1909 Bukka White*
1944 Booker T. Jones*
1959 Lester Butler*
1997 Rainer Ptacek+
2008 John „Mitch“ Mitchell+
2011 Doyle Bramhall+
2014 Little Joe Washington+
1944 Booker T. Jones*
1959 Lester Butler*
1997 Rainer Ptacek+
2008 John „Mitch“ Mitchell+
2011 Doyle Bramhall+
2014 Little Joe Washington+
Happy Birthday
Lester Butler *12.11.1959
Lester Butler (* 12. November 1959; † 10. Mai 1998 in Columbus, Ohio) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesharmonika-Spieler aus Los Angeles. Bekannt wurde er als Sänger und Harpspieler der Band The Red Devils.
The Red Devils spielten als Band für Mick Jagger und Johnny Cash, aber auch für den Schauspieler Bruce Willis, wenn er Ausflüge ins Musikgeschäft unternahm. Nach der Auflösung der Red Devils wurde er Frontmann der Band "13 featuring Lester Butler", mit der er eine CD für Hightone aufnahm.
1998 starb Butler an einer Überdosis.
Lester Butler (November 12, 1959 – May 9, 1998)[1] was an American blues harmonica player and singer. He achieved fame as the singer and harmonica player for the Los Angeles, California, based blues roots band, The Red Devils
Biography
Butler was born in Virginia.[2]
The Red Devils (originally known as The Blue Shadows) released one album, 1992's King King. It was produced by Rick Rubin on his Def American record label. The group featured drummer Bill Bateman (The Blasters), Dave Lee Bartel on guitar, Paul Size on lead guitar, Johnny Ray Bartel on bass, and pianist Gene Taylor. The Red Devils recorded 22 tracks with Mick Jagger in June 1992, produced by Rubin, though the tracks were not issued at the time (they have since cropped up on various bootlegs, and one track was officially released on a Mick Jagger compilation on Rhino Records in 2007). The band also backed actor and sometime musician Bruce Willis, when the action star performed at his Planet Hollywood clubs. The Devils also backed Johnny Cash on music that was not released until the country singer's death, on the boxed set Unearthed. Butler also played on Rancid's 1998 album Life Won't Wait.
After the breakup of The Red Devils, Butler also fronted the band, 13, releasing one self-titled record on Hightone Records in 1997. The original members of 13 included Kid Ramos on guitar, James Intveld on bass, and Johnny Morgan on drums. The recorded release of 13 on Hightone Records and produced by Warren Croyle features Stephen Hodges and Johnny Morgan on drums, Tom Leavey and James Moore on bass, Andy Kaulkin on keyboards, Alex Schultz, Smokey Hormel, Paul Bryant, and Doug Hamlin on guitar. Butler achieved his greatest fame in Europe, especially the Netherlands, where the Lester Butler Tribute Band still performs.
Butler died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine on May 9, 1998, in Los Angeles at the age of 38. Two of his friends were convicted in his death of involuntary manslaughter.
Biography
Butler was born in Virginia.[2]
The Red Devils (originally known as The Blue Shadows) released one album, 1992's King King. It was produced by Rick Rubin on his Def American record label. The group featured drummer Bill Bateman (The Blasters), Dave Lee Bartel on guitar, Paul Size on lead guitar, Johnny Ray Bartel on bass, and pianist Gene Taylor. The Red Devils recorded 22 tracks with Mick Jagger in June 1992, produced by Rubin, though the tracks were not issued at the time (they have since cropped up on various bootlegs, and one track was officially released on a Mick Jagger compilation on Rhino Records in 2007). The band also backed actor and sometime musician Bruce Willis, when the action star performed at his Planet Hollywood clubs. The Devils also backed Johnny Cash on music that was not released until the country singer's death, on the boxed set Unearthed. Butler also played on Rancid's 1998 album Life Won't Wait.
After the breakup of The Red Devils, Butler also fronted the band, 13, releasing one self-titled record on Hightone Records in 1997. The original members of 13 included Kid Ramos on guitar, James Intveld on bass, and Johnny Morgan on drums. The recorded release of 13 on Hightone Records and produced by Warren Croyle features Stephen Hodges and Johnny Morgan on drums, Tom Leavey and James Moore on bass, Andy Kaulkin on keyboards, Alex Schultz, Smokey Hormel, Paul Bryant, and Doug Hamlin on guitar. Butler achieved his greatest fame in Europe, especially the Netherlands, where the Lester Butler Tribute Band still performs.
Butler died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine on May 9, 1998, in Los Angeles at the age of 38. Two of his friends were convicted in his death of involuntary manslaughter.
Bukka White *12.11.1909
Booker T. Washington „Bukka“ White, (* 12. November 1906 in Aberdeen, Mississippi; † 26. Februar 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee), war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesmusiker.
Die in älterer Literatur und auf Tonträgern meist angegebene Schreibweise Bukka, die keinen Spitznamen darstellt, sondern auf die Intonation seines Vornamens in seiner Heimat zurückgeht, wurde von ihm nicht gewünscht und wird daher in moderner Fachliteratur nicht mehr verwendet.
