Did Hendrix record Welsh anthem?

Hendrix died in 1970 aged 27

An electric guitar blares out and patriotic Welsh folk scramble to their feet as the national anthem begins.

But is possible the person playing the chords of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau on a recently-discovered recording is the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix?

The recording was found on a demo tape from 1970 made by a band whose Welsh bassist was friendly with Hendrix.

The tape's owner, Martin Davies, is hoping to track down the musician, Viv Williams, who would be in his 60s.

Mr Davies, a former record producer who now runs the Red Dragonhood design company, inherited the tape from a fellow producer Dave Chapman after his death in 2005.

Mr Chapman had discovered that the tape was a demo by a band called the New Flames, which included bassist Viv Williams, originally from Crickhowell in Powys.

The guitar version of the Welsh anthem appears at the end of the demo tape.

Williams was friendly with Hendrix and had been seen out at his local pub in London with him around the time the recording was made on 10 September 1970.

The Welsh anthem was a signature piece for Tich Gwilym

Hendrix died in his sleep in a London hotel eight days later.

Mr Davies hopes to find Williams, who would be about 64 years old, to discover if he can settle the question of who played the anthem once and for all.

A competing claim has been put in for Welsh guitarist Tich Gwilym, who was well-known for his electric rendition of the national anthem.

He died in a house fire in 2005.

Gwilym recorded the anthem for Welsh language pop star Geraint Jarman's album Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau in 1978.

However nobody has yet suggested what the link between Gwilym and the New Flames tape could have been.

'Romanticist'

However Jarman was dismissive of both the Gwilym and Hendrix claims.

"It's definitely not Tich because his style was more like Hendrix's than the actual tape," he said.

"He was a very good copyist of Hendrix and from what I've heard of it, it's definitely not him.

"I might be wrong but I don't think it's Hendrix either."

Phil Campbell, lead guitarist with Motorhead, is also sceptical.

"No way, no way is that Hendrix," Pontypridd-based Campbell told BBC Wales.

"It's probably some Welshman playing the anthem got locked in a cupboard and some romanticist has said it's possibly Hendrix.

"It's a nice piece but in my opinion, no way is that Jimi Hendrix."

Hendrix's own version of the American anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, was a notable highlight at the Woodstock festival.

He played a total of three gigs in Wales, and all in Cardiff: two in the Capitol in April 1967; and one in the November of that year at the city's Sophia Gardens.

Judge for yourself by listening to the anthem

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