On this day:

BarnBuster said:

"that our flag was still there"​

On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore.

After one of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. However, Key and Beanes weren’t allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed.

The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith. People began referring to the song as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. Francis Scott Key died of pleurisy on January 11, 1843

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​

During the War of 1812, the people of Baltimore were certain that the British would attack the city. Not knowing for sure when an attack would occur, they spent months preparing for it. Everything was made ready at Fort McHenry to defend Baltimore. But, there was no suitable flag to fly over the earthen/brick ramparts of the Star Fort.

Major George Armistead, the commanding officer, desired "to have a flag so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance." Major Armistead got his wish when General John S. Stricker and Commodore Joshua Barney ordered two flags, especially made for the garrison, from Mary Pickersgill, a well-known flagmaker in Baltimore. She worked relentlessly on the heavy, woolen flags, one of which was to be the largest garrison flag ever flown. It measured 30 feet high by 42 feet long. The other flag, called a "storm flag," measured 17 feet by 25 feet.

The larger of the two flags had stripes two feet wide, and stars 24 inches from point to point. At that time, it was the practice to add one star and stripe for each new state joining the Union. In 1814, the United States flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes.

The 30' x 42' flag was the one that Francis Scott Key saw on the morning of September 14, 1814. Today this flag is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C. and is one of it's most treasured artifacts.

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O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
​

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/star-spangled-banner-back-on-display-83229098/
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/flag-day/banner-facts​

​

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lokie said:

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We like to have our players sing the anthem at PNC Park

tangerinegreen555 said:

We like to have our players sing the anthem at PNC Park

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If someone other than @tyler.durden posts music I'm not listening! Get back to your @neosapien campaign!!!! We are in end time.

On September 15, 2008, the venerable Wall Street brokerage firm Lehman Brothers seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the largest victim of the subprime mortgage crisis that would devastate financial markets and contribute to the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Lehman Brothers History
At the time of its collapse, Lehman Brothers was the country’s fourth-largest investment bank, with some 25,000 employees worldwide—but it began as a humble dry goods store founded by German immigrant Henry Lehman in 1844 in Montgomery, Alabama.

After Henry’s brothers Emanuel and Mayer joined him in 1850, the business became known as Lehman Brothers.

In 1994, American Express—which had acquired the firm a decade earlier—spun Lehman Brothers off in an initial public offering (IPO). Under the leadership of CEO Richard Fuld, the investment firm began to expand its offerings in the aftermath of the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had barred affiliations between commercial banks and investment banks and their activities.

In this newly deregulated financial industry, Lehman Brothers increased its involvement in proprietary trading (or trading with the firm’s own money to make a profit for itself), securitization, derivatives, asset management and real estate.

Subprime Mortgages
The housing boom of the early to mid-2000s saw Lehman and other Wall Street firms become heavily involved in collateral debt obligations (CDOs) and mortgage-backed securities (MBSs).

Lehman also expanded into loan origination, acquiring five mortgage lenders between 2003 and 2004, including some specializing in subprime mortgages, which were given to borrowers with weaker credit who ordinarily wouldn’t have been able to obtain a mortgage.

As housing prices began to fall rapidly in mid-2006, many subprime borrowers began to default on their payments, revealing the risky nature of these debts.

Despite these warning signs, Lehman Brothers continued to originate subprime mortgages and increase its real estate holdings after housing prices went into decline, and by the end of fiscal year 2007 the firm held some $111 billion in commercial or residential real-estate-related assets and securities (more than double what it had held at the end of the previous year).

Signs of Trouble
Due to the weakening real estate market, as investors and ratings agencies expressed serious doubts about these types of assets, due to their lack of liquidity in the market, they began to lose confidence in Lehman and its investment banking peers.

Bear Stearns, one of Lehman’s closest competitors, was the first to go under, narrowly avoiding bankruptcy with a sale to J.P. Morgan Chase (backed by the federal government) on March 16, 2008. In the aftermath of Bear’s sudden collapse, rumors circulated that Lehman Brothers would be the next to fall.