Über das Jahr und den Ort seiner Geburt gibt es unterschiedliche Aussagen: so werden als Geburtsdatum der 12. November 1902, 1906 oder 1909 genannt. Der Geburtsort wird mit Houston, Chikasaw oder Aberdeen im Bundesstaat Mississippi angegeben. Neben Charley Patton, Son House und Robert Johnson gehört er zu den bekanntesten Musikern des Delta Blues. Ein Song von Bukka White aus dem Jahr 1930 gilt als Namensgeber für die Panama Limited Jug Band.
Booker T. Washington White wurde als Sohn musikalischer Eltern geboren. Sein Vater war ein Multiinstrumentalist, der Mandoline, Piano, Schlagzeug und Saxophon spielte. Seine Mutter hatte ebenfalls großen Einfluss auf die Musikalität ihres Sohnes. Sie war die Tochter eines Predigers, und das Singen von Kirchenliedern gehörte im Haushalt der Whites zum musikalischen Standardrepertoire.
Mit neun Jahren bekam Bukka seine erste Gitarre, eine „Stella“ geschenkt. Sein Vater brachte ihm auf der Gitarre die ersten Griffe bei. Bukka White lernte, indem er die Lieder, die er hörte, auf der Gitarre nachspielte. Eine oft erzählte Geschichte sagt, dass Bukka diese Gitarre seinem kleinen Vetter Riley Ben King (aka B. B. King) schenkte. Später ist Bukka auf Bilddokumenten fast ausschließlich mit National Steel Guitars zu sehen, die er offen stimmte und mit einem Bottleneck spielte.
Am 26. Mai 1930 machte White für das Label Victor in Memphis seine ersten Schallplattenaufnahmen, die noch unter seinem bürgerlichen Namen Washington White veröffentlicht wurden. Bis dahin hatte er seine musikalischen Erfahrungen in Juke Joints und kleinen Clubs in St. Louis gesammelt. Die Aufnahmen waren damals kommerziell nicht sehr erfolgreich. In den Jahren der Wirtschaftsdepression wanderte White bis Chicago, wo er seinen Lebensunterhalt unter anderem als Boxer verdiente. In Chicago hatte er Kontakt mit Memphis Minnie, Tampa Red und Big Bill Broonzy.
In den Jahren 1937 und 1940 wurde Bukka White für das seinerzeit zu Columbia Records gehörende Schallplattenlabel Vocalion unter Vertrag genommen. Diese Aufnahmen, die auf den Labels Vocalion und (nachdem Columbia 1940 die Rechte an Vocalion verloren hatte) Okeh veröffentlicht wurden, gehören heute zu den Klassikern: Aberdeen Mississippi Blues, Fixin' to Die, Sic'em Dogs on Me, Bukkas Jitterburg Swing oder Parchman Farm.
Einen großen Teil der vierziger Jahre verbrachte White nach einem Tötungsdelikt im Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. Im Titel Parchman Farm erzählt Bukka White von dieser Haftzeit. Dort traf ihn im Jahr 1937 auch der Volkskundler Alan Lomax an. Alan Lomax nahm in dem Straflager die Lieder der einsitzenden Gefangenen für die Library of Congress auf, Bukka White gehörte dazu. Nach seiner Entlassung aus dem Straflager nahm ihn Vocalion, begleitet von Washboard Sam, noch einmal im März 1940 auf, aber Bukka White musste feststellen, dass er seinen Lebensunterhalt damit nicht verdienen konnte, da der Country Blues mittlerweile aus der Mode gekommen war. So nahm er den Beruf eines Altwarenhändlers auf.
Durch die Wiederaufnahme des Titels Fixin' to Die von Bob Dylan auf dessen Debütalbum 1962, kam der Folkmusiker John Fahey - zusammen mit seinem Freund ED Denson - auf die Idee, den Aufenthaltsort von Bukka White zu ermitteln, er war inzwischen nach Memphis umgezogen. Die Nachforschungen hatten Erfolg, er traf einen 53-jährigen Mann an, dem es immer noch Spaß machte, den Delta Blues zu spielen.
Die Begegnung mit Fahey wurde der erneute Start zu einer musikalischen Karriere. Tourneen führten Bukka White sowohl quer durch die USA, als auch im Rahmen des American Folk Blues Festival in den Jahren 1967, 1970 und 1972 nach Europa. Dieser Erfolg ermöglichte ihm neue Aufnahmen bei Takoma Records und Sonet.
White starb 1977 in Memphis an Krebs. 1990 wurde er postum in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White (November 12, 1909 – February 26, 1977)[1] was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. "Bukka" is a phonetic spelling of White's first name, though he preferred "Booker."
Biography
Born south of Houston, Mississippi,[2] White was a first cousin of B.B. King's mother (White's mother and King's grandmother were sisters).[3] White himself is remembered as a player of National resonator guitars. He also played, but was less adept at, the piano.
White started his career playing the fiddle at square dances. He claims to have met Charlie Patton early on, although some doubt has been cast upon this;[4] regardless, Patton was a large influence on White. White typically played slide guitar, in an open tuning. He was one of the few, along with Skip James, to use a crossnote tuning in E minor, which he may have learned, as James did, from Henry Stuckey.
He first recorded for Victor Records in 1930.[5] His recordings for Victor, like those of many other bluesmen, fluctuated between country blues and gospel numbers. Victor published his photograph in 1930. His gospel songs were done in the style of Blind Willie Johnson, with a female singer accentuating the last phrase of each line.[6]
Nine years later, while serving time for assault, he recorded for folklorist John Lomax. The few songs he recorded around this time became his most well-known: "Shake 'Em On Down," and "Po' Boy."
