Mitch Mitchell
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Mitch Mitchell
- Genres: Rock
Biography
As the drummer in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch Mitchell was one of the greatest rock drummers of the 1960s. Mitchell's style was a blend of the abandon of someone like Keith Moon with the jazz complexity of a sticksman like Elvin Jones. While no one, including Mitchell, could match Moon for sheer rock power, it's also true that Mitchell had the technique to handle some rhythms and patterns that were beyond Moon's abilities. Mitchell was drummer on all of the Hendrix Experience's recordings and some of his post-Experience solo outings, and was still in his touring band when Hendrix died in September 1970.Mitchell was a former child actor who had starred in the BBC children's television series Jennings before he was even in his teens. By the early '60s he was concentrating on his drumming, and gained experience in bands such asPeter Nelson & the Travellers and the Coronets. He also started doing some session work, and was a member of the Riot Squad, who had about half a dozen soul-rock singles in the mid-'60s without getting a hit. He played on some of the Pretty Things' second album, Get the Picture? He was considered for the permanent drum seat in the band when Viv Prince left, but was passed over in favor of Skip Alan, whom the Pretties felt had a more suitable personality.
Mitchell played in Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames during 1965 and 1966, but was fired in October 1966 when the lineup disbanded. The day after the firing, Chas Chandler invited him to audition for the group being formed around Jimi Hendrix. Mitchell beat out a lot of top young talent in London, including the other finalist, Aynsley Dunbar. Chandler later said that, unable to make up their minds, he and Hendrix tossed a coin, the flip coming out, fortunately for everyone concerned (except Dunbar), in Mitchell's favor. Mitchell was not a mere sideman to Hendrix, but an important collaborator. Always changing rhythms, never predictable, he was also flexible enough to bounce off and respond to Hendrix's own original solo lines. This was evident on the very first singles and the trio's first album, Are You Experienced?, as can be heard on the thrilling drum parts on tracks like "Fire," "Third Stone from the Sun," and "Manic Depression."
The Jimi Hendrix Experience as originally formed -- Hendrix, Mitchell, and bassist Noel Redding -- played their last show in mid-1969. There followed a confusing period in which Hendrix was obviously unsure of where to take his music and who to bring along for the ride, or perhaps even whether he wanted a permanent band lineup of any sort. Mitchell played behind Hendrix at his famous Woodstock performance, but then Hendrix started playing and recording with the Band of Gypsys, with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums. The Band of Gypsys didn't go smoothly, and the original Experience was re-formed in early 1970, but fell apart almost immediately. By the spring of 1970, Hendrix was playing with Cox on bass and Mitchell on drums. Mitchell has written that Hendrix, after finishing a strenuous tour in September 1970, wanted to keep working with Mitchell, a different bass player than Cox (possibly Jack Casady or Jack Bruce), and other musicians, possibly including the Brecker Brothers and Motown players. Hendrix died before any plans were made. Mitchell, unfortunately, has rarely recorded since, a shame as he obviously had the talent to work with top-flight rock and perhaps jazz and experimental musicians.
Some revisionist historians have contended that Mitchell and Redding were white faces hitched to Hendrix by pop-conscious management, and that Hendrix's heart lay with black musicians who were closer to the guitarist's blues and soul heritage. Looking at the available evidence, however, it seems impossible to conclude that Hendrix was merely putting up with Mitchell because of outside pressures that prevented him from collaborating with black musicians. Ultimately, Mitchell was the musician with whom Hendrix had the most important and sustained creative relationship out of the many people he led or supported, both onstage and on record. With John Platt, Mitchell wrote a memoir of his Hendrix years, Jimi Hendrix: Inside the Experience, recommended for its first-hand perspective and emphasis upon the musical cornerstone of the Hendrix legend. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
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Mitch Mitchell
For the Guided by Voices guitarist, see Mitch Mitchell (guitarist).
