A Recording Contract Signed at the Peak of Hendrix’s Career

Most Hendrix autographs turn up on an album page or a scrap of paper. This one sits at the bottom of the contract that governed his records.

The Artist Agreement is dated as of June 24, 1968, and made between Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records, Inc. of 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, and “Jimi Hendrix, also known as The Jimi Hendrix Experience,” care of Yameta Co. Ltd. on Bay Street in Nassau, Bahamas. Hendrix signed it in full on the execution page, directly beneath the countersignature for Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

The complete agreement survives with numerous handwritten amendments, revisions and initials in another hand throughout. Two original Bahamas stamps remain affixed to the opening page.

How a 1965 Deal With PPX Enterprises Followed Hendrix to Stardom

Before he was a star, Hendrix was a working sideman in New York. In 1965, while playing with Curtis Knight, he signed a recording agreement with producer Ed Chalpin’s PPX Enterprises.

Within two years he had moved to London, formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience with manager Michael Jeffery and producer Chas Chandler, and signed the recording arrangements that put his records out through Warner Bros. in the United States. Chalpin maintained that the earlier PPX agreement still bound Hendrix, and the dispute drew in Capitol Records, which had released material from the Curtis Knight era.

The 1968 resolution untangled competing claims to his recordings, one of the most consequential business episodes of Hendrix’s career. As part of the broader settlement Capitol was entitled to an album of new Hendrix material. That obligation was ultimately fulfilled with Band of Gypsys in 1970.

Every Major Player in the Hendrix Business Story, on One Contract

The contract’s recitals read like a cast list of Hendrix’s early career. They reference a Settlement Agreement dated June 24, 1968 among Warner, Hendrix, PPX Enterprises, Edward Chalpin, Curtis Knight, Yameta Company Ltd., Michael Jeffery, Chas Chandler (named under his given name, Bryan Chandler) and Capitol Records, along with a separate Sale Agreement under which Warner purchased, with Hendrix’s consent, certain agreements and rights from Yameta.

Parties and Companies Named in the Contract

Names as they appear in the contract’s recitals. Curtis Knight is also named as a party to the Settlement Agreement.

From there, the agreement addresses recording obligations, master ownership, royalty provisions and distribution rights. Its first clause terminates the future application of all prior agreements between Warner and Hendrix other than the Sale and Settlement Agreements, and cancels future applications of the agreements between Yameta and Hendrix for the United States and Canada, including those arising under Hendrix’s agreement with Sue Records.

The agreement is governed by New York law, it binds the parties’ heirs and successors, and Hendrix may not assign his obligations without Warner’s prior written consent. That consent language was added by hand in the margin and initialed, one of several handwritten revisions visible throughout the document.

Signed Just Months Before Electric Ladyland

June 1968 was the middle of Hendrix’s most ambitious year. Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love had already made him one of the biggest acts in rock, and he was deep into the sessions that became Electric Ladyland, the double album released that October.

The contract documents the restructuring of Hendrix’s recording rights at exactly the moment his catalog was becoming one of the most valuable in popular music.

Authenticated by Steve Grad, Reviewed by Roger Epperson

The Hendrix signature has been authenticated by Steve Grad and assigned an Autograph Grade of 9 (Cert. No. GA-05694). The document has also received an additional favorable review from Roger Epperson, one of the most recognized names in rock and roll autograph authentication.

The document’s contents, the parties it names, its date and its handwritten revisions also line up with the known history of the PPX settlement.

Why a Signed Hendrix Contract Stands Apart

Hendrix’s career as a major star lasted only about four years before his death in September 1970. Signed business documents from that period are far scarcer than signed albums or cut signatures.

This one pairs a full Hendrix signature with a document that shaped his recording career and names nearly every key figure in his early business story. It ranks among the most significant surviving Hendrix business documents to reach the marketplace.

Nearly 500 Lots in the Fall Historical Auction

The Hendrix contract headlines a deep run of music material in Weiss Auctions’ Fall Historical Auction, a sale of nearly 500 lots spanning rock and roll, music, presidential and other historical figures.

On the music side, the auction includes a large collection of vintage handbills, posters, tickets, shirts and instruments from the rock era and earlier, along with signed memorabilia from some of the biggest names in music history.

Music Autograph Highlights

Also in the sale: a George Harrison signed album and many more music autographs.

Beyond music, the sale features presidential signed appointments, vintage fountain pens, tobacco jars and beer steins, plus an incredible group of NASA and aviation autographs including Neil Armstrong, Charles Lindbergh and Apollo crew-signed memorabilia. Much more is still to come.