Bob Dylan covered his song "Fixin' to Die Blues", which aided a "rediscovery" of White in 1963 by guitarist John Fahey and Ed Denson, which propelled him onto the folk revival scene of the 1960s. White had recorded the song simply because his other songs had not particularly impressed the Victor record producer. It was a studio composition of which White had thought little until it re-emerged thirty years later.[7]
White was at one time managed by experienced blues manager Arne Brogger. Fahey and Denson found White easily enough: Fahey wrote a letter to "Bukka White (Old Blues Singer), c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Mississippi." Fahey had assumed, given White's song, "Aberdeen, Mississippi", that White still lived there, or nearby. The postcard was forwarded to Memphis, Tennessee, where White worked in a tank factory. Fahey and Denson soon traveled to meet White, and White and Fahey remained friends through the remainder of White's life.[8] He recorded a new album for Denson and Fahey's Takoma Records, whilst Denson became his manager.
White was, later in life, also friends with fellow musician Furry Lewis. The two recorded, mostly in Lewis' Memphis apartment, an album together, Furry Lewis, Bukka White & Friends: Party! At Home.
One of his most famous songs, "Parchman Farm Blues", about the Mississippi State Penitentiary (also known as Parchman Farm) in Sunflower County, Mississippi, was released on Harry Smith's fourth volume of the Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 4. His 1937 version of the oft-recorded song,[9] "Shake 'Em On Down," is considered definitive, and became a hit while White was serving time in Parchman.[10]
White died in February 1977 from cancer, at the age of 67, in Memphis, Tennessee.[1][11][12] In 1990 he was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (along with Blind Blake and Lonnie Johnson). On November 21, 2011, The Recording Academy announced that "Fixin' to Die Blues" was to be added to its 2012 list of Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients.[13]
Legacy
The Led Zeppelin song "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", on the band's 1970 album Led Zeppelin III was based in large part on White's "Shake 'Em on Down."[14] "Custard Pie", a song on Led Zeppelin's 1975 album Physical Graffiti, also references "Shake 'Em on Down."[14]
The 1963 recordings of White's song "Shake 'em on Down" and spoken-word piece "Remembrance of Charlie Patton" were both sampled by electronic artist Recoil (mostly a one-man effort by Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode) for the track "Electro Blues For Bukka White" on the 1992 album Bloodline. The song was reworked and re-released on the 2000 EP Jezebel.
In 1995, White's "Aberdeen, Mississippi" was covered as "Aberdeen" by guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd on his debut album Ledbetter Heights. It reached number 23 on the Billboard (North America) Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1996.[15]
On January 26, 2010, Eric Bibb released Booker's Guitar (TEL 31756 02) through Telarc International Corporation after becoming inspired by the hidden stories Bibb felt through holding White's famous guitar.
White's song "Parchman Farm Blues" was recorded by Jeff Buckley, and was released posthumously on the bonus disc of Buckley's album Grace: Legacy Edition.
Biography
Born south of Houston, Mississippi,[2] White was a first cousin of B.B. King's mother (White's mother and King's grandmother were sisters).[3] White himself is remembered as a player of National resonator guitars. He also played, but was less adept at, the piano.
White started his career playing the fiddle at square dances. He claims to have met Charlie Patton early on, although some doubt has been cast upon this;[4] regardless, Patton was a large influence on White. White typically played slide guitar, in an open tuning. He was one of the few, along with Skip James, to use a crossnote tuning in E minor, which he may have learned, as James did, from Henry Stuckey.
He first recorded for Victor Records in 1930.[5] His recordings for Victor, like those of many other bluesmen, fluctuated between country blues and gospel numbers. Victor published his photograph in 1930. His gospel songs were done in the style of Blind Willie Johnson, with a female singer accentuating the last phrase of each line.[6]
Nine years later, while serving time for assault, he recorded for folklorist John Lomax. The few songs he recorded around this time became his most well-known: "Shake 'Em On Down," and "Po' Boy."
Bob Dylan covered his song "Fixin' to Die Blues", which aided a "rediscovery" of White in 1963 by guitarist John Fahey and Ed Denson, which propelled him onto the folk revival scene of the 1960s. White had recorded the song simply because his other songs had not particularly impressed the Victor record producer. It was a studio composition of which White had thought little until it re-emerged thirty years later.[7]
White was at one time managed by experienced blues manager Arne Brogger. Fahey and Denson found White easily enough: Fahey wrote a letter to "Bukka White (Old Blues Singer), c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Mississippi." Fahey had assumed, given White's song, "Aberdeen, Mississippi", that White still lived there, or nearby. The postcard was forwarded to Memphis, Tennessee, where White worked in a tank factory. Fahey and Denson soon traveled to meet White, and White and Fahey remained friends through the remainder of White's life.[8] He recorded a new album for Denson and Fahey's Takoma Records, whilst Denson became his manager.
White was, later in life, also friends with fellow musician Furry Lewis. The two recorded, mostly in Lewis' Memphis apartment, an album together, Furry Lewis, Bukka White & Friends: Party! At Home.