For other people named John Mitchell, see John Mitchell (disambiguation).
| Mitch Mitchell | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Ronald Mitchell |
| Born | 9 July 1947 Ealing, London, England[1] |
| Died | 12 November 2008 (aged 61) Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Genres | Rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock, jazz fusion, hard rock |
| Instruments | Drums, vocals, percussion |
| Years active | 1966–2008 |
| Associated acts | The Coronets, Johnny Harris and the Shades, The Pretty Things, Georgie Fame, The Riot Squad, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, Gypsy Sun Experience, The Dirty Mac, Ramatam, The Who |
John Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 1947 – 12 November 2008) was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
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Biography
Early Career
Early in his career, Mitchell gained considerable musical experience touring and as a session musician. He also had an acting background, and had starred in a children's television programme, Jennings and Derbyshire, when he was a teenager.[2] He became a musician through working for Jim Marshall at his drum shop on Saturdays while still at school.[3] Pre-Experience bands included Frankie Reid and the Casuals (1962), Johnny Harris and the Shades, The Pretty Things, Bill Knight & The Sceptres, The Riot Squad, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, and The Who as a session drummer while the band was deciding on a replacement (Keith Moon) for Doug Sandom.[4]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Mitchell auditioned for Hendrix's band in October 1966, beating out drummers including Aynsley Dunbar, was their other final choice. Mitchell won the job on the flip of a coin.
Mitchell was praised for his work with the Jimi Hendrix Experience on the songs "Manic Depression", "Stepping Stone", "Little Miss Strange", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "Fire" and "Third Stone from the Sun". Mitchell came from a jazz background and like many of his contemporaries was influenced by Elvin Jones, Max Roach, and Joe Morello.[5]
Mitchell played in Hendrix's Experience trio from October 1966 to mid-1969, in his Woodstock band of August 1969, and also with the later incarnation of the Experience in 1970 with Billy Cox on bass, known posthumously as the "Cry of Love" band. Hendrix would often record with Mitchell only, and the two were particularly "tight" during live sets as a result.
Notable Projects
In December 1968, Mitchell played The Dirty Mac, an all-star band assembled for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. Others included John Lennon as vocalist and rhythm guitarist "Winston Leg-Thigh"; Yoko Ono providing improvised primal screams; Eric Clapton as guitarist, and Keith Richards as bassist. The group recorded a cover of "Yer Blues" as well as a jam called "Whole Lotta Yoko". While working with the Band of Gypsys from late 1969 until early 1970, Mitchell also collaborated with the Jack Bruce and Friends band along with ex-Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, keyboardist Mike Mandel and jazz-fusion guitarist and future The Eleventh House frontman Larry Coryell. Mitchell also took part in Miles Davis' demo sessions for the 1969 album Bitches Brew, but did not appear on the final album.
Post-Hendrix
After Hendrix's death, Mitchell finished production work with engineer Eddie Kramer on incomplete Hendrix recordings, resulting in the releases The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge. In 1972, he teamed up with guitarists Mike Pinera and April Lawton to form Ramatam. They recorded one album and were Emerson, Lake & Palmer's opening act at a number of concerts. Mitchell and Hendrix had been offered spots in the band Keith Emerson and Greg Lake were forming, but Carl Palmer got the drum position instead. Ramatam never achieved commercial success and Mitchell left the act before their second LP was released. Mitchell also performed in concerts with Terry Reid, Jack Bruce, and Jeff Beck as a substitute for drummer Cozy Powell.
Michael Jeffery, Hendrix's manager, relegated Mitchell and Noel Redding to paid employees without an ownership share in future revenues. This limited their earnings and led to Mitchell and Redding being largely excluded from sharing in revenues generated from the Experience. Financial hardship pressured Mitchell in the mid-1970s to sell a prized Hendrix guitar. He also sold his small legal claim to future Hendrix record sales for a sum for about $200,000. In 1974, he auditioned for Paul McCartney's band Wings, but was turned down in favour of Geoff Britton.
For the rest of the 1970s through to the 1990s, Mitchell, semi-retired and living in Europe, continued to perform and occasionally record. He did session work on Junior Brown's Long Walk Back album and participated in various Hendrix-related recordings, videos, and interviews. In 1999, Mitchell appeared on Bruce Cameron's album Midnight Daydream that included Billy Cox, Buddy Miles and Jack Bruce.
In 2005, he was named the 23rd greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone.
