bbc.co.uk – His discovery of a young Jimi Hendrix in a New York club would change the face of music forever. Twenty years on from Chas Chandler’s death, those who knew him look back at his life.

Summer 1966. A small Greenwich Village venue. There, a little-known guitarist performing under the stage-name Jimmy James would set in motion a four-year chain of events destined to go down among the most famous in rock ‘n’ roll folklore.

Sitting among the Cafe Wha? audience, on the recommendation of Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ girlfriend, was Bryan “Chas” Chandler – bassist with chart-topping UK band The Animals and now on the lookout for new talent to guide through the murky world of the music business.