Of all of the fortunate musicians who played with Jimi Hendrix, none were as integral to Jimi's sound as Mitchell. The last surviving member of the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience trio died earlier this week. Mitchell was not only a member of the Experience, but he stayed with Jimi after the Experience disbanded, and was working with Hendrix on exciting new musical directions at the time of Hendrix's death.
Mitchell was a fantastic and complex drummer. Influenced by the great jazz drummers like Max Roach and Elvin Jones, Mitchell brought that complexity to the rock trio format. He was one of the first rock drummers to view the drums as more than just a keeper of beats and rhythms. Mitchell played the drums often as a "lead" instrument, playing off of and complementing Hendrix. Hendrix and Mitchell had a magical communication. Listen to the groovy interplay between Mitchell's drumming and Hendrix's rhythmic guitar playing in classic tunes like "Manic Depression," "Fire" or "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)." It is no exaggeration to say that Mitchell helped to make Hendrix as great as he was.
RIP Mitch Mitchell.
ABOVE: Here's Jimi, Mitch and bassist Noel Redding tearing it up at the Monterey Pop Festival
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