STEVE PAUL, who opened 1960s Manhattan hotspot The Scene when he was a brash 23-year-old, died at 71 on Sunday at a hospital in Queens. His friend Tariq Abdus-Sabur told the N.Y. Times the cause was not yet known. Initially a hangout for the likes of celebs like Sammy Davis Jr. and Liza Minnelli, the Scene became a rock destination when Paul invited Jimi Hendrix to play at his club at 46th St. and Eighth Ave. “At the Scene, Jimi would completely let himself go—playing all he knew and didn’t know, going beyond sharing—playing all,” David Henderson wrote in his Hendrix biography, ’Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky. “Trying to get it all out.” Before long, acts like Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Traffic, Fleetwood Mac, the Chambers Brothers and Johnny Winter were playing the small club, with Tiny Tim often opening. Said Jim Morrison, “I like to hang around Steve Paul and listen to him rap. He’s funny.”Paul later managed acts like Winter and the McCoys and started Blue Sky Records, which was distributed by CBS, releasing albums from both Johnny and Edgar Winter, among other acts. (10/24a)