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Nasty Nick's Hendrix interview to be auctioned

Bob Dale
BBC News, South East
EWBANKS John Altman, wearing a floral shirt and dark blue jacket, stands in front of a stained glass window decorated with pictures of Jimi HendrixEWBANKS
The former Eastender's actor recorded the interviews at a concert in Chatham

A recording of an interview with rock stars Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd's Richard Wright, made by former EastEnders star John Altman, is to be auctioned.

Altman, who played Nasty Nick Cotton in the soap from its launch in 1985, met the rock stars when as a 15-year-old he helped carry their equipment into Central Hall in Chatham, Kent, on 1 December 1967.

The three-minute recording is expected to fetch up to £2,000 when it is auctioned at Ewbank's in Send, Surrey, on 22 May.

Other items being auctioned include autographs and rare seven-inch singles, with the collection estimated to fetch up to £17,000.

EWBANKS A reel of tape on an old-fashioned plastic spool, stood up next to a box with the recording's contents written by hand on the outside.EWBANKS
John Altman made the recording on reel to reel tape in 1967 after getting locked in the venue with the rock stars

Altman said: "l played truant with my best friends.

"We had tickets to see the Jimi Hendrix tour, along with Pink Floyd and Keith Emerson's band, The Nice.

"We arrived early at Chatham, Central Hall and helped the roadies carry in the gear. The stage door closed and there we were locked in with all these rock stars.

"We saw the afternoon show and the one in the evening. In-between shows l managed to interview Rick Wright from Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix in his dressing room.

"Jimi was gentle and cool, and showed us his new album - Axis Bold As Love."

Getty Images Jimi Hendrix, wearing a bright yellow shirt and purple waistcoat, with a yellow paisley bandana around his head, plays a white Fender Telecaster guitar and sings into a microphone in 1967.Getty Images
The interview with Jimi Hendrix has never been broadcast

Hendrix talks about his recent US tour with the Monkees, which the guitarist quit after eight shows.

"As people, they're all right," he said.

"It wasn't the kids who didn't like us, it was the parents, you know, they'd complain and all this mess."

Getty Images A black and white photograph of Rick Wright performing, his face just visible over a stack of keyboards. He has shoulder length hair and a plaid shirt.Getty Images
Rick Wright was the keyboard player of Pink Floyd

The autographs include Hendrix's and Wright's Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters and original lead singer Syd Barrett.

Wright talks about the positive response the band had received at a show in Bristol.

"In America, you know, they're the same really. But except that they do tend to, you know, give you more chance to say what you want to say."

Altman decided to sell his memorabilia rather than have it "gathering dust" in a file.

He said: "I thought it would be nice to share the joy of an amazing interview that no one else in the world would otherwise have the chance to hear."

John Altman: “I took a recorder to interview Jimi Hendrix at a gig and made radio shows in my bedroom”

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