One of his most famous songs, "Parchman Farm Blues", about the Mississippi State Penitentiary (also known as Parchman Farm) in Sunflower County, Mississippi, was released on Harry Smith's fourth volume of the Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 4. His 1937 version of the oft-recorded song,[9] "Shake 'Em On Down," is considered definitive, and became a hit while White was serving time in Parchman.[10]
White died in February 1977 from cancer, at the age of 67, in Memphis, Tennessee.[1][11][12] In 1990 he was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (along with Blind Blake and Lonnie Johnson). On November 21, 2011, The Recording Academy announced that "Fixin' to Die Blues" was to be added to its 2012 list of Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients.[13]
Legacy
The Led Zeppelin song "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", on the band's 1970 album Led Zeppelin III was based in large part on White's "Shake 'Em on Down."[14] "Custard Pie", a song on Led Zeppelin's 1975 album Physical Graffiti, also references "Shake 'Em on Down."[14]
The 1963 recordings of White's song "Shake 'em on Down" and spoken-word piece "Remembrance of Charlie Patton" were both sampled by electronic artist Recoil (mostly a one-man effort by Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode) for the track "Electro Blues For Bukka White" on the 1992 album Bloodline. The song was reworked and re-released on the 2000 EP Jezebel.
In 1995, White's "Aberdeen, Mississippi" was covered as "Aberdeen" by guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd on his debut album Ledbetter Heights. It reached number 23 on the Billboard (North America) Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1996.[15]
On January 26, 2010, Eric Bibb released Booker's Guitar (TEL 31756 02) through Telarc International Corporation after becoming inspired by the hidden stories Bibb felt through holding White's famous guitar.
White's song "Parchman Farm Blues" was recorded by Jeff Buckley, and was released posthumously on the bonus disc of Buckley's album Grace: Legacy Edition.
Booker White - Aberdeen Mississippi Blues HIFI
Booker T. Jones (* 12. November 1944 in Memphis, Tennessee) ist ein US-amerikanischer Songwriter, Produzent und Multi-Instrumentalist. Er ist bekannt geworden als Frontmann der Band Booker T. & the M.G.’s.
Jones spielte als Kind Oboe, Saxophon, Posaune und Piano in der Schule. Mit sechzehn Jahren spielte er für Satellite Records Bariton-Saxophon. Während der Zeit bei Satellite Records (später Stax) lernte er Steve Cropper kennen, welcher ein Bandmitglied der Booker T. & the M.G.´s wurde, als sie sich 1962 formierten. Während der Highschoolzeit schrieb er den Hit Green Onions.
In den nachfolgenden Jahren schrieb er mit Eddie Floyd den Song I’ve Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do), Otis Redding's I Love You More Than Words Can Say und mit William Bell für Albert King Born Under a Bad Sign.
1970 zog Jones nach Kalifornien und beendete die Zusammenarbeit mit Stax aufgrund einer Streitigkeit über die Behandlung der Band als Mitarbeiter und nicht als Musiker. 1971 erschien das letzte Booker-T.-&-the-M.G.´s-Album Melting Pot in Zusammenarbeit mit Stax.
Jones produzierte drei Alben mit seiner damaligen Frau unter dem Namen Booker T. & Priscilla, und hatte auch 1981 Erfolg als Solokünstler mit dem Song I Want You. Außerdem produzierte er Bill Withers' Debütalbum Just As I Am und Willie Nelsons Album Stardust.
Booker T. Jones spielte mit Ray Charles, Neil Young und Natalie Merchant. Außerdem spielt er immer noch mit den Booker T. & the M.G.´s und mit seiner eigenen Booker T. Jones Band.
Jones wurde 1992 in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen und erhielt mit der M.G. am 11. Februar 2007 einen Grammy Award für das Lebenswerk.
2009 erschien sein Soloalbum Potato Hole, das ihn erstmals ohne die M.G. in die US-Charts brachte. Er gewann damit auch einen Solo-Grammy in der Kategorie Bestes Instrumentalalbum – Pop.
2009 arbeitete Jones auch mit der US-amerikanischen Punk-Rock-Band Rancid zusammen, wo er in dem Lied Up to No Good die Hammond-B3-Orgel spielt.
Jones spielte als Kind Oboe, Saxophon, Posaune und Piano in der Schule. Mit sechzehn Jahren spielte er für Satellite Records Bariton-Saxophon. Während der Zeit bei Satellite Records (später Stax) lernte er Steve Cropper kennen, welcher ein Bandmitglied der Booker T. & the M.G.´s wurde, als sie sich 1962 formierten. Während der Highschoolzeit schrieb er den Hit Green Onions.
In den nachfolgenden Jahren schrieb er mit Eddie Floyd den Song I’ve Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do), Otis Redding's I Love You More Than Words Can Say und mit William Bell für Albert King Born Under a Bad Sign.
1970 zog Jones nach Kalifornien und beendete die Zusammenarbeit mit Stax aufgrund einer Streitigkeit über die Behandlung der Band als Mitarbeiter und nicht als Musiker. 1971 erschien das letzte Booker-T.-&-the-M.G.´s-Album Melting Pot in Zusammenarbeit mit Stax.
Jones produzierte drei Alben mit seiner damaligen Frau unter dem Namen Booker T. & Priscilla, und hatte auch 1981 Erfolg als Solokünstler mit dem Song I Want You. Außerdem produzierte er Bill Withers' Debütalbum Just As I Am und Willie Nelsons Album Stardust.
Booker T. Jones spielte mit Ray Charles, Neil Young und Natalie Merchant. Außerdem spielt er immer noch mit den Booker T. & the M.G.´s und mit seiner eigenen Booker T. Jones Band.