Like Bear and other investment banks, Lehman’s reliance on short-term funding deals known as repurchase agreements, or “repos,” to raise the billions of dollars it needed to run business operations each day made it especially vulnerable to any crisis in investor and market confidence.

Lehman sought to reassure its investors, raising $6 billion in equity in June 2008, despite reporting its first loss since going public in 1994.

Then on September 10, the firm announced that it expected $5.6 billion in write-downs (reductions in the estimated or nominal value of an asset) for its “toxic” assets and a $3.93 billion loss for the third quarter. In addition, Lehman said it planned to spin off $50 billion of toxic assets into a separate publicly held corporation.

Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. history
In response to this announcement, the major ratings agency Moody’s threatened to downgrade Lehman’s debt ratings, and on September 12, Federal Reserve Chairman Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and others met at the Fed in New York to discuss the firm’s fate.

Despite concerns about the consequences a Lehman Brothers collapse would bring, the federal government and representatives of the administration of President George W. Bush ultimately refused to bail out another investment bank.

Hopes of a sale to another bank fell short as well: One prospective buyer, Bank of America, decided to buy Merrill Lynch instead, while British regulators blocked a last-ditch deal to sell Lehman to Barclays of London.

Out of options, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy early on the morning of September 15. The firm declared $639 billion in assets and $613 billion in debts, making it the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

That day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 500 points, its steepest decline since reopening after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Lehman’s collapse sent financial markets into turmoil for weeks, leading many to question the federal government’s decision to let the bank fail.

After Lehman’s bankruptcy filing, Barclays agreed to purchase the firm’s North American investment banking and capital markets businesses, saving some 10,000 jobs.

As James Peck, the judge who approved the deal, put it in court: “I have to approve this transaction because it is the only available transaction. Lehman Brothers became a victim, in effect the only true icon to fall in a tsunami that has befallen the credit markets. This is the most momentous bankruptcy hearing I’ve ever sat through. It can never be deemed precedent for future cases. It’s hard for me to imagine a similar emergency.”

The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge
6 hrs ·
OK, get ready for a quick surprise weekend quiz from The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge:

If you recall, while driving in the 60's, listening to your favorite AM radio station, when you went under a bridge you would lose the signal and what ever song you were listening to would drop out. Then came 8 tracks.

It was on Sept. 15, 1965, that Ford became the first American car company to offer 8-track tape players in its new models. But, the problem was, because home * track players were just coming out, tapes for the in-car players were only available at Ford dealers. That would soon change. Millions and millions of 8 Track tapes were sold.

Now here is you test question, in 3 parts: 1: What was the biggest downfall of 8 track tapes? 2: Did you have one in your car? and C: Do you still have any left?

So, Happy 54th Birthday to the "car 8 track player"!!! Ahh, the memories…..

And for our younger friends..... How many of you have any clue what we are talking about here?
Edit

The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge
7 hrs ·
A founding member of Pink Floyd, Richard Wright passed away 11 years ago today. He was a founder member, keyboardist and vocalist of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, performing on the majority of the group's albums including The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Division Bell, and playing on all of their tours.

Wright grew up in Hatch End in London and met future Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters and Nick Mason while studying at the Regent Street Polytechnic. The group found commercial success in 1967 with frontman Syd Barrett before Barrett's instability led to him being replaced by David Gilmour, with Wright taking over songwriting duties with Waters. Initially a straightforward singer / songwriter, Wright later acted as an arranger to Waters and Gilmour's compositions. He began to contribute less towards the end of the 1970s and left the band after touring The Wall in 1981. He rejoined the band as a session player in 1987 for A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and became a full-time member again for The Division Bell in 1994.

Richard passed away on Sept. 15, 2008 from cancer.

Also in Pink Floyd history, they released their LP "Wish You Were Here" in the US on Sept. 15, 1975.

RIP Richard. We wish you were still here.

