Mitch Mitchell Dies at 62; Drummer for Jimi Hendrix

Mitch Mitchell, the jazzy and versatile British drummer in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, died on Wednesday in a hotel in Portland, Ore. He was 62 and had recently finished a national tribute tour, Experience Hendrix.

The cause was unknown, said Bob Merlis, publicist for the tour.

Mr. Mitchell was one of two Englishmen in the Experience, the group that catapulted Hendrix to fame in the late 1960s. Along with the bassist Noel Redding, who died in 2003, Mr. Mitchell was recruited in a rush in the fall of 1966, after the journeyman Hendrix had been discovered in a New York club and whisked to London by Chas Chandler of the Animals.

Hendrix’s guitar pyrotechnics caused an immediate sensation among the British rock elite — the audience at one early gig included John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Brian Jones — and a backup band was needed for a last-minute French tour. Mr. Redding was hired first, followed a few days later by Mr. Mitchell, who was barely out of his teens but already an established session player with the Pretty Things and Georgie Fame.

Mr. Mitchell did not expect much from the job. “I’ll give it a crack,” he later remembered telling Mr. Chandler, who became one of Hendrix’s managers. “I’ll have a go for two weeks.”

But led by Hendrix’s explosive and rhapsodic style, the group revolutionized rock music and became an archetypal power trio. Its style was built around Hendrix’s improvisations, with Mr. Redding’s steady bass lines acting as an anchor and Mr. Mitchell — who was influenced by jazz players like Elvin Jones — playing a lighter, looser counterpoint to the guitar.

The group also developed a signature look that embodied the dandyish flamboyance of the British psychedelic era. The members sought out bell-bottoms and vintage clothes in British shops and teased out their hair. “For Noel, the curly Afro came naturally,” wrote Charles R. Cross in his 2005 Hendrix biography, “Room Full of Mirrors.” “Mitch had to get a permanent to achieve the same result.”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience released three albums: “Are You Experienced” (1967), “Axis: Bold as Love” (1967) and “Electric Ladyland” (1968). Mr. Mitchell continued to play with Hendrix until his death in 1970, and later played in the band Ramatam.

Born John Mitchell in London, he worked as a child actor, appearing in the BBC television show “Jennings at School.”

Survivors include his mother; wife, Dee; a daughter; and two grandchildren.

After Hendrix died Mr. Mitchell worked with the producer Eddie Kramer in completing the albums “The Cry of Love” and “Rainbow Bridge,” and he long worked with Experience Hendrix, the company founded by Hendrix’s father, in promulgating the Hendrix legend.

Are you Experienced?

I have been, and am, listening to Jimi Hendrix. I've long loved Hendrix: in the 1960s he, Joplin, the Doors, John Lennon, among others, were my music. When Jimi and Janis died I began to drift away from rock; I didn't know who Bruce Springsteen was, at first, when my good friend Lou mentioned "The Boss" to me. By then I was into Beethoven, Tchaikovskii and Stravinsky, and was getting into jazz (Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young).

Over the years I listened to rock now and then. I liked Living Colour when my sons were growing up (mid 1980s, I'd guess); Cult of Personality was, I think, their biggest, certainly a big, hit. There were others I liked, but not much. Living Color reminded me of Hendrix; Jimi was the standard, the (in modern terminology) metric. Stevie Ray Vaughn I dug a lot. Eric Clapton I always liked. George Harrison put out albums over the years, and I liked him. Once Lennon was gone, taken, my exile, or separation, from rock and roll was certain.

Yet the memories remained, and from time to time I'd listen to my old Hendrix albums: Band of Gypsies and Live in the West are the two I still have. Recently I returned to listen; the progression is a bit blurry, because I did not make note of it happening, I just took CDs from HWPL and listened.

It began with SRV. Stevie Ray Vaughn: I remember when he was killed in the accident; I was into Clapton at that time. I also remember being into SRV (I'd see him on Austin City Limits), and was hurt deeply by his passing. SRV reminded me a lot of Hendrix; in fact, SRV idolized Jimi, and played his music a lot.

I came back to SRV from the biography of John Hammond that I read, The producer : John Hammond and the soul of American music . Hammond recorded Bessie Smith, Lady Day, Prez, Basie, Dylan, Springsteen and SRV.

From SRV I moved to Hendrix, to Marley, and, now, deeply into Jimi. So, there it be.

Yet it is more than just listening to music, I think. There is very little 1960s music I can tolerate; when I hear WFUV playing, I cringe, keep myself from retching, and move on. Only some of the music is tolerable, and that which is, is more than tolerable: it is fun, enjoyable, pleasurable.

This past weekend, as I drove upstate, a thought flashed in my brain: I am here, riding in my station-wagon, 55, listening to Hendrix on a CD. It seemed, well, cool, neat (no, I won't say ... cringe ... groovy).