Never-released Hendrix song to be sold at auction

Jimi Hendrix

NEW YORK - A never-released song that legendary US rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix recorded 40 years ago is to be sold at auction in New York in October.

Ocean Tomo LLC, a merchant bank that specialises in intellectual property, said the song, Station Break, was recorded during a session early in Hendrix's career.

Ocean Tomo spokeswoman Wendy Chou said that for unknown reasons the song was never released unlike others from the 1966 New York session.

"It has never been clear why it was not released when other songs from that session were," Chou told Reuters today.

Other songs released from that session included Kato's Special, Flying On Instruments and No Such Animal.

Station Break was composed by Hendrix and Jerry Simon, president of R.S.V.P. Music, with whom Hendrix signed a publishing contract in 1966.

Hendrix, who was born in Seattle, died in 1970 at the age of 27 in London. He suffocated on his own vomit.

Chou said Simon's widow Celeste Simon reported stumbling across the recording in a closet in 1994 and realised nothing had ever been done with it.

"At that time Simon had no reason to sell it but it is now being put up for sale," said Chou.

The copyright and original reel-to-reel recording will be sold at an intellectual property auction in New York on October 26 with the successful bidder getting the reel-to-reel and the right to digitally remaster the recording.

Half of the proceeds from any royalties will go to the Hendrix estate.

"We are anticipating a lot of interest in this but we really have no indication of what it will raise," said Chou.

Janie Hendrix, the musician's sister and president and chief executive of Experience Hendrix which owns and administers the rights to his recordings, said occasionally unknown songs recorded by her brother did come to light.

"We have acquired most of these but there are still a few stragglers. I did not know about this one," Hendrix told Reuters.

"We will have to have discussions about this as there could be copyright issues."

- REUTERS