Thursday, November 13, 2008

Mitch Mitchell (1947-2008)

Drummer John “Mitch” Mitchell, who had been Jimi Hendrix’s closest musical collaborator, died yesterday in Oregon.

As the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitchell had just traveled the United States with the Experience Hendrix tribute tour... a series of concerts featuring Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

The Times of London obituary for Mitch Mitchell is here.

In Mitch’s honor, I’m streaming “Manic Depression” on my Vox blog. It’s probably the best example of Mitchell’s explosive and intricate drumming. Click here to listen.

Then click here for a 2½-minute interview of Mitchell by music journalist Steven Rosen. It’s available on a 2007 CD called “Jimi Speaks.”

(The photograph above is by Andrew Maclear.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

one of my goofy friends said, "i thought he died a long time ago." in the words of charlie brown...good grief.

Eye D. VS Mel O. said...

dude played the hell outta "manic depression"... rip

Anonymous said...

...what a bummer.

Jackie said...

The last of the Hendrix Experience. Sad.

Anonymous said...

I never could understand why The Experience broke up. The members complimented each other perfectly. Jimi's recordings after the breakup just didn't measure up.