Mitchell, Mitch

▪ 2009

John Mitchell 

      British rock-and-roll drummer

born July 9, 1947, Ealing, Middlesex, Eng.

died Nov. 12, 2008, Portland, Ore.

was the powerful and innovative drummer of the legendary trio the Jimi Hendrix Experience from 1966, when he was hired to tour with guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Mitchell's drumming underpinned the band's debut single, “Hey Joe” (1966), and his jazz-inflected rhythms complemented Hendrix's virtuoso guitar playing on the group's first album, Are You Experienced? (1967), notably on the tracks “Purple Haze,” “Manic Depression,” and “Third Stone from the Sun.” Mitchell backed Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

* * *