A Tribute To Mitch Mitchell

I had forgot, but on November the 12 Mitch had become dead a year. I was really sad about his passing, I learned so much from him. I and many others still think that he was the first rock fusion drummer. Also much further down in the last post, is the anger that he held for the Hendrix estate.

spanky

Here is some stuff from Drummer World
A child actor, Mitch was largely self taught, though he received some lessons when he worked in Jim Marshall’s (the Amp man) music store. Mitch did some free lance work before settling in with Georgie Fame and the Blue Fames. One of the great UK jazz inflected R&B bands. After 18 months George fired the whole band as management wanted a change in direction. The next day Mitch got a call from Chas Chandler to come and try out with this American he was managing. Mitch was invited to join for two weeks work
touring France. One of the great musical synergies was born.

Jimi Hendrix has a magnificent rhythmic drive, his playing sets the groove. He also has a strong idea what the bass player is to play. Indeed he is a pretty good bass player himself as on several tracks he replaced Noel Redding and recorded the bass himself ("All Along the Watchtower",
"1984…"). With Jimi setting the groove and the bass player holding it and following his lead, the drummer had great opportunity to fill and interact. Jimi and Mitch are closer to Townshend and Moon, then with Cream (Baker had two lead guitarists!).

Mitch is a jazz influenced player, especially Elvin Jones but also Max Roach and Joe Morello. He uses the underhand or military grip switching to matched for tom work. He used a variety of kits: first Premier with 20" bass & 14x 8" top tom, then a Ludwig Silver Sparkle in the classic jazz setup: 22" bass, 13x9" top, 14x14" & 16x16" floor, Ludwig Supra-phonic snare. Cymbals varied but typically: 15" Hi-hat, 20" ride, 20" & 22" crash and later a 22" or 24" riveted ride. In 1969 he moved to a Ludwig double bass kit with 24" bass drums and additional 12x8" top tom, then the same setup on Gretsch (possibly Ludwig sponsorship in Europe and Gretsch in USA). The double kit didn't change his style, it just added some tonal variety. Sticks were medium/heavy and he played seated low in a hunched position.

Mitch plays in the Elvin Jones explosive style with fast snare and cymbal riding coupled with more basic rock triplet bass patterns and big bombs. In line with jazz drumming he played within the snare/hi-hat/ride cymbal/bass drum arc with the toms as variations. His hi-hat and cymbal work is of the highest order and he used brushes on occasions. He is criticised as a busy drummer which is grossly overstating the case. More restrained drumming may have been more appropriate on a few tracks (that’s Mitch’s opinion). I really can’t describe them as flawed, just that it could have been done differently and that doesn’t mean better!

The thing that Mitch had was incredible stamina especially in the studio as Hendrix endlessly worked though songs. He always responded to Hendrix’s variations and worked from his arrangement. Mitch never defined his arrangement within the song. Live was the same, as it was need to follow Hendrix’s improvisations and also fill in those gaps, especially when Hendrix did his stage act. It was behind these that Mitch took his solo over a droning bass line, usually at an exciting high tempo. He was a fast drummer - lightning at times and surprisingly loud for his diminutive statue. But as a true soloist he could not retain momentum - the solo on "Voodoo Child" looses momentum surprisingly quickly. This is a result of the lack of thorough formal training and the techniques that it provides to build a coherent solo - a limitation of no relevance in this band.

Mitch’s critical asset was his explosive, intuitive responsiveness to Jimi. He could lay down a strong, light groove but then instantly react as Hendrix shifted gears or moved off in another direction. His style is in stark contrast to Buddy Miles who lays down a relentless groove which, when combined with the solid groove bass playing of Billy Cox, stultified Hendrix.

Mitch’s return freed up Hendrix and Billy Cox as well. I really cannot conceive of Baker playing this sort of role - his personal rhythmic impetus would also have impeded Hendrix but not as greatly as Miles.

After Jimi died, Mitch languished in some ordinary projects. The one that had the greatest potential was the Jack Bruce/Larry Coryell/Mitch Mitchell/Michael Mandell jazz/rock fusion band. The available bootlegs show Mitch playing in a jazzier style with some Bakerish inflections with the tom fills. What I find most interesting is that the rhythmic drive is coming from Jack, allowing Mitch to fill, reinforce and explode but in a controlled way. That was a good band that should have gone on but Jack got the irresistible call to join the Tony Williams Lifetime.

The third of the great British Rock drummers of the ‘60s, with a very different style and technique. His legacy is an indispensible part of that of Jimi Hendrix’s …’nough said.

Greatest moments: "Manic Depression", "Fire", "Crosstown Traffic" (the groove), "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)"and the BBC sessions.

Historical Footnote: Ginger and Mitch were not rivals, in fact they were friendly members of the drummers club. On the night that Jimi died, they had picked up Sly Stone from London airport and were looking for Jimi to participate in a jam.
November 12, 2008
Mitch Mitchell, drummer for Hendrix, found dead
Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s and the group's last surviving member, was found dead in his hotel room early Wednesday. He was 61.