The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge
7 hrs ·
Remember The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour TV show? They, like many other shows, taped their show a couple of days ahead of it airing. Sept. 15th, 1967 was the day they recorded the show that was to air 2 days later on Sept. 17th.

Their musical guests for that night were The Who. By this time the band was known for destroying their instruments at the end of their show. For the Smothers Brothers, drummer Keith Moon wanted an explosion on his drum kit. The stage hands put one together for the effect. Keith also put one together. The explosion was so great that it caused Pete Townshend permanent hearing loss / damage.

Here is what they recorded 52 years ago tonight.. How many remember seeing this when it originally aired?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVa4q-YVjD8

A necessary evil was born.

1997 Google.com is registered as a domain name



Google.com was registered 20 years ago, on September 15, 1997, according to Icann, the organization that regulates domain names. However, Google didn't launch its webpage until a year later, on September 27, 1998, which is the day Google usually refers to as its birthday.Sep 15, 2017

too larry said:

Now here is you test question, in 3 parts: 1: What was the biggest downfall of 8 track tapes? 2: Did you have one in your car? and C: Do you still have any left?

Click to expand...

1. Didn't come with matches.

2. 6 Days then put in a Cassette.
3. No.

"On September 16, 2013, a 34-year-old man goes on a rampage at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., killing 12 people and wounding several others over the course of an hour before he is fatally shot by police. Investigators later determined that the gunman, Aaron Alexis, a computer contractor for a private information technology firm, had acted alone.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Alexis used his security pass to enter Building 197 at the Navy Yard, a former shipyard, dating to the early 1800s, and weapons plant that now serves as an administrative center for the Navy. At approximately 8:16 a.m., Alexis, armed with a sawed-off Remington 870 shotgun and dressed in a short-sleeve polo shirt and pants, shot his first victim. Over the course of the next hour, he moved through the 630,000-square-foot, multi-level Building 197, the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command, gunning down more victims and exchanging fire with law enforcement officials. Alexis was shot and killed by police at 9:25 a.m. The shooting spree caused officials to put part of Washington on lockdown due to initial suspicions that other gunmen might have been involved in the incident; however, by the end of the day, authorities determined that Alexis had acted alone.

A Navy reservist from 2007 to 2011, Alexis began work as a computer technician at the Navy Yard on September 9, 2013. Five days later, at a gun store in Virginia, he purchased the Remington 870 and ammunition used in the attack. Investigators found no evidence that any specific event triggered the deadly massacre, and they believed Alexis shot his victims at random. The shotgun he used (he also took a handgun from one of his victims) was etched with several phrases, including “Better off this way” and “My ELF weapon,” and the FBI announced there was a variety of evidence indicating Alexis was under the “delusional belief” he was being controlled by extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves. In August 2013, Alexis told police in Rhode Island, where he was working, that he was hearing voices. The private IT contracting firm employing Alexis took him off his assignment for a few days then let him back on the job; weeks later, he went to work at the Navy Yard.

The 12 men and women murdered during the September 16th rampage ranged in age from 46 to 73. They were memorialized by then-President Barack Obama at a September 22, 2013, ceremony in which he remembered them and also issued a call to tighten America’s gun laws. That call largely went unheeded, and the number of mass shootings in the U.S. has continued to rise".

The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge
9 hrs ·
Here is what the 'youngsters' in the Mid-West (US) were listening to 51 years ago this week.

Does this bring back some memories? For us here at The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge, we will admit, we had totally forgot about "Down at Lulu's".

^^^^^ Statistical analyses had proved that 1968 was the best year for rock and roll.

