Background and career
John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 1946 – 12 November 2008) was an English rock and jazz drummer, best known for his contributions in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2016, Mitchell was ranked number 8 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".
Mitchell was born in Ealing, Middlesex, to Phyliss C. (née Preston) and Thomas J. Mitchell on 9 July 1946 (although several modern sources have incorrectly claimed that he was born in 1947). As a 13 year old, he had a leading role in the British film Bottoms Up (1960) with Jimmy Edwards. As a teenager he starred in a children's television programme, Jennings at School and also had a bit part in the 1963 film Live It Up! which starred Heinz Burt, David Hemmings and Steve Marriott. Mitchell became a musician through working at Jim Marshall's drum shop on Saturdays while still at school. Among drummers, his chief influences were Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, and Joe Morello. One of his first bands was the Soul Messengers, formed at the Ealing Club with saxophonist Terry Marshall, son of Jim Marshall. Early in his career, he gained considerable musical experience as a touring and session musician, working with Pete Nelson and the Travellers, Frankie Reid and the Casuals (1962), Johnny Harris and the Shades, the Pretty Things, Bill Knight & the Sceptres, the Riot Squad, and the Who as a session drummer while the band was in the process of replacing Doug Sandom with Keith Moon. In 1965, he also temporarily replaced Viv Prince as drummer in the Pretty Things.
From December 1965 until October 1966, Mitchell was the drummer of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, appearing on their 1966 album Sweet Things. In a 2015 interview, Fame recalled: "His main hero was jazz drummer Ronnie Stephenson and if you look at early film clips of Mitch, he had that Ronnie Stephenson look, the way he set his jaw. And he loved crashing around on the cymbals like Ronnie, but in my band I liked the arrangements pretty tight. When he started splashing around I'd say 'just play the hi-hat!'".
Mitchell auditioned for the Jimi Hendrix Experience on 6 October 1966 and was chosen over Aynsley Dunbar in a coin toss. Mitchell's fast, driving, jazz-influenced playing meshed well with Hendrix's open-ended, revolutionary approach to the electric guitar. He played on the three best-selling Experience studio albums, Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1968), and Electric Ladyland (1968). Mitchell remained with Hendrix after the Experience broke up when Noel Redding quit in June 1969. He performed with Hendrix's expanded lineup at Woodstock (August 1969). Mitchell was replaced briefly with Buddy Miles for the Band of Gypsys album (1970), but rejoined Hendrix (with Billy Cox on bass) for the April–September 1970 the Cry of Love Tour. He played drums for most of the songs included on the posthumously released Hendrix studio albums The Cry of Love (1971) (also listed as a co-producer), Rainbow Bridge (1971), and War Heroes (1972).
Mitchell debuted with the Hendrix Experience playing a Premier drum kit in England and Europe in 1967. When the Experience came to the US for the Monterey Pop Music Festival in June 1967 Mitchell was playing that same set. Later in the summer, Mitchell switched to a Ludwig drum set and stayed with Ludwig through the rest of the year, 1967, and continued with Ludwig in 1968 and 1969. In 1970, Mitchell switched to a double-bass Gretsch Drums set, his last year with the Hendrix Experience. With the exception of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, during which he played a Rogers Powertone snare drum, during his time with the JHE, Mitchell played a Ludwig Supraphonic 400, a 5- by 14-inch metal snare drum. Much later, and until his death in 2008, he played DW drums. On 11 April 1969, Mitchell played with Jimi Hendrix in Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, using George Hayman Drums.
In December 1968, Mitchell played with the Dirty Mac, an impromptu band assembled for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. Others included John Lennon as vocalist and rhythm guitarist "Winston Leg-Thigh"; Yoko Ono providing improvised primal screams; Eric Clapton as guitarist, and Keith Richards as bassist. The group recorded a cover of "Yer Blues" as well as a jam called "Whole Lotta Yoko". While working with Hendrix from late 1969 until early 1970, Mitchell also collaborated with the Jack Bruce and Friends band fronted by ex-Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, with keyboardist Mike Mandel and jazz-fusion guitarist and future the Eleventh House frontman Larry Coryell.
