Death of a great sideman...
In case you missed the news, Mitch Mitchell, drummer and last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience died Wednesday night in his hotel room in Oregon, he was 61. No OD, or other self inflicted lifestyle cause, his heart just gave out.
I always thought Mitch overplayed a lot on those first three Hendrix releases getting in the way of all that guitar mastery, but as I got older I was able to listen beyond Jimi's enormous presence, I discovered the awesomeness of this power trio. 12 bar blues isn't a drummer featured style of music, but it was The Experience's 'Red House' performance that proved how wrong I was about Mitch's playing more so than say, "Fire'.
Sadly, it wasn't just the Hendrix family that got screwed after Jimi died back in 1970, both Mitch and Noel Redding were left with nothing and both had to work hard to keep their head above water.
RIP Mitch Mitchell.
I think I'll go home tonight, grab a glass of wine. and spin my vinyl copy of Axis: Bold as Love.
posted by Tony Alva @ 11:06 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I always liked his playing and Jimi was definitely more harmonically ambitious than most with the blues. There's a lot of jazz concepts in his playing, particularly later. Amazing to think that his generation of rockers is really starting to disappear fast.
(BTW, it's 12-bar blues. Barre is for chords on the guitar where you lay your finger across multiple strings, although I usually only see that spelling in classical scores these days.)
Yep, he was another of that 60's jazz crossover group from the Alexis Korner school like Charlie Watts. Guys who were bored with the jazz scene and knew the rock and roll chicks were way better.
Yeah, he was great and all, but he always look a little off with the levelest drum set in the history of rock?
Well at least the band can finally have a reunion.
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