Combatants
Union Army: 75,300
Confederate Army: 52,000

Casualties
Killed: Union, 2,100 (3 Generals); Confederate, 1,550 (3 Generals)
Wounded: Union, 9,550; Confederate, 7,750
Missing or Captured: Union, 750; Confederate, 1,020

Union Total Casualties: 12,400
Confederate Total Casualties: 10,320

Combined Total: 22,720

The Battle of Antietam, a.k.a. Battle of Sharpsburg, resulted in not only the bloodiest day of the American Civil War, but the deadliest and bloodiest single day in all of American history. Fought primarily on September 17, 1862, between the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, it ended Gen. Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of a northern state. The battle left 23,000 men killed or wounded in merely twelve hours in the fields, woods and dirt roads, which was equal to a man falling wounded or killed every two seconds and it changed the course of the Civil War.

It is called simply the Cornfield, and it was here, in the first light of dawn that Union troops crept toward the Confederate lines. The stalks were at head level and shielded their movements.

Cannon fire opened the battle with puffs of white smoke rising from the tree line. As 500 artillery pieces firing over 50,000 rounds of ammunition thundered and raked their shot and shell across the rolling terrain and into the battle lines downing men of both sides, sounds of musketry too would crackle as disciplined soldiers stood in rank and file formations only to vanish as though a large and ominous sickle had just swept them from the field. The numerous ridges made excellent locations for cannon. The infantry of both sides made easy targets as they marched across low-lying, open fields nearby.

[The single-shot, muzzle-loading musket dictated that infantry fight in closely formed, standing lines of battle to achieve effective concentration of fire. In spite of the revolution caused by the adoption of the rifle-musket, which increased the effective range of a regiment from seventy-five yards to well over 250 yards, the battles of 1861 and early 1862 were largely fought with the smoothbore muskets of earlier periods, and officers were trained to handle their men accordingly. Volley fire (necessitated by the inherent inaccuracy of the smoothbore musket) demanded strict attention to proper alignment of all segments of a military unit, lest a portion of the unit's fire fall harmlessly short. The combination of new rifles that could be shot with great accuracy from far away and old-fashioned battle lines led to unprecedented deaths in the Battle of Antietam (and in the Civil War in general). As in other Civil War battles, both sides in Antietam arranged their infantry shoulder-to-shoulder in two long parallel lines before marching into battle. This type of linear formation made sense in earlier years, when military weaponry consisted mostly of smoothbore muskets (which were accurate only at short range) and bayonets (which, likewise, could only be used at close range). But by the beginning of the Civil War, rifling—the use of helical grooves in the barrel of a weapon, which stabilize a bullet, leading to greater shooting accuracy—was widespread. Now soldiers could make an aimed shot from 100 yards away and shoot into an enemy line with hope of hitting someone from 400 yards away. Armed with rifled muskets, a defensive line could do serious damage when attackers attempted to charge.]

Posted on the ridgelines, the cannoneers devastated the soldiers in the swales below them. The landscape and the heavy reliance on artillery by both sides made Antietam one of the most significant artillery battles in the Civil War. Cannonading during the battle had never been seen afore on the continent.

"The smoke, the noise, the artillery is crashing in from all directions," says Keith Snyder, a park ranger at Antietam. "It's just a concentrated terror." It was complete chaos in and around the cornfield, with people screaming and bodies and limbs everywhere. In that first phase of the battle, 10,000 soldiers were killed and wounded. "The thing about Antietam is it's a very personal battle," Snyder says. "The vast majority of combat here is done at very close range — 100 yards and closer. It's savage and personal. So when you pop out, the enemy is right there."

"A converging storm of iron slammed into the batteries from front and flank. Wheels were smashed, men knocked down, horses sent screaming, to stay in the field was to sacrifice units needlessly." General Stephen Dill Lee at Antietam, September 18, 1862

"So thick were men lying that General Hood found difficulty in keeping his horse from stepping on wounded men." General D. H. Hill, September 17, 1862, Antietam

There was nothing special about these fields, or even this town. It had no strategic value. Gen. Robert E. Lee's plan was to push his troops north, perhaps to Pennsylvania, fight a decisive battle, and pressure Northern politicians to sue for peace. Union troops marched from Washington and intercepted Lee.

By late morning, the fight in the cornfield was a stalemate. The Union shifted its attack, and actually turned south and headed toward what was called the Sunken Road.

