John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 1946 – 12 November 2008)[1][2] was an English drummer and child actor, best known for his work in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.[3] He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2009.[4] In 2016, Mitchell was ranked number 8 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".[5]
Biography
Early days
Mitchell was born in Ealing, Middlesex,[2] to Phyliss C. (née Preston) and Thomas J. Mitchell [6][7] on 9 July 1946 (although several modern sources have incorrectly claimed that he was born in 1947).[1][2] As a 13 year old, he had a leading role in the British film Bottoms Up (1960) with Jimmy Edwards.[8] As a teenager he starred in a children's television programme, Jennings at School and also had a bit part in the 1963 film Live It Up! which starred Heinz Burt, David Hemmings and Steve Marriott.
Mitchell became a musician through working at Jim Marshall's drum shop on Saturdays while still at school. Among drummers, his chief influences were Elvin Jones and Tony Williams.[9] One of his first bands was the Soul Messengers, formed in November 1963 at the Ealing Club with tenor saxophonist Terry Marshall (born 15 March 1944), son of Jim Marshall.[10] Mitchell left this band in c. July 1964.
From December 1965 until October 1966, Mitchell was the drummer of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, appearing on their 1966 album Sweet Things. In a 2015 interview, Fame recalled: "His main hero was jazz drummer Ronnie Stephenson and if you look at early film clips of Mitch, he had that Ronnie Stephenson look, the way he set his jaw. And he loved crashing around on the cymbals like Ronnie, but in my band I liked the arrangements pretty tight. When he started splashing around I'd say 'just play the hi-hat!'".[12]
Mitchell remained with Hendrix after the Experience broke up when Noel Redding quit in June 1969. He performed with Hendrix's expanded lineup at Woodstock (August 1969). Mitchell was replaced briefly with Buddy Miles for the Band of Gypsys album (1970), but rejoined Hendrix (with Billy Cox on bass) for the April–September 1970 the Cry of Love Tour.[13] He played drums for most of the songs included on the posthumously-released Hendrix studio albums The Cry of Love (1971) (also listed as a co-producer), Rainbow Bridge (1971), and War Heroes (1972).
Drum sets
Mitchell debuted with the Hendrix Experience playing a Premier drum kit in England and Europe in 1967. When the Experience came to the US for the Monterey Pop Music Festival in June 1967 Mitchell was playing that same set. Later in the summer, Mitchell switched to a Ludwig drum set and stayed with Ludwig through the rest of the year, 1967, and continued with Ludwig in 1968 and 1969.[14] In 1970, Mitchell switched to a double-bass Gretsch Drums set, his last year with the Hendrix Experience. With the exception of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, during which he played a Rodgers Powertone snare drum, during his time with the JHE, Mitch played a Ludwig Supraphonic 400, a 5- by 14-inch metal snare drum. Much later, and until his untimely passing, he played DW drums.
On April 11, 1969, Mitchell played with Jimi in Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, NC, using George Hayman Drums.
After Hendrix' death, Mitchell finished production work with engineer Eddie Kramer on incomplete Hendrix recordings, resulting in the releases The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge.[15] In 1972, he teamed up with guitarists Mike Pinera and April Lawton to form Ramatam. They recorded the first of Ramatam's two albums and were an opening act for Emerson, Lake & Palmer at a number of concerts.[16] Mitchell and Hendrix had been offered spots in the band Keith Emerson and Greg Lake were forming, but Carl Palmer got the drum position instead. Ramatam never achieved commercial success, and Mitchell left the act before their second album was released. He also performed in concerts with Terry Reid, Jack Bruce, and Jeff Beck as a substitute for drummer Cozy Powell.[17] Mitchell drummed alongside John Halsey in the 1970s jam band Hinkley's Heroes, the only time he played alongside another drummer.[18] In 1974, he auditioned for Paul McCartney's band Wings but lost the part to Geoff Britton in another coin toss.[19]
For the rest of the 1970s through to the 1990s, Mitchell, semi-retired and living in Europe, continued to perform and occasionally record. In 1986, Mitchell teamed up with jazz musician Greg Parker and made a music video session of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog". He did session work on Junior Brown's Long Walk Back[20] and participated in various Hendrix-related recordings, videos, and interviews. In 1999, Mitchell was part of the Gypsy Sun Experience, along with former Hendrix bassist Billy Cox and guitarist Gary Serkin.[21] He also appeared on Bruce Cameron's album Midnight Daydream that included Billy Cox, Buddy Miles and Jack Bruce.[22]
Five days after the tour ended, Mitchell died in his sleep on 12 November, in his room at the Benson Hotel in Portland of natural causes.[25] Mitchell had been in ill health for many years due to an immune system disorder and cancer. Mitchell had suffered bouts of extreme fatigue in 2007 and 2008, but he had recovered from them after a few days' rest. By the end of the 2008 show, however, Mitchell was playing only two or three songs and always with a backup drummer alongside. At his last concert in Portland, Oregon, Mitchell looked so weak that his drum technician and tour manager asked him to sit out the entire show. The drum tech filled in for him on the drums on this, the last show of the tour, and the last show of his life. Afterwards, he asked to rest up for a few days due to exhaustion. From Seattle, he had planned to return to his home in England. The tour manager respected Mitchell's request but had outspoken reservations about its wisdom.
Legacy
Queen drummer Roger Taylor has described Mitchell as his early role model. He said: "I still think listening to Mitch Mitchell, especially the early stuff with Hendrix, is just fantastic".[26]Matt Sorum, drummer with the Cult, Guns N' Roses, and Velvet Revolver, has praised his "pure musicianship" and called him "one of the greatest drummers of all time".[25]
In an interview with the Police drummer Stewart Copeland in the late 2000s, Copeland listed the Jimi Hendrix Experience debut album Are You Experienced as his favourite drum album of all time, and relates that as a child in school, he would walk around with drum beats in his head and wonder how Mitch Mitchell would carve out a rhythm were he to play that song.[27]
In 2016, Mitchell was named the eighth-greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.[28]
^ abIn his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell, Mitch; Platt, John (1990). Jimi Hendrix: Inside the Experience. New York City: St. Martin's Press. pp. 68, 173. ISBN978-0-312-10098-8.