Jones wurde 1992 in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen und erhielt mit der M.G. am 11. Februar 2007 einen Grammy Award für das Lebenswerk.
2009 erschien sein Soloalbum Potato Hole, das ihn erstmals ohne die M.G. in die US-Charts brachte. Er gewann damit auch einen Solo-Grammy in der Kategorie Bestes Instrumentalalbum – Pop.
2009 arbeitete Jones auch mit der US-amerikanischen Punk-Rock-Band Rancid zusammen, wo er in dem Lied Up to No Good die Hammond-B3-Orgel spielt.
Booker T. Jones (born November 12, 1944) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.[1]
Early life and career
Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 12, 1944. He was named in honor of his father, Booker T. Jones, Sr., who was named in honor of Booker T. Washington, the educator. Booker T. Jones, Sr. was a science teacher at the school, providing the family with a relatively stable, lower-middle-class milieu.[2]
Jones was a prodigy, playing the oboe, saxophone, trombone, bass, and piano at school and organ at church. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, the alma mater of Rufus Thomas and shared the hallowed halls with future stars like Isaac Hayes's writing partner David Porter; saxophonist Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns; soul singer/songwriter William Bell and Earth, Wind, & Fire's Maurice White.
Jones's first entry into professional music came at age sixteen, when he played baritone saxophone on Satellite (soon to be Stax) Records' first hit, "Cause I Love You," by Rufus Thomas, and Carla Thomas. Willie Mitchell had also hired him for his band where he started on sax and moved to bass later. It was here that he met Al Jackson, Jr., who he brought to Stax.[3] Simultaneously, he formed a combo with Maurice White, and David Porter, where Jones played guitar.[2]
While hanging around the Satellite Record Shop run by Estelle Axton, co-owner of Satellite Records with her brother Jim Stewart, Jones met record clerk Steve Cropper, who would become one of the MGs when the group formed in 1962. Besides Jones on organ and Cropper on guitar, Booker T. and the MGs featured Lewie Steinberg on bass guitar and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums (Donald "Duck" Dunn eventually replacing Steinberg). While still in high school, Jones co-wrote the group's classic instrumental "Green Onions," which was a massive hit in 1962.
Bob Altshuler wrote the sleeve notes on the first Booker T. & the M.G.'s album Green Onions released by Stax Records in 1962:
[His] musical talents became apparent at a very early age. By the time he entered high school, Booker was already a semi-professional, and quickly recognized as the most talented musician in his school. He was appointed director of the school band for four years, and in addition, organized the school dance orchestra which played for proms throughout the Mid-South. In the classroom, he concentrated on the studies of music theory and harmony. ... Booker's multiple activities earned him a coveted honour, that of being listed in the students' "Who's Who of American High Schools." Booker's first instrument was the string bass, but he soon switched to the organ. Booker came to the attention of record executive Jim Stewart in Memphis, and while still in high school he worked as a staff musician for Stax Records, appearing as sideman on many recording dates for that label. It became obvious that one day Booker would be ready to record under his own name and several months later Booker's first recording session was set.
Over the next few years, Jones divided his time between studying classical music composition, composing and transposition at Indiana University, playing with the MGs on the weekends back in Memphis,[4] serving as a session musician with other Stax acts, and writing songs that became widely regarded as classics. He wrote, with Eddie Floyd, "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)," Otis Redding's "I Love You More Than Words Can Say," and, with William Bell, bluesman Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" (later popularized by the cover version recorded by the British power trio Cream).
In 1970, Jones moved to California and stopped playing sessions for Stax, after becoming frustrated with Stax's treatment of the MGs as employees rather than musicians. Even though Jones was given the title of Vice President at Stax before leaving, as he put it, "There were titles given (to us) but we didn't actually make the decisions."[5] While still under contract to Stax, he appeared on Stephen Stills's eponymous album (1970). The 1971 album, Melting Pot would be the last Booker T. & the MGs album issued on Stax.
Jones was married to Priscilla Coolidge in 1969, sister of singer Rita Coolidge. Jones produced Priscilla's 1st album "Gypsy Queen" in 1970, then the pair collaborated as a duo on 3 albums; 1971's “Booker T. & Priscilla”, 1972's “Home Grown”, and 1973's “Chronicles”, and Jones produced Priscilla's final solo album, "Flying" in 1979 right as their marriage ended that year.[6]
Making the charts as a solo artist in 1981 with "I Want You," he produced an album by Rita Coolidge, plus Bill Withers's debut album Just As I Am (on which he also played several instruments), and Willie Nelson's album Stardust. Jones has also added his trademark keyboard playing to artists ranging in genre from the R&B/pop/blues of Ray Charles to the folk rock/country rock of Neil Young.
On June 18, 1985 Booker married Nanine Warhurst. They have three children together, Olivia, Cicely, and Teddy. All total they have a family of eight children, including Booker T. III, Lonnie, Matthew, Brian, and Michael.
On March 1, 1995 Booker T. & the MG's won their first Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song "Cruisin'." Jones still plays with Booker T. & the MGs and his own small combo called the Booker T. Jones Band. His current touring group includes Vernon "Ice" Black (guitar), Darian Gray (drums), and Melvin Brannon (bass).
Jones was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and was honored with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement on February 11, 2007.[7]
In 2007, Jones was also inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.
