In Memoriam John "Mitch" Mitchell (1946-2008)

Assorted Drum Solos 1967-1972

All snippets are taken from the lowest generation tapes available
None of these are commercially available.
Some of them have been carefully equalized to feature a better sound of the cymbal playing and snare drum rolls.

WARNING: THERE ARE ONLY DRUM SOLOS IN THIS COLLECTION

Tracks:
01. drum solo (Catfish Blues) - Dans In, Stockholm 1967-09-04 AUD
02. drum solo (Catfish Blues) - Stora Salen, Lund, Sweden 1967-09-10 AUD
03. drum solo (Catfish Blues) - Bussum, Holland 1967-11-10 FM
04. drum solo (Catfish Blues) - Tivoli, Copenhagen, Denmark 1968-01-07 AUD
05. drum solo (Catfish Blues) - Ft. Worth, Texas, USA 1968-02-17 AUD
06. drum solo (Catfish Blues) - Houston, Texas, USA 1968-02-18 AUD
07. drum solo (Tax Free) - Winterland, S.F. USA 1968-10-10 second show SDB
08. drum solo (Tax Free) - Winterland, S.F. USA 1968-10-11 second show SDB
09. drum solo (Sunshine Of Your Love) - Philharmonic Hall, N.Y., USA 1968-11-28 AUD
10. drum solo (Spanish Castle Magic) - Gothenburg, Sweden 1969-01-08 second show AUD
11. drum solo (Spanish Castle Magic) - Vienna, Austria 1969-01-22 first show AUD
12. drum solo (Spanish Castle Magic) - Berlin, Germany 1969-01-23 AUD
13. drum solo (Stone Free) - Royal Albert Hall, London 1969-02-24 SDB
14. drum solo (Spanish Castle Magic) - Toronto, Canada 1969-05-03 AUD
15. drum solo (Fire) - Madison Square Garden, N.Y., USA 1969-05-18 AUD
16. drum solo (Voodoo Chile S.R.) - Newport Pop Festival, USA 1969-06-20 SDB
17. drum solo (Spanish Castle Magic) - Denver Pop Festival. USA 1969-06-29 AUD
18. drum solo (Villanova Junction) - LA Forum, USA 1970-04-25 AUD
19. drum solo (Voodoo Chile S.R.) - Madison, USA 1970-05-02 AUD
20. drum solo (Fire) - Oklahoma, USA 1970-05-08 AUD
21. drum solo (Message of Love) - Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden 1970-09-01 AUD
22. drum solo (Jimi left the stage) - Arhus, Denmark 1970-09-02 AUD
23. drum solo (Spanish Castle Magic) - Kb Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark 1970-09-03 AUD
24. drum solo (with the band RAMATAM) - Academy of Music, N.Y. 1972-10-01 AUD


Mitch was a real pioneer on the drumset, combining hard rock drumming with an Elvin Jones approach.
In the beginning of his career with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch was mostly featured as a soloist during slower blues numbers like Catfish Blues, which is where the first six solos are coming from. These differ in their approach compared to later solos. In these early days, Mitch´s work was very rudimental, less experimental than in later years, but nontheless his tightness as a drummer was at its peek during 1967-1968. When Mitch started to play a double bass drum set regularly in 1969, it added a whole new level of combinations and ideas, while it could also add some sloppyness at times (as heard on the IOW 1970 intro to Sgt. Peppers for example). Mitch now had his solos during long stretched out jams in songs like Are You Experienced, Stone Free or Spanish Castle Magic. A lot of times, Mitch had to jump in and do a drum solo if Jimi broke a string or experienced other difficulties (as in Arhus 1970, where Jimi was too exhausted to continue and left the stage). All of these solos are very interesting if you want to take a look into the background of Mitch Mitchell as a drummer.

RIP Mitch Mitchell

brought to you by olvator 11/2008