Death
His last days were spent celebrating Hendrix's music on the 2008 Experience Hendrix Tour. For nearly four weeks the tour travelled on an 18-city tour of the US, finishing in Portland, Oregon.[6] The tour also featured Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Cesar Rosas, David Hidalgo, Aerosmith's Brad Whitford, Hubert Sumlin, Chris Layton as well as Eric Gales and Mato Nanji. Five days after the tour ended Mitchell died in his sleep on 12 November, in his room at the Benson Hotel in Portland.[7][8][9] of "natural causes". Mitchell had been in ill health for many years due to alcohol-related problems. He was the last surviving member of the original Experience. Mitchell had planned to leave Portland that day to return to home to England.[citation needed] He was buried in Seattle.
He is survived by his wife, daughter and two grandchildren.[citation needed]
Style
Mitchell pioneered a style of drumming which would later become known as fusion[citation needed]. This is a "lead" style of playing distinguished by interplay with lead instruments such as guitar or keyboards, and the blending of jazz and rock drumming styles. Though the use of lead drums was not a new concept in jazz, it was relatively unheard of in rock. Upon joining Hendrix in late 1966, it became evident to Mitchell that the trio format of the band was similar to the recently formed Cream, and that it would allow him to become more free with his playing. Like a jazz drummer, Mitchell's playing not only provided a rhythmic support for the music, but also a source of momentum and melody. He made heavy use of snare rudiments, fast single and double stroke rolls, and jazz triplet patterns, and shifted between both traditional and matched grips. Examples of his style include the rudiment-heavy fills on Hey Joe, which help to carry the song through a series of increasingly intense climaxes. Manic Depression is a 3/4 rock waltz that finds Mitchell playing a driving Afro-Cuban inspired beat, which then shifts to an explosion of triplets around the drumkit during the outro.
Third Stone from the Sun incorporates a swing ride pattern to underpin Hendrix's jazzy surf guitar, and the spacey breakdown section features polyrhythmic drum fills that float over the 4/4 meter. 1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) features military-style snare drum work and delicate cymbal playing that evokes the sound of wind chimes. The long blues jam Voodoo Chile features Mitchell playing a deep blues groove with subtle hi-hat accenting and powerful drum fills.
Discography
- 1967: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced
- 1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Axis: Bold As Love
- 1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
- 1969: Martha Velez – Fiends and Angels
- 1971: Jimi Hendrix – The Cry Of Love
- 1971: Jimi Hendrix – Rainbow Bridge
- 1972: Jimi Hendrix – War Heroes
- 1972: Ramatam – Ramatam
- 1980: Roger Chapman – Mail Order Magic
- 1986: Greg Parker – 'Black Dog'
- 1998: Junior Brown- Long Walk Back
- 1999: Jimi Hendrix - Live At Woodstock
- 1999: Bruce Cameron- Midnight Daydream
- 2010: Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune
References
- ^ "Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell dies aged 62". Telegraph.co.uk. 13 November 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3452610/Mitch-Mitchell.html. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ Cross, Charles R (2005). Room Full of Mirrors p.162 Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-82683-5
- ^ Saunders, William (2010) Jimi Hendrix London Roaring Forties Press ISBN 978-0-9843165-1-9
- ^ The Who Concert File. Books.google.com. 15 June 2004. ISBN 978-1-84449-009-7. http://books.google.com/?id=w_bXxPnQtooC&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77&dq=%22julian+covey%22+%22the+who%22#v=onepage&q=golding&f=false. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ "Mitch Mitchell". Drummerworld.com. http://drummerworld.com/drummers/Mitch_Mitchell.html. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ "Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell dies aged 62". Telegraph.co.uk. 13 November 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3450169/Jimi-Hendrix-drummer-Mitch-Mitchell-dies-aged-62.html. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ Jimi Hendrix drummer found dead in Portland hotel By DAVID KROUGH, kgw.com Staff
- ^ Mitch Mitchell death was 'natural'[dead link]
- ^ Ross William Hamilton. "Oregonlive.com". Oregonlive.com. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/jimi_hendrixs_drummer_mitch_mi.html. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
External links
- Mitch Mitchell/John Mitchell at the Internet Movie Database
- Obituary in The Times
- Obituary in The Daily Telegraph
- Remembered at NPR
- Mitch Mitchell at Find a Grave
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