The Lasting Loss of Hendrix Drummer Mitch Mitchell
Monday May 18th, 2009
By Gerard Egan
Mitch Mitchell passed away in Portland, Oregon at the age of 62 in November of 2008. Mitch played drums for Jimi Hendrix from 1966-1970. To support Hendrix’s freak-out-blues Stratocaster sorcery, Mitch recorded some incredibly inventive drum parts, culling influences from jazz legends such as Elvin Jones and Buddy Rich as well as incorporating modern pop/rock styles of the day. Together with other power trio drummers Ginger Baker of Cream and Keith Moon of The Who, Mitch’s fiery and at times manic playing redefined what the drummer’s role could be in a rock band. No longer content to simply ‘keep the beat,’ Mitch was forced to temper Hendrix’s massive musical presence with enough character in his drum parts to step out of the background, keeping the band afloat. To keep it all together, Noel Redding supplied the reliable center line, the steady bass groove that was the glue between Hendrix and Mitch.
Mitch was just out of his teens when he was recruited to play drums with Hendrix. Starting in the fall of 1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience shook the pop music world to its core with its fusion of blues, feedback, psychedelic sound and song craft, pop hooks, studio wizardry and a live show the likes of which had never been seen. For Hendrix, it seemed meant to be. After spending his early twenties touring the US and Canada on the ‘chitlin circuit’ with the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, Curtis Knight and King Curtis, Hendrix was finally noticed by Animals bassist and soon-to-be producer, Chas Chandler, performing at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. Stunned by his talent, Chandler immediately brought Hendrix to London and paired him up with Mitch and Noel. Within days of its inception, the trio began performing and recording new material, releasing the classic Are You Experienced? in May of 1967.
At the time of their first couple albums, studio recording technology was still fairly primitive by today’s standards. Are You Experienced? and the group’s second album Axis: Bold as Love were both recorded on a simple 4 track machine. They stand as monuments to the great musicianship on one side of the control room glass and the inventive engineering and production skills on the other side. At a time when it was not uncommon for recording engineers to wear lab coats and carry clipboards, Mitch, along with other pop musicians of the day, began to use the studio as more of a creative tool then simply a way to capture a live performance in hi-fidelity. He was one of the first drummers to become actively involved in the recording process, pushing the boundaries of the studio and attempting to create a more sonically powerful experience for the listener. Mitch was one of the first drummers to experiment with the use of multiple microphones to capture his drum sounds. By using a variety of mics on his kit, the recording engineers were given more freedom to manipulate the sound of his drums and create a much more 3-D sound experience for the listener. This is particularly evident on their 3rd album Electric Ladyland, which employed a larger 16 track board and allowed for much more creative room in the mix. Throw on a good pair of headphones and pay attention to where the instruments sit from left ear to right, how the guitars, vocals and other sonic textures dip and weave around the song. I have to say, one of the amazing things about Hendrix is that you can go back and hear something new every time you listen to one of his records. I’m listening to Axis as I type this and I’m happy and amazed to say that after a solid 15 years of listening to Hendrix’s records, previously unnoticed sounds and textures are still popping out at me. How many artists can you say that about?!
From what I’ve read, Hendrix and Mitch were great friends and very much enjoyed their musical relationship. Mitch was there for most of it all (of the four official records Hendrix released in his lifetime, he was absent only from Band of Gypsys, an album which captured Hendrix live in NYC on New Years Eve ‘69/’70 with Buddy Miles on drums and Billy Cox on bass) He was there as Hendrix famously smashed and burned his guitar at the Monetery Pop Festival in 1967. Mitch was Hendrix’s drummer at Woodstock and played drums at the guitarist’s final concert at the Isle of Fehmarn in September 1970. His contributions to the drumming world and impact on the development of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s three studio albums cannot be overstated. He will be missed.
