Lithofayne (Faye) Pridgon was Jimi Hendrix’s original “Foxy Lady.” When they met, Pridgon was bold and flirtatious—characteristics that caused Hendrix to feel self-conscious once they were together. The famed guitarist even had rules for her to follow at night clubs.
Jimi Hendrix was devoted to and possessive of Faye Pridgon
Hendrix was certainly more devoted to Pridgon than many of his contemporaries were to their girlfriends. The guitarist had a habit of writing Pridgon “passionate, poetic love letters,” which she kept her entire life.
“He was also fiercely possessive and her naturally bold, flirtatious manner, which had first drawn them together, became unacceptable once they were a couple,” reads Wild Thing: The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix by Philip Norman.
When Pridgon would join Hendrix at the clubs he’d play at, she was forbidden to dance with other men unless the song was uptempo and there was no body contact.
“One night this cutie pie at a place in Harlem where Jimmy was playing kept leaping around tables to get me on the dance floor,” Pridgon told Norman. “Jimmy saw this and leapt off the stage with his guitar, dragging the cord and amplifier with him. He rapped the guy over the noggin with the guitar and told him to leave his old lady alone. The cord got wrapped around people’s legs and they were falling all over the place. It was wild and terrible. But that’s what life was like with Jimmy.”
Hendrix’s behavior kept him from playing at other clubs
After the incident Pridgon recalled, none of the good clubs in Harlem would let Hendrix play. So he had to get creative with how he made money. One odd job included playing his guitar for a stripper named Pantera who danced with a snake. He even dabbled in some non-musical jobs, like delivering cars. But nothing ever lasted longer than a week.
So he spent a lot of time in Pridgon’s room at the Hotel Seifer, where he’d moved shortly after meeting her. He passed the hours “playing his guitar or tending to his conk, his only vanity.”
“I can still see him as he used to open the door in his usual outfit, naked except for a greasy do-rag which held his process so tight in place that his eyes slanted,” recalled Pridgon.
How Jimi Hendrix met Faye Pridgon
Hendrix met Pridgon one night outside the Apollo theater. Hendrix was trying to get backstage to talk with Sam Cooke, who he thought could help his career, and Pridgon, an ex of Cooke’s, had an in. It also didn’t hurt that she was best friends with Etta James. Pridgon was a regular VIP. Pridgon agreed to take Hendrix backstage and the two quickly took a liking to one another.
After the show, Pridgon took Hendrix home for a home cooked meal by her mother. They spent the night together and the guitarist moved in to Pridgon’s room at the Hotel Seifer the next day.
“It wasn’t hard because he was carrying all his possessions around in his guitar case,” she said, as reported in Wild Thing. “He didn’t have underwear. He wasn’t into jeans. He had those shiny black pants, a very thin little jacket and high-topped boots.”
