Jimi Hendrix moved to 23 Brook Street in Mayfair, London in July of 1968. The flat just happened to be next door to the house that composer George Frideric Handel lived. According to Kathy Etchingham, Hendrix’s girlfriend at the time, when Hendrix found out that Handel lived there, he went out to a local record shop and bought this copy of Messiah.

Q: Do you have feelings for classical music? A: Oh yeah, it’s beautiful, it’s very beautiful. [german radio] I like Handel and Bach. It’s like a homework type of thing. You can’t hear it with friends all the time. You have to hear some things by yourself.