Mitch Mitchell-1947-2008

We lost the greatest drummer rock and roll has ever seen when Mitch Mitchell died in his sleep of natural causes earlier this month. Mitchell isn't the household name that other drummers like John Bonham or Keith Moon were, but he has long been my favorite drummer. For those that don't know the name, John "Mitch" Mitchell was the drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, pioneering a sort of jazz-infused rock drumming on all of Hendrix's studio recordings, and can especially be heard on classics songs like "Foxy Lady" "Up From the Skies" and "Manic Depression". He and Hendrix would often record songs with just the two of them in the studio because they fed off of each others energy so much. Mitch was known for his frantic energy, but nimbly precise drumming. Just listening to the controlled chaos that is his playing on "Fire" gives me goosebumps. Sadly, he was the last surviving member of the group, as Hendrix died in 1970 and bassist Noel Redding passed away in 2003. Mitch had largely stayed out of the spotlight in recent years, but had just finished playing a Hendrix tribute tour before he died.