Mitch Mitchell dead at 61

[Displaced Flames fan]

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_111208_news_mitchell_drummer_hendrix_dies.1a6f 9664d.html

Too many musicians die alone.

[Daradon]

Comes with the lifestyle I'm sure.

You get to be a god to millions, but have a hard time making a special relationship with one (and the family that might come with).

There's also always the artist=tortured soul dynamic that can play into it.

[dobbles]

thats too bad. i always loved mitch's drumming. he was one of the early influences on my playing.

[RougeUnderoos]

Hendrix died in 1970, Redding died in 2003. Mitchell was with the group from 1966-69.


This is sad and all, but I'll bet he had a hell of a ride in those three years.

[troutman]

I was close to taking him in the music draft:

http://drummerworld.com/drummers/Mitch_Mitchell.html

http://drummerworld.com/pics/drum34/mitchmitchell.jpg

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.