In 2009 he released a new solo album, Potato Hole, recorded with the Drive By Truckers,[8] and featuring Neil Young. He performed at the Bonnaroo Festival with Drive By Truckers on June 6, 2009, with a set including most tracks from Potato Hole as well as some "Truckers" tracks. On January 31, 2010, Potato Hole won the Best Instrumental Album award at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
He is featured on the new Rancid album, Let The Dominoes Fall, playing a Hammond B-3 organ on the track "Up To No Good."
Jones also played his B-3 on the track "If It Wasn't For Bad" from the Elton John and Leon Russell collaboration album titled The Union. The track was nominated at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
In 2011, Jones released The Road from Memphis. The backing band included Questlove (drums), "Captain" Kirk Douglas (guitar) and Owen Biddle (bass) from The Roots as well as former Motown guitarist Dennis Coffey and percussionist Stewart Killen. The album features vocals by Yim Yames, Matt Berninger, Lou Reed, Sharon Jones and Booker T. himself, as well as lyrics contributed by his daughter/manager Liv Jones.
On February 12, 2012 The Road from Memphis won at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Jones holds a total of 4 Grammy Awards.
Jones received an honorary doctorate degree from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music at its 2012 undergraduate commencement exercises on Saturday, May 5, 2012. Jones originally attended Indiana University in the 1960s, even after his smash-hit Stax Records recordings.
Jones was featured on organ for singer Kelly Hogan on Hogan's 2013 release on Anti- records, "I Like to Keep Myself in Pain."
In June 2013, Jones released his 10th album, Sound The Alarm, on Stax Records after originally leaving the label more than forty years previously in 1971. It features guest artists Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq, Jay James, Mayer Hawthorne, Estelle, Vintage Trouble, Luke James, and Booker's son Ted Jones.
Early life and career
Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 12, 1944. He was named in honor of his father, Booker T. Jones, Sr., who was named in honor of Booker T. Washington, the educator. Booker T. Jones, Sr. was a science teacher at the school, providing the family with a relatively stable, lower-middle-class milieu.[2]
Jones was a prodigy, playing the oboe, saxophone, trombone, bass, and piano at school and organ at church. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, the alma mater of Rufus Thomas and shared the hallowed halls with future stars like Isaac Hayes's writing partner David Porter; saxophonist Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns; soul singer/songwriter William Bell and Earth, Wind, & Fire's Maurice White.
Jones's first entry into professional music came at age sixteen, when he played baritone saxophone on Satellite (soon to be Stax) Records' first hit, "Cause I Love You," by Rufus Thomas, and Carla Thomas. Willie Mitchell had also hired him for his band where he started on sax and moved to bass later. It was here that he met Al Jackson, Jr., who he brought to Stax.[3] Simultaneously, he formed a combo with Maurice White, and David Porter, where Jones played guitar.[2]
While hanging around the Satellite Record Shop run by Estelle Axton, co-owner of Satellite Records with her brother Jim Stewart, Jones met record clerk Steve Cropper, who would become one of the MGs when the group formed in 1962. Besides Jones on organ and Cropper on guitar, Booker T. and the MGs featured Lewie Steinberg on bass guitar and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums (Donald "Duck" Dunn eventually replacing Steinberg). While still in high school, Jones co-wrote the group's classic instrumental "Green Onions," which was a massive hit in 1962.
Bob Altshuler wrote the sleeve notes on the first Booker T. & the M.G.'s album Green Onions released by Stax Records in 1962:
[His] musical talents became apparent at a very early age. By the time he entered high school, Booker was already a semi-professional, and quickly recognized as the most talented musician in his school. He was appointed director of the school band for four years, and in addition, organized the school dance orchestra which played for proms throughout the Mid-South. In the classroom, he concentrated on the studies of music theory and harmony. ... Booker's multiple activities earned him a coveted honour, that of being listed in the students' "Who's Who of American High Schools." Booker's first instrument was the string bass, but he soon switched to the organ. Booker came to the attention of record executive Jim Stewart in Memphis, and while still in high school he worked as a staff musician for Stax Records, appearing as sideman on many recording dates for that label. It became obvious that one day Booker would be ready to record under his own name and several months later Booker's first recording session was set.
Over the next few years, Jones divided his time between studying classical music composition, composing and transposition at Indiana University, playing with the MGs on the weekends back in Memphis,[4] serving as a session musician with other Stax acts, and writing songs that became widely regarded as classics. He wrote, with Eddie Floyd, "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)," Otis Redding's "I Love You More Than Words Can Say," and, with William Bell, bluesman Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" (later popularized by the cover version recorded by the British power trio Cream).
In 1970, Jones moved to California and stopped playing sessions for Stax, after becoming frustrated with Stax's treatment of the MGs as employees rather than musicians. Even though Jones was given the title of Vice President at Stax before leaving, as he put it, "There were titles given (to us) but we didn't actually make the decisions."[5] While still under contract to Stax, he appeared on Stephen Stills's eponymous album (1970). The 1971 album, Melting Pot would be the last Booker T. & the MGs album issued on Stax.
