Background information Birth name John Mitchell Born 9 July 1946 (1946-07-09) Ealing, Middlesex, England Died 12 November 2008 (aged 62) Portland, Oregon, USA Genre(s) Rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, jazz, fusion Instrument(s) Drums 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 John "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 1946 – 12 November 2008) was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Biography
Early life Before joining The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitchell gained considerable musical experience touring and playing as a session musician. He also had an acting background, and had starred in a children's television program when he was a teenager.[1] Pre-Experience bands included Johnny Harris and the Shades, The Pretty Things, The Riot Squad, and Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. He had also worked in Jim Marshall's (creator of the Marshall amplifier) music shop in London. Mitchell was praised for his work with The Jimi Hendrix Experience on songs such as "Manic Depression", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "Fire" and "Third Stone from the Sun". Mitchell came from a jazz background and like many of his drummer contemporaries was strongly influenced by the work of Elvin Jones, Max Roach, and Joe Morello.
Mitchell played in Hendrix's Experience trio from October 1966 to mid-1969, in his Woodstock band in August 1969, and also with the later incarnation of the "Jimi Hendrix Experience" in 1970 with Billy Cox on bass, known as the "Cry of Love" band. Jimi Hendrix would often record tracks in the studio with only Mitchell, and in concert the two fed off of each other to exciting effect.
In December 1968, Mitchell played in the band The Dirty Mac assembled for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968. Other members included John Lennon as vocalist and rhythm guitarist "Winston Leg-Thigh"; 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".
Another noteworthy musical collaboration in the late sixties was with the Jack Bruce and Friends band featuring Mitchell along with ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce, keyboardist Mike Mandel and jazz-fusion guitar legend and future The Eleventh House frontman Larry Coryell. Mitch took part in this band during late 1969 and early 1970, during which time Hendrix was working with the Band of Gypsys.
Post-Hendrix After Hendrix's death, Mitchell (along with engineer Eddie Kramer) finished production work on multiple incomplete Hendrix recordings, resulting in posthumous releases such as "The Cry of Love" and "Rainbow Bridge". In 1972, he teamed up with guitarists April Lawton and Mike Pinera (who would later go on to join Iron Butterfly) to form the quite innovative act Ramatam. They recorded one album and were Emerson, Lake & Palmer's opening act at a number of concerts. Interestingly, Mitchell had been offered the drum spot in ELP during 1970, but turned it down in favour of playing with Hendrix. Ramatam never achieved commercial success and Mitchell left the act before their second LP release. Mitchell also performed in some concerts with Terry Reid, Jack Bruce, and Jeff Beck (substituting for drummer Cozy Powell, then sick).
According to Eddie Kramer's book Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight, Michael Jeffery, Hendrix's manager, an innovator in getting Hendrix promoted and established, relegated both Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding to the status of mere paid employees without an ownership share in future revenues. This limited their earnings to a very low rate and led to Mitchell and Redding being largely excluded from sharing in future revenues generated from their work with The Jimi Hendrix Experience. This arrangement pressured Mitchell in the mid-1970s to sell a prized Hendrix guitar. In addition, he sold his small legal claim to future Hendrix record sales for a sum reported to be in the range of $200,000. In 1974, he auditioned for Paul McCartney's band Wings, but was turned down in favour of drummer Geoff Britton.
For the rest of the '70s through to the '90s, Mitchell continued to perform and occasionally record although essentially doing so under the radar of most of his previous fans. He kept reasonably busy doing occasional session work (such as Junior Brown's "Long Walk Back" album) as well as participating in various Hendrix-related recordings, videos, and interviews.
In 1999, Mitchell appeared on the late Bruce Cameron's album Midnight Daydream that included other Hendrix alumni Billy Cox and Buddy Miles along with Jack Bruce, with whom Mitchell had worked after Hendrix's death. Mitchell, seemingly in an attempt to satisfy the most enthusiastic fans of his drum work with Hendrix, even played a series of live shows with the Hendrix emulator Randy Hansen. Most recently, he was part of the Gypsy Sun Experience, along with former Hendrix bassist Billy Cox and guitarist Gary Serkin. He entered semi-retirement living in Europe.
Death His last days were spent celebrating the music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix on the 2008 Experience Hendrix Tour. For nearly four weeks the tour travelled coast to coast in an 18-city tour in the US, finishing in Portland. In addition to Mitchell, the tour featured 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 was found dead at approximately 3 AM 12 November in his room at the Benson Hotel in downtown Portland.
Following medical tests, it was revealed by the Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office that Michell had died in his sleep of natural causes. He was the last surviving member of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience. Mitchell was to leave Portland on Wednesday, November 12, and return to his home in England. The Mitch Mitchell Trust has been established to manage the MMT Drug Rehabilitation Through Music programme based in Bettws, Newport in Wales.
Style Mitchell pioneered a style of drumming which would later become known as fusion. This is a "lead" style of playing distinguished by interplay with lead instruments such as guitar or keyboards, and the melding of jazz and rock drumming styles. Though lead drums was not a new concept in the world of jazz, it was relatively unheard of in the rock genre at the time. Upon joining Hendrix in late 1966, it soon became evident to Mitch that the trio format of the band was very similar to the recently formed Cream, and that it would allow him an opportunity 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 in his playing, and shifted between both traditional and matched grips. Notable examples of his style include the rudiment-heavy fills on "Hey Joe", which help to carry the song through a series of increasingly intense crescendos. "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 all around the drumkit during the outro. "Third Stone from the Sun" incorporates a jazz 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 that help to propel the song to new heights. Alongside Hendrix's revolutionary guitar work and songwriting, Mitchell's playing helped redefine rock music drumming.
Discography 1967: Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced? 1968: Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love 1968: Jimi Hendrix - 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 1973: Ramatam - In April Came the Dawning of the Red Suns 1980: Roger Chapman - Mail Order Magic 1986: Greg Parker - 'Black Dog' 1998: Junior Brown - Long Walk Back 1999: Bruce Cameron - Midnight Daydream
