Drummers could be described as the goalkeepers of rock ‘n’ roll: they play a unique role . . . . .
They are the strong bedrock from which the magic arises and are usually placed at the back, unfairly eclipsed by their outfield teammates. To make themselves heard, rock drummers must be thunderous like John Bonham and Keith Moon or unconventionally dynamic like Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell.
While appearing on Amazon’s motoring series The Grand Tour in 2018, Nick Mason and Stewart Copeland discussed their favourite drummers with host Jeremy Clarkson. The pair, who drummed for Pink Floyd and The Police, respectively, agreed on a hierarchy wherein Mitch Mitchell just topped Ginger Baker as their all-time favourite.
“This was Jimi Hendrix’s drummer,” Clarkson clarified. “I think we should explain to those of you who are not as old as we are.” Mitchell had passed away some ten years prior to the interview and may not be as familiar to audience members as Hendrix. “That’s the travesty right there,” Copeland retorted, cutting Clarkson short. “This great towering… this monument of drums, was Jimi Hendrix’s drummer!”
Slightly confused, Clarkson prompted Copland to elaborate. “Well, Jimi was Mitch’s guitarist,” The Police drummer said, observing the drummer’s goalkeeper treatment.
Of course, Jimi Hendrix was very much the figurehead of his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Still, it is quite remarkable that the American guitar virtuoso managed to form a band with the Hendrix of the drumming world. Alongside bassist Noel Redding, Mitchell provided the perfect rhythm for Hendrix to frame his immortal releases, including Are You Experienced and Electric Ladyland.
After failing to break out in the competitive and diluted US scene, Hendrix fell on his feet in a chance encounter with former Animals bassist Chas Chandler. Chandler encouraged Hendrix to travel back to London with him, where he could immerse himself in the fertile British psychedelic rock scene. Hendrix took heed in 1966 and, within weeks, had acquainted Redding and Mitchell.
In a 1998 interview with Nicky Gebhart, Mitchell remembered jamming with Hendrix in an audition session of sorts. The trio, sculpted by Chandler, reminded him of Cream, which featured Eric Clapton on guitar, with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker forming the rhythm section. “I came out with some facetious comment like, ‘So, you want me to try to play like Ginger Baker or something?’ Hendrix just goes, ‘Oh, yeah, whatever you want, man.'”
Mitchell immediately resonated with Hendrix’s famously nonchalant demeanour. “It was like a feeling of freedom,” he reflected. “I don’t know if it’s a spiritual awakening. It was just a situation where I’d gone, ‘Hey, you’ve never worked in a three-piece band in your life, ever, and there is something with this player that is very, very special.'”
Continuing, Mitchell remembered that Chandler and Hendrix had received applications from several other London-based drummers. “London’s not that large a place, and in those days, there weren’t that many drummers about,” he added. “A lot of my peers, colleagues – call them what you will – they’d gone for the job. Aynsley Dunbar and Mickey Waller had gone and knew about this guy, and they wanted the job, basically. That’s what surprised me because I didn’t hear about it.”
During Mitchell’s first audition session, a keyboard player was present in a four-piece set-up; at the second, the Experience power trio gelled for the first time; and in the third, Mitchell received his official offer. “I think I actually asked Chas, the manager, ‘What’s on offer? What’s the deal here?'” Mitchell recalled. “Well, look. We’ve got nothing apart from a chance,” Chandler replied.
At the time, Mitchell was just 19 years old. Chandler offered him just “two weeks’ work” to begin with, and since he was “inspired” by Hendrix’s guitar ability, he said he’d “give it a crack.” At first, the band had to get by on psychedelic rock covers, including the future fan favourite ‘Hey Joe’. “We had no songs when we first started,” Mitchell recalled. However, the band began to scrape a few original tracks together for a debut album.
Within months, The Jimi Hendrix Experience had made a promising start with the singles ‘Hey Joe’, ‘Purple Haze’, and ‘The Wind Cries Mary’. When Are You Experienced arrived in May 1967, the trio proved themselves to be more-than-worthy competitors for Cream’s throne.
✍️ Jordan Potter
📸 Mike Dolbear
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