with the life of Hendrix.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Keith, Linda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British model
DATE OF BIRTH 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Hampstead , London