The Sunken Road was an old country farm lane worn down by years of wagon traffic and erosion. A few hundred yards long and about five feet or so below ground level, it was a ready-made fort for the Southerners. The Confederates — more than 2,000 — were hunkered down, waiting for the Union troops. The Confederates peered over the top and watched the Northern troops coming across an open field. As the Union soldiers came into view, the Southerners rose up and fired, taking out nearly every soldier in the front rank. One Union general saw his troops disappear into the Sunken Road, and was heard to say, "God save my poor boys." But after terrible losses, the Union troops were able to encircle the Confederates, and the Sunken Road became a death trap for the men inside.

Almost 2,000 Confederate dead and wounded have piled up on this road, says park ranger Keith Snyder. The Sunken Road would forever be known as Bloody Lane, and it was a turning point in the battle. "Once this thing collapses, the center of Lee's entire Army has been broken wide open," he says. "It is absolute desperation."

The battle shifted to the third and final phase, next to the waters of Antietam Creek. Nearby, a stone bridge crosses the creek, and on the other side, there's a steep bluff, 100 feet straight up. Confederate soldiers were dug in, and they had a perfect shot at any advancing troops below. "The Union 9th Corps had to attack a castle," Snyder says. "It's almost impossible to take this position."

The plan was to hit the Confederates from two sides. Some would cross the river downstream, while other federal troops would storm straight across the bridge. The bridge was a crucial crossing. It took three Union assaults — and nearly three hours — to take the bridge. The final assault was led by Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero, who led veteran soldiers from New York and Pennsylvania. Ferraro had taken his men's whiskey ration because they got in a little trouble, so one of the soldiers said, "Give us our whiskey and we'll take the bridge." They did take the bridge, and later got a keg of whiskey. Thousands of Union troops climbed the bluff, and then the real fight began against the main Confederate force.

Gen. Lee's reinforcements saved his forces, and the Union troops were pushed back to the bridge. But at the end of all the combat, with 23,000 casualties and 12 hours of fighting, Snyder says everyone was just about where they were when they started. "The lines shifted [about] a hundred yards," he says. It was basically a stalemate.

The partial victory at Antietam, however, gave Lincoln what he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation that would free the slaves in the Confederate states the following January.
continued

The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge
10 hrs ·
Neil Young released his LP "After The Gold Rush" on Sept. 17, 1970. It was one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping 1970 album Déjà Vu. Gold Rush consists mainly of country folk music, along with the rocking "Southern Man", inspired by the Dean Stockwell-Herb Berman screenplay After the Gold Rush.

After the Gold Rush peaked at number eight on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart; the two singles taken from the album, "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "When You Dance I Can Really Love", made it to number 33 and number 93 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite a mixed initial reaction, it has since appeared on a number of "greatest albums" lists.

We know of a person or two who after hearing this LP and seeing that much of it was recorded in Neil's home studio in Topanga Canyon just outside of Los Angeles, decided that they had to live there. It was a very influential album to many.

Do you remember the first time you heard this record?

Happy 49th Birthday to "After The Gold Rush"!!!

The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge
11 hrs ·
Buddy Holly had done it and so did Bo Diddley. Then on Sept. 17th of 1967, The Doors did it.

"it" was pissing off Ed Sullivan. The Doors appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 52 years ago tonight. Just before the show, they had a visit from a 'network suit'…

We'll let Ray Manzarek tell the story of how he, Jim Morrison. Robby Krieger and John Densmore responded..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQJ_xWp_BKU

And for future on this day. . . . . .

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/761050916/cokie-roberts-pioneering-female-journalist-who-helped-shape-npr-dies-at-75

Early on September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix died in London. He had spent the latter part of the previous evening at a party and was picked up by girlfriend Monika Dannemann and driven to her flat at the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill. According to the estimated time of death, from autopsy data and statements by friends about the evening of September 17, he died within a few hours after midnight, though no precise estimate was made at the original inquest.

