text: Rare Hendrix song draft sells for almost $ 17,000 . LONDON 1996-08-22 A rare early handwritten draft of a song by U.S. guitar legend Jimi Hendrix was sold for almost $ 17,000 on Thursday at an auction of some of the late musician 's favourite possessions . A Florida restaurant paid 10,925 pounds ( $ 16,935 ) for the draft of " Ai n't no telling " , which Hendrix penned on a piece of London hotel stationery in late 1966 . At the end of a January 1967 concert in the English city of Nottingham he threw the sheet of paper into the audience , where it was retrieved by a fan . Buyers also snapped up 16 other items that were put up for auction by Hendrix 's former girlfriend Kathy Etchingham , who lived with him from 1966 to 1969 . They included a black lacquer and mother of pearl inlaid box used by Hendrix to store his drugs , which an anonymous Australian purchaser bought for 5,060 pounds ( $ 7,845 ) . The guitarist died of a drugs overdose in 1970 aged 27 .