Mitch shall experience no more
Thursday 13 November 2008 at 13:02 UTC
London-born Mitch Mitchell, who with bassist Noel Redding provided the backbone of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, has died aged 61.
Mitchell was no mere beatbox for Hendrix, despite his relegation by manager Michael Jeffery to the status of a paid employee with no moral rights in the output of the band. Mitchell was a virtuoso percussionist whose fusion of jazz and rock styles took what Ginger Baker pioneered with Cream to a whole new level. Much has been written about the genius of Hendrix, but the Jimi Hendrix Experience was a band of musicians far more than the sum of its parts.
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Thursday 13 November 2008 at 19:56 UTC
No kidding!
Best rock drummer i can imagine.
Every bit as amazing as the guitarist.
Still blows me away!
Thursday 13 November 2008 at 20:11 UTC
It’s been said that the better jazz drummers play tunes as well as bang out rhythms. That was certainly true of Mitchell, who introduced melody into rock drumming.
Friday 14 November 2008 at 07:20 UTC
Oh. I’m a huge fan of The Experience, and remember seeing an interview with Mitch where he seemed like a really nice bloke as well as a great drummer. RIP.
Friday 14 November 2008 at 09:36 UTC
Noel Redding was an interesting character too.
In the short time they were together, Hendrix, Mitchell and Redding were immensely creative. But there is tragedy in the story, with both Mitchell and Redding struggling following the demise of the Experience, and Hendrix’s estate taking all. Redding ended up in rural Ireland (as do many post-fame English musicians), and in 2003 died of complications associated with cirrhosis of the liver. Fifty-seven, he was.
Monday 17 November 2008 at 09:55 UTC
[...] cultural heroes are dropping like flies. The past week has seen the deaths of Miriam Makeba and Mitch Mitchell, and now we’ve lost Reg Varney, the great comic actor and star of the seminal 1970s situation [...]