Dannemann claimed in her original testimony that after they returned to her lodgings the evening before, Hendrix, unknown to her, had taken nine of her prescribed Vesperax sleeping pills. The normal medical dose was half a tablet, but Hendrix was unfamiliar with this very strong German brand. According to surgeon John Bannister, the doctor who initially attended to him, Hendrix had asphyxiated in his own vomit, mainly red wine which had filled his airways, as the autopsy was to show. For years, Dannemann publicly claimed that she had only discovered that her lover was unconscious and unresponsive sometime after 9 a.m., that Hendrix was alive when placed in the back of the ambulance after half past eleven, and that she rode with him on the way to the hospital; the latter two are denied by the ambulance crew. However, Dannemann's comments about that morning were often contradictory, varying from interview to interview. Police and ambulance statements reveal that there was no one but Hendrix in the flat when they arrived at 11:27 a.m., and not only was he dead when they arrived on the scene, but was fully clothed and had been dead for some time.

Later, Dannemen claimed that former road managers Gerry Stickels and Eric Barrett had been present before the ambulance was called and had removed some of Hendrix's possessions, including some of his most recent messages. Lyrics written by Hendrix, which were found in the apartment, led Eric Burdon to make a premature announcement on the BBC-TV program 24 Hours that he believed Hendrix had committed suicide. Burdon often claimed he had been telephoned by Dannemann after she discovered that Jimi failed to wake up.

Following a libel case brought in 1996 by Hendrix's long-term English girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, Monika Dannemann committed suicide.

Allegations of murder

A former Animals "roadie," James "Tappy" Wright, published a book in May 2009 claiming Hendrix's manager, Mike Jeffery, admitted to him that he had Hendrix killed because the rock star wanted to end his management contract. John Bannister, the doctor who attended the scene of his death in 1970 stated in 2009 that it "sounded plausible".

It was claimed that Mike Jeffery was not "in London," he was in Spain when Jimi died in London on September 18, 1970.

"There was a freak storm across Majorca and all the phone lines were down. Somebody told Mike that Jimi had been trying to phone him. The first call that got through was to say Jimi was dead. Mike was terribly upset at the thought of Jimi not being able to get through to him." - Trixie Sullivan, secretary/assistant for Mike Jeffery

Gravesite

Hendrix's body was returned to Seattle and he was interred in Greenwood Memorial Park, Renton, Washington. As the popularity of Hendrix and his music grew over the decades following his death, concerns began to mount over fans damaging the adjoining graves at Greenwood, and the growing, extended Hendrix family further prompted his father to create an expanded memorial site separate from other burial sites in the park. The memorial was announced in late 1999, but Al Hendrix's deteriorating health led to delays and he died two months before its scheduled completion in 2002. Later that year, the remains of Jimi Hendrix, his father Al Hendrix, and grandmother Nora Rose Moore Hendrix were moved to the new site. The headstone contains a depiction of a Fender Stratocaster guitar, the instrument he was most famed for using —– although the guitar is shown right-side up, rather than the way Hendrix played it, upside down (left-handed).

The memorial is a granite dome supported by three pillars under which Jimi Hendrix and other family members are interred. Hendrix's autograph is inscribed at the base of each pillar, while two stepped entrances and one ramped entrance provide access to the dome's center where the original Stratocaster adorned headstone has been incorporated into a statue pedestal. A granite sundial complete with brass gnomon adjoins the dome, along with over 50 family plots that surround the central structure, half of which are currently adorned with raised granite headstones.

To date, the memorial remains incomplete: brass accents for the dome and a large brass statue of Hendrix were announced as being under construction in Italy, but since 2002, no information as to the status of the project has been revealed to the public. A memorial statue of Jimi playing a Stratocaster stands near the corner of Broadway and Pine Streets in Seattle.

In May 2006, the city of Seattle honored Hendrix with the re-naming of a park near Seattle's Colman School in the Central District.

Happy talk like a pirate day ye scallywags