Interview With Ex-JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE Drummer Mitch Mitchell Available
October 13, 2008, 16 years ago
Former JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE drummer Mitch Mitchell spoke to Bostonherald.com recently about a number of topics including the Experience Hendrix tour. A few excerpts from the chat follow:
Bostonherald.com: How’d you meet Jimi and how’d you know you wanted to play with him? Better yet, how’d he know he wanted to play with you?
Mitchell: "(Laughs) Well, that’s a question for Jimi. But I was working with a band in the UK, doing mostly r&b; covers. That band got disbanded on a Monday and on Tuesday I got a call from (Hendrix manager) Chas Chandler asking if I’d fancy playing with this guitarist he’d brought over from America. We met in this sleazy little club, and (Jimi) was this guy in a Burberry raincoat. We did some CHUCK BERRY and took it from there. I suppose it worked."
Bostonherald.com: Is there anyone that gives off the same spark as Hendrix?
Mitchell: "No. I’ve got to keep it quite straightforward on that. I’ll never go looking for that, because it doesn’t exist. It’s like trying to compare John Coltrane to Wayne Shorter. You can’t. I’ll never go along with a straight Jimi tribute thing because it doesn’t exist and it never will. People have different interpretations of the songs and that’s good, but it’s not the same. People need to remember Jimi didn’t go up to 11 on the amp all the time, he kept the undertones. People forget that."
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