Jones was married to Priscilla Coolidge in 1969, sister of singer Rita Coolidge. Jones produced Priscilla's 1st album "Gypsy Queen" in 1970, then the pair collaborated as a duo on 3 albums; 1971's “Booker T. & Priscilla”, 1972's “Home Grown”, and 1973's “Chronicles”, and Jones produced Priscilla's final solo album, "Flying" in 1979 right as their marriage ended that year.[6]
Making the charts as a solo artist in 1981 with "I Want You," he produced an album by Rita Coolidge, plus Bill Withers's debut album Just As I Am (on which he also played several instruments), and Willie Nelson's album Stardust. Jones has also added his trademark keyboard playing to artists ranging in genre from the R&B/pop/blues of Ray Charles to the folk rock/country rock of Neil Young.
On June 18, 1985 Booker married Nanine Warhurst. They have three children together, Olivia, Cicely, and Teddy. All total they have a family of eight children, including Booker T. III, Lonnie, Matthew, Brian, and Michael.
On March 1, 1995 Booker T. & the MG's won their first Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song "Cruisin'." Jones still plays with Booker T. & the MGs and his own small combo called the Booker T. Jones Band. His current touring group includes Vernon "Ice" Black (guitar), Darian Gray (drums), and Melvin Brannon (bass).
Jones was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and was honored with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement on February 11, 2007.[7]
In 2007, Jones was also inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.
In 2009 he released a new solo album, Potato Hole, recorded with the Drive By Truckers,[8] and featuring Neil Young. He performed at the Bonnaroo Festival with Drive By Truckers on June 6, 2009, with a set including most tracks from Potato Hole as well as some "Truckers" tracks. On January 31, 2010, Potato Hole won the Best Instrumental Album award at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
He is featured on the new Rancid album, Let The Dominoes Fall, playing a Hammond B-3 organ on the track "Up To No Good."
Jones also played his B-3 on the track "If It Wasn't For Bad" from the Elton John and Leon Russell collaboration album titled The Union. The track was nominated at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
In 2011, Jones released The Road from Memphis. The backing band included Questlove (drums), "Captain" Kirk Douglas (guitar) and Owen Biddle (bass) from The Roots as well as former Motown guitarist Dennis Coffey and percussionist Stewart Killen. The album features vocals by Yim Yames, Matt Berninger, Lou Reed, Sharon Jones and Booker T. himself, as well as lyrics contributed by his daughter/manager Liv Jones.
On February 12, 2012 The Road from Memphis won at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Jones holds a total of 4 Grammy Awards.
Jones received an honorary doctorate degree from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music at its 2012 undergraduate commencement exercises on Saturday, May 5, 2012. Jones originally attended Indiana University in the 1960s, even after his smash-hit Stax Records recordings.
Jones was featured on organ for singer Kelly Hogan on Hogan's 2013 release on Anti- records, "I Like to Keep Myself in Pain."
In June 2013, Jones released his 10th album, Sound The Alarm, on Stax Records after originally leaving the label more than forty years previously in 1971. It features guest artists Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq, Jay James, Mayer Hawthorne, Estelle, Vintage Trouble, Luke James, and Booker's son Ted Jones.
R.I.P.
Little Joe Washington +12.11.2014
*1939
Little Joe Washington is a legend,
sort of, in the Houston blues scene. He is a painfully thin, short of stature man who practically hums with a frenetic energy. His eyes are as equally as wild as the twisted gray braids shooting out from under his soft-sided hat like Medusa's serpents and a maniacal gray beard that covers his face. And depending on whom you talk to he is a genius, legend, addict, clown or a pest. The truth is that Joe is probably a little bit of each of those. But when Little Joe Washington takes to the bandstand, he is a blues man and a damn good one. He doesn’t necessarily have a solid, regular backing band but he usually hits the stage with a bass player and a drummer. He grabs his guitar, clambers onto a stool, thrusts is face to the microphone and greets the small but nervously excited crowd with a ‘Hey y’all’ and a diatribe that is almost incomprehensible but infectious. He’s having a good time so you know you are about to as well. And then he launches into some of the grittiest blues since the hey day of Chicago’s Hound Dog Taylor.
There is precious little information about Little Joe Washington save for a few articles in the local Houston papers. But what we do know is that he was born in 1939 in Houston’s Third Ward, which, according to the local blues historians, is the hub of Houston’s blues scene. His mother Erline was a beautician who also sang in the church choir. He never knew his father. He was raised by an Aunt and Uncle who ran a soul food café and a barbershop in a house that was right across the street from the childhood home of blues legend Albert Collins and just a stones throw from the home of another huge name in the Houston blues scene; Joe Hughes.
Washington began playing the trumpet in school but it was the drums that were his first love. After dropping out of high school in the 9th grade, Joe (who was born Marion Washington) began hanging out at Shady’s Playhouse, a rough and tumble club in the neighborhood. His first gig was playing the drums for his neighbor Albert Collins at Shady’s. At about this time, Joe Hughes, who was already becoming a celebrated local guitarist, began dating Washington’s cousin. It didn’t take long for Joe to figure out that setting up and taking the drums down after a gig didn’t leave him much time to chase the ladies so he decided to take up the guitar like Hughes.
Washington spent a lot of time with Hughes. As Hughes later recalled “I had just started making a name for myself and he (Washington) was always smaller, so we just started calling him Little Joe. And it stuck”.
While they were all still teenagers, they spent a lot of time ‘cutting heads’, trying to out do each other with their guitars. But Washington’s style was always a little different. He would incorporate different styles into his playing, working little riffs and jams into his act so that he always seemed a little more eccentric than his fellow guitarists.
