Street is named for Jimi Hendrix
Guitar legend gets an avenue in village near Perpignan and his sister is there for the naming ceremony
By Samantha David
ROCK legend Jimi Hendrix has had a street named after him – in a tiny Languedoc village of just 700 people.
The late guitarist’s sister, Janie Hendrix, was there when maire Patrick Bellegarde officially inaugurated Avenue Jimi Hendrix in Passa, south of Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales.
Mr Bellegarde says the mairie can call streets anything they like and he chose Jimi Hendrix because he wanted “to get the village noticed”.
Avenue Jimi Hendrix has a fabulous view on to Mont Canigou and the village already has streets named after Maurice Ravel, pianist Pascal Comelade and Catalan musicians Lluis Llach and Jordie Barre. He said tourists had been visiting to get their photo taken beside the sign.
Hendrix died in London at the age of 27 and in recognition of this there will be no number 27 in the street.
Mr Bellegarde told Connexion: "It's fun! Avenue Jimi Hendrix is a great address!"
Janie Hendrix agreed and was so delighted she tweeted a photo of the street sign to all the Hendrix fans.
#jimihendrix @SonyMusicGlobal @SonyLegacyRecs #street named after Jimi in #Passa France pic.twitter.com/bVjxmkdiwf— Janie L Hendrix (@CEOHendrix) July 3, 2015
But Mr Bellegarde added that there was a more serious side too. "The point is, we need inhabitants in order to maintain our schools, shops and services as well as our social and cultural life. So we try to make ourselves known and attract people."
The village has a population of around 700 people and he said: "600 people came to the village that day. We even had the Préfet here, along with dozens of musicians. It was great fun and I met loads of Jimi Hendrix fans."
Mr Bellegarde says it is too early to say whether the plan has worked. "We've had lots of tourists coming here to take photos of themselves beside the road sign, but we'll have to wait to see if it really does have economic benefits.
“But we're working hard on social media, we've had thousands of likes on the Jimi Hendrix Official website, and we're listed in guidebooks like the Guide du Routard, and of course if people come here we hope they'll buy a coffee, or a bottle of wine."
Overall, he says the move has been very positive, and locals have enjoyed making a bit of an international buzz, and they are hoping that it will help them expand the village's jazz festival, Jazzapassa.
"It's part of our global strategy. We searched on the internet and we didn't find anywhere else doing this, so we'll continue. Mairies can call streets anything they like. There's no constraint, and no-one can stop you calling a street after a rock star!"
It is appropriate that France should commemorate Hendrix because the Jimi Hendrix Experience played their first live show in France, at the Novelty in Évreux, Haute-Normandie, on October 13, 1966. They had been invited to play by Johnny Halliday. See film of them together, blowing smoke rings in a restaurant in Nancy at http://www.rts.ch/archives/tv/jeunesse/les-jeunes-aussi/3446571-johnny-et-jimi.html
Jimi Hendrix at Isle of Wight Pop Festival, 1970. pic.twitter.com/l3MDKbQKgh— History Of Sound (@historyofsound) July 26, 2015
Johnny Winter on guitar, Buddy Miles on drums & Jimi Hendrix…on bass...in 1969 at The Scene. #TBT pic.twitter.com/vxgfxAiFMH— Bass Guru (@BassGuruApp) July 30, 2015
Jimi Hendrix, Newport Pop Festival, 1969 pic.twitter.com/8mibsSb82M— Rock genesis (@rockorigins) July 27, 2015
