00:00For a man like Jimmy Hendricks, he had to have a studio.
00:11Jimmy's idea was to own a nightclub.
00:13He had already bought the existing premise at a bankruptcy sale for $50,000.
00:18When I explained the facts of life in New York City, and that Jimmy was neither Italian
00:23or white, that he would have a great difficulty operating an establishment of that nature
00:28on 8th Street.
00:29So I proposed that we could build a recording studio that was like a nightclub.
00:33He probably spent most of his money in recording studios.
00:38We went down to 8th Street, Greenwich Village.
00:43This is going to be Jimmy Hendricks' recording studio.
00:47There was holes in the floor, and parts of walls had been ripped out.
00:51This was totally creative chaos.
00:53It was frantic trying to raise the capital, and I'd have to go to Max's Kansas City
00:58and ask Nikki Ruskin to float the check that would cover the payroll.
01:03The construction of Electric Lady was a nightmare.
01:06We were always running out of money.
01:08Poor Jimmy had to go back an hour on the road, make some money, come back, then we could
01:13pay the crew.
01:14When he went out to the L.A. Forum and brought back $100,000, he could work for about four
01:18weeks without a cash flow problem.
01:20I remember literally seeing bags of money.
01:23In 1969, we just hit a wall financially, and the place just shut down.
01:29I wasn't going to be deterred by just a thing like money.
01:32He borrows against the future earnings of Jimmy's royalties, and we're off to the races.
01:39Jimmy and Eddie had a very nice connection.
01:42He would say to me, hey man, I want some of that purple on the wall, and green over there.
01:47We'd start laughing about it.
01:48It was fun.
01:50He could make an atmosphere that he felt comfortable in, and that he was able to direct
01:55and say, this is what I want.
01:58The studio started to get really popular.
02:00We did a session with Led Zeppelin.
02:02They loved the place.
02:03Stevie Wonder recorded here.
02:05Carly Simon.
02:06Lena Horne.
02:07The buzz was out.
02:08People heard, they loved it, and they wanted to be here.
02:11I recorded at Jimmy Hendrix's studio.
02:12You couldn't go wrong.
02:13I mean, you're going to have a sound that was spectacular.
02:18No one had ever seen anything like it.
02:19Jimmy had that way before anybody else.
02:22It was a magical place, and he was proud to be there.
02:26I mean, his spirit still is there.
02:29I mean, people walk into the studio, and hair stands up on the back of their head.
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