Another one bites the dust, in this case
the last one. John "Mitch" Mitchell was the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix
Experience lineup of the 1960s. He was found, well his earthly remains were
found in his hotel room in Portland Oregon in the wee hours on Wednesday. He was 61.
Mitchell came from a Jazz background and
his unmistakable style and energy were revealed to the world along with the
rest of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in their 1967 debut album Are You
Experienced. He’s very easy to recognize on songs like Manic Depression,
Voodoo Child, Fire and Third Stone from the Sun. He also played with
the later version of the band when he, Hendrix and Redding performed
the closing set at the 1969 legendary Woodstock Festival. He was there playing
with Hendrix on his psychedelic rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner,
right before they dived right into Purple Haze.
Mitchell was drumming with the 2008
Experience Hendrix tour, which celebrated the music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix
in front of 50,000 fans in 18 cities across the country. The tour traveled coast-to-coast
for nearly 4 weeks, and was in Portland on Friday for the last leg of the West Coast tour. He was found
dead at 3 a.m. in his hotel room. Multnomah County Medical Examiner Erin Patrick
says he died of natural causes. An autopsy is planned.
Mitchell is the last of the band to die
after Hendrix himself in 1970 and bassist Noel Redding in 2003.
Janie Hendrix, who is Jimi’s step-sister
and the chief executive for the Experience Hendrix Tour, said of Mitchell that “he
was a wonderful man, a brilliant musician and a true friend,” and that “his
role in shaping the sound of the Jimi Hendrix Experience cannot be underestimated.
Mitchell’s “jazz-tinged” style was one of a
kind, although his drumming was influenced by Max Roach and Elvin Jones. His
work was quintessential to the Jimi Hendrix Experience back in the day, and the
Experience Hendrix tour that ended last week. According to blues-rock guitarist
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who was part of the tour, Mitchell was to the drums what
Hendrix was to the guitar.
Mitchell in his long career played with the
best musicians around. Hendrix, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Keith Richards, Jack
Bruce, Jeff Beck, Muddy Waters and many more.
Terry Stewart, chief executive of the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame Museum said Mitchell (who along with the rest of the Experience
was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992) had transformed the drums from “a
strictly percussive element to a lead instrument.”
Many talented drummers have been influenced
by Mitchell’s style, including Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam, and Black
Sabbath’s own Bill Ward.
Mitch won’t be returning to his home in England where
he was born in 1947, but now he’s in a better place. And sometimes, at night,
if you look at the sky through the purple haze and listen closely, you can hear
Mitch and Jimi jam. EB out.
