(Credits: Far Out / Bent Rej / H. Grobe)
Mon 6 April 2026 16:00, UK
We constantly talk about the legacy of British invasion music and how a collection of iconic bands from this small island conquered America. But really, the true invasion of the 1960s was happening in our own backyard, between the iconic venues of London‘s heady blues scene.
It was a truly iconic period in music history – Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Brian Jones, and Peter Green all rubbed shoulders with one another in the wings of these dingy venues, jostling for attention from a crowd of music-hungry fans, and then Jimi Hendrix arrived and blew the whole thing wide open, hypnotising everyone with his wild guitar skills.
Arriving in 1966, the country was already drunk on innovation thanks to The Beatles. The ground was fertile for experimental farming, and it seemed Hendrix was just the man, producing wild licks and never-ending guitar solos that set the standard at an unreasonably high level.
But he wasn’t in London as part of an American comeback ploy, designed by label heads who wanted to retaliate against the British invasion – no, Hendrix came as something of a fan, ready to bury his head into the culture that was being generated and write songs alongside some of his favourite artists.
He made his love for Eric Clapton and Cream abundantly clear, even if he did offend them by upstaging their live show with a performance for the ages. But he also shared a deep appreciation for Clapton’s contemporary Jeff Beck. As one of the greatest guitar players of the era, Beck was something of the mayor for this bright new movement happening in the Capital, and so it was only right that he got in the studio and worked with Hendrix.
Around that time, Ronnie Wood was trying to make a name for himself in the scene and found himself under the stewardship of Beck. Impressed by his bass playing, Wood was recruited for a special transatlantic mission that involved jamming with Hendrix back in the US, where he had gone back to write after a period of creative research in London.
There, Hendrix was so impressed with Wood’s playing that he urged Beck to give him more airtime during performances. Wood remembered, “He used to say to Jeff, ‘Hey Jeff, let the bass player have a solo,’” before gleefully adding, “He loved my bass playing, so that was a feather in my cap.”
The pair developed a friendship through their music that continued back in the UK, when Hendrix returned to dominate London’s blues scene… Encouraged by the support of Wood both personally and musically, the pair moved in together, with Wood saying that they found a small flat in Holland Park in which to rent.
It was a humble setup for two musicians who would ultimately shape rock and roll in the years to come – that Holland Park flat may have been small, but it was big in terms of the cultural footprint it left, particularly in the case of Hendrix, who, in such a short time, became the king of London rock and roll.