The Dirty Mac Band

John Lennon - Eric Clapton - Keith Richards - Mitch Mitchell
Mitch

Mitch Mitchell & Billy Cox

SORUM PAYS TRIBUTE TO HENDRIX DRUMMER MITCHELL

VELVET REVOLVER star MATT SORUM has become the first star to pay tribute to legendary JIMI HENDRIX drummer MITCH MITCHELL, who was found dead in a Portland, Oregon hotel room on Wednesday morning (12Nov08).
The former Guns N' Roses star has released a statement after hearing the sad news, calling Mitchell "an exceptional drummer". who "helped shape the sound of Hendrix".
Sorum writes, "I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times. I asked him once what he was thinking when he played the groove to Manic Depression - a jazzy, almost Latin-type feel… a circular, moving piece of music. He told me Hendrix said, 'Mitch, just think Africa, man.'
"He not only played with Hendrix but also greats such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, John Lennon and Muddy Waters.
"Next time you put on (Hendrix albums) Electric Ladyland, Axis: Bold as Love or Are You Experienced?, listen to the pure musicianship of one of the greatest drummers of all time. God bless Mitch Mitchell!"

Mitch Mitchell and the Travelers, around 1964

Mitch, Noel, and Jimi

Mitch

Mitch, Jimi and Noel

Mitch Mitchell: where you going with that drum in your hand? Also his anger at the Hendrix estate.

I only met Mitch Mitchell once, a few years back, in a bar. He was somewhat inebriated and talked fairly incessantly about the Jimi Hendrix Experience with a mixture of love and bitterness (the love was for Jimi, the bitterness towards the Hendrix estate). I suspect this was not an unusual occurrence. But he was good company, and it was a pleasure just to meet a man who had been in the engine room of some of the greatest rock records ever made.

All he wanted to do was play: Mitch Mitchell

Mitchell was one of the great sidemen of rock, drummer in the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience. To some, all that means is Hendrix plus two others, as if a musician of that calibre would just play with any bozo. In fact, Mitchell was a hot drummer on the London circuit due to his blending of rock power with jazz timing, and had just come off a stint with Georgie Fame’s Blue Flames in 1967 when he was recruited to play with an unknown American guitarist that former Animals bassist Chas Chandler had stumbled across in New York. They rehearsed with bassist Noel Redding for only three days before setting out on a tour that changed rock forever.

The focus was always on Hendrix, but Mitchell contributed a fluid and improvisational style of “lead drums” that created a conversation with Hendrix’s outrageous guitar playing. It is fantastic to watch old footage of Mitchell roaming around his kit, like a stoned cross between Ginger Baker and Keith Moon. Mitchell was so close to Hendrix they often recorded the basic track with just the two of them in the studio, and in three intense years, he played with different Hendrix line-ups, as part of the Cry of Love and Band of Gypsies set ups.

Mitchell was only 27 when Hendrix died, and his later career lacked direction, not much helped by growing problems with alcohol. Towards the end, he toured America playing with a Hendrix tribute band. The tour had just finished when Mitchell was found dead in his hotel room yesterday, aged 61. Although there seemed to have been some rapprochement recently, there is no doubt in my mind that he and the late Noel Redding were treated somewhat shabbily by the Hendrix estate. Having made some of the greatest records ever, that continue to sell in enormous quantities to this day, you should never be struggling for money.

I saw Mitchell play live just once, rather hilariously, when Hendrix was posthumously inducted into the UK Rock Hall of Fame. Mitchell was, by his own admission, coming off a three day bender, and still a little worse for wear. He had been rehearsing a Hendrix tribute with Slash from Guns’N'Roses, himself a recovering addict, and Mitchell seemed only slightly concerned that he might have dragged Slash off the wagon.

Mitchell had prepared a speech, from which he kept digressing, telling the star-studded audience (over and over again) about his love for Jimi (and his lack of love for the Hendrix estate), reminding everyone that when all was said and done, he was the guy who was there in the room at the time. The show was being filmed for later TV broadcast and, about ten minutes into Mitchell’s ramblings, the producers panicked and just started up a backing track to drown him out. A protesting Mitchell was practically dragged off stage by a member of the production crew. But then he was back, fiddling with his drum kit for five minutes at the start of the Hendrix tribute, with a band comprising Slash, Band of Gypsies bassist Billy Cox and Steve Winwood on keyboards and vocals. They performed a fantastic 7 minute version of ‘Hey Joe’ but then, much to the TV producers obvious irritation and the audience’s delight, continued jamming through Hendrix classics for another fifteen minutes, with Mitchell egging them on from behind the kit, rolling around his toms, beaming with pure happiness. The production crew eventually shut them down again. But that will be my enduring memory of Mitchell. He was a great drummer. And all he really wanted to do was play.

Mitch was one of my early influences, also.

And I really, really felt good hearing Billy play Mitch's music on the album he and Bullock made.

Hey Spank:

I loved Mitch's playing also.

IMO, he was so attuned to Jimi and his playing, that he seemed to lose his creativity somewhat when given a chance to solo. It was like a door would close, leaving him in the dark, fumbling around. As soon as Jimi would crank it back up, the lights would come on again. (IMO)

Jimi talks about Mitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUFYurV_qXA&feature=related

Drum solo by mitch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiMu_ZSbKn4&feature=related

Interview with mitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMdlvhk7hA&NR=1