A pensioner who blagged Jimi Hendrix’s autograph after cheekily jumping on his tour bus as a 15-year-old girl is now selling it at auction for an estimated £2,000.
Lynda Huckerby, 65, managed to get the American rock icon to sign her programme after brazenly leaping on his coach after a concert in April 1967.
Earlier in the night the self-confessed ‘groupie’ had tried to get near to her hero by jumping on the stage – but was hauled off by security.
She then decided to push her luck after spotting the guitarist getting on board a ‘posh’ coach after the gig at Leicester’s De Montford Hall.
Lynda Huckerby, 65, is selling a concert programme with Jimmi Hendrix’s autograph on it that she got when she was 15-years-old. It could fetch up to £2,000 at auction
Ms Huckerby, pictured aged 14 on the left and 16 on the right, marched onto the star’s tour bus and sat next to him. He was so impressed by her confidence he gave her his autograph
Hendrix (pictured here with band members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding) died at the age of 27 in 1970
Hendrix was so impressed with the teenager’s audacity as she marched up the bus and sat next to him that he signed her programme – but misspelt her name.
The autograph had stayed in the attic and various cupboards of the grandmother-of-one’s home for decades but is now being sold by Hansons Auctioneers.
Ms Huckerby, who was working as a bookkeeper at the time, shelled out 10 shillings and six pence of her £4-a-week wage to pay for the ticket on the eve of the Summer Of Love.
But the autograph the mother-of-one bagged at the concert is now expected to fetch at least £2,000 when it goes under the hammer in Etwall, Derbys., on December 18.
Former NHS worker Ms Huckerby, of Glenfield, Leicester, said: ‘It was Sunday April 16, 1967 and I’d bought tickets to see The Walker Brothers at Leicester’s de Montford Hall.
‘It was a star-studded line up.
‘Jimi Hendrix was a support act along with Cat Stevens, Nick Jones, The Quotations and Engelbert Humperdinck.
‘I was a bit of a groupie back then. In fact, I’d tried to climb on to the stage at the concert that night but the security men got hold of my legs and pulled me off.
Ms Huckerby was 15 in 1967 when she went to see Jimi Hendrix perform at Leicester’s De Montford Hall
Hendrix autographs are rare because he died at the age of 27
‘I was at the concert with my step-sister Gaile Barrs, who was also 15 at the time.
‘We lived nearby and were hanging around after the concert when this big, posh coach pulled up at around 10.30pm.
‘We watched as it parked up, then Jimi came out of a side entrance and got on the back of the coach.
‘I said to Gaile “quick, I’m grabbing him”. I ran on to the coach, there was no one else on board, met him in the middle and just plonked myself down next to him.
‘I said ‘can you sign my autograph please?’ He took it all in his stride and signed my concert programme “To Linda – Love and happiness, Jimi Hendrix”.
This is the signed programme that could fetch £2,000 at auction
‘I didn’t have time to tell him it was Lynda with a ‘y’. His bassist, Noel Redding, signed it too.
‘It was all done in a few seconds and I dashed off the coach which was empty except for me, Jimi and Noel, and maybe one other person.
‘I laugh about how cheeky I was back then – but I still am. Nerves? I don’t get nervous – I’m a Leo.
‘I suppose I was a bit of a hardcore groupie in the 1960s. It was such an amazing musical era and I saw The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones – many of the greats.
‘I remember climbing over a barrier once to try to get to the lead singer of a soul band I liked called Love Affair.
‘I left school at 14 and started work at 15 as a bookkeeper at Hepworth’s the tailors. I was earning £4 a week and £10.60, the amount I paid for my concert ticket, would have been a lot of money back then.
‘I didn’t realise it could be worth so much.
‘It’s been gathering dust in the loft and various cupboards over the years. It’s the only celebrity autograph I ever managed to get.’
Clare Howell, a music memorabilia valuer at Hansons, said: ‘Jimi Hendrix autographs are special because they are fairly rare.
‘That’s because he died young at the age of 27 in 1970.
‘I love the fact that Lynda ran on to a coach to get to Jimi. Her cheek could prove to be a very valuable asset.’