In the early 60’s, Joe took off for El Paso, Texas where he worked as a blues guitarist for hire, playing with a lot of acts that would come through town. He would often cross the border to Juarez, Mexico where he would play as well. He and fellow musician Long John Hunter were so wild; they would hang off of the rafters during their acts.
It was during his time in the border towns that Little Joe was began to live a life too hard for most anyone blues musicians included. Life in a border town is filled with a variety of temptations and Joe succumbed to most of them but it was alcohol that became his life long demon. In the few interviews that I have managed to find with Little Joe, there is very little written about those years. But he did say in an article for the Houston Press that “I’ve got some blue-eyed babies in El Paso, but I never once said ‘I do’.”
From there he migrated west ending up in Los Angeles for several years. During his time there, he played with a veritable who’s-who of musical lore; everyone from Big Mama Thornton, the Ink Spots to the Platters. But the time in LA was long and difficult. Eventually Joe reached out to his old friend Hughes, who by that time was living in Missouri with his wife, Joe’s cousin, Willie Mae, for money to return home to Houston. When he got there, he returned to the house he grew up in and found it boarded up and abandoned, the roof sagging in. But Joe moved in using candles for heat and light.
For cash, Joe would start playing some gigs at the local joints. But rather than hooking up with a band, Joe would go into places, talk to the house band and finagle his way into playing a 15-20 minute set, some times using their gear, and then passing the hat for tips before hitting the road to the next club. He managed to exist this way for several years.
The abandoned home he was holed up in burned down in 1997. Once the lot was cleared by the city, Joe rolled an abandoned compact car onto the lot and began living out of it.
Little Joe still plays in and around the Third Ward. Some of his musician friends will take him home when the weather gets too cold for him to be outdoors. Others though have grown tired of his act. They consider him a clown and worse. Some of the younger bands see Joe taking paying gigs from them or siphoning tips that they think belong to them. Where you stand on that particular issue depends on your perspective.
But those thoughts all get put aside when Joe starts to play. For about 30 minutes, we sat and watched a man of the streets play blues, real raw blues, with a reckless abandon that cuts deep. At times he would change the tune mid-stream much to the chagrin of his bass player and drummer. He would stop in the middle of a screaming riff to address the audience with a hoot and holler. He played the guitar with his groin, with his feet, behind his back and with his few remaining teeth. To say the least, it was a show. A gut busting, bluesy good time.
When Joe ends his set, he leaps from the stage, yanks the hat from his head and approaches each table for his ‘tip’. He grins from ear to ear as he shakes the hat in front of you and it’s too difficult not to dip into your pocket and drop several bills in and thank him for the show. He mumbles something akin to ‘You’re welcome’ and moves on down the line.
If you’ve ever in Houston and have the chance to catch Little Joe at the Continental, go. You’ll get to see something rare. Blues at it’s most primordial being played by a man who always plays to entertain.
sort of, in the Houston blues scene. He is a painfully thin, short of stature man who practically hums with a frenetic energy. His eyes are as equally as wild as the twisted gray braids shooting out from under his soft-sided hat like Medusa's serpents and a maniacal gray beard that covers his face. And depending on whom you talk to he is a genius, legend, addict, clown or a pest. The truth is that Joe is probably a little bit of each of those. But when Little Joe Washington takes to the bandstand, he is a blues man and a damn good one. He doesn’t necessarily have a solid, regular backing band but he usually hits the stage with a bass player and a drummer. He grabs his guitar, clambers onto a stool, thrusts is face to the microphone and greets the small but nervously excited crowd with a ‘Hey y’all’ and a diatribe that is almost incomprehensible but infectious. He’s having a good time so you know you are about to as well. And then he launches into some of the grittiest blues since the hey day of Chicago’s Hound Dog Taylor.
There is precious little information about Little Joe Washington save for a few articles in the local Houston papers. But what we do know is that he was born in 1939 in Houston’s Third Ward, which, according to the local blues historians, is the hub of Houston’s blues scene. His mother Erline was a beautician who also sang in the church choir. He never knew his father. He was raised by an Aunt and Uncle who ran a soul food café and a barbershop in a house that was right across the street from the childhood home of blues legend Albert Collins and just a stones throw from the home of another huge name in the Houston blues scene; Joe Hughes.
Washington began playing the trumpet in school but it was the drums that were his first love. After dropping out of high school in the 9th grade, Joe (who was born Marion Washington) began hanging out at Shady’s Playhouse, a rough and tumble club in the neighborhood. His first gig was playing the drums for his neighbor Albert Collins at Shady’s. At about this time, Joe Hughes, who was already becoming a celebrated local guitarist, began dating Washington’s cousin. It didn’t take long for Joe to figure out that setting up and taking the drums down after a gig didn’t leave him much time to chase the ladies so he decided to take up the guitar like Hughes.
Washington spent a lot of time with Hughes. As Hughes later recalled “I had just started making a name for myself and he (Washington) was always smaller, so we just started calling him Little Joe. And it stuck”.
While they were all still teenagers, they spent a lot of time ‘cutting heads’, trying to out do each other with their guitars. But Washington’s style was always a little different. He would incorporate different styles into his playing, working little riffs and jams into his act so that he always seemed a little more eccentric than his fellow guitarists.
In the early 60’s, Joe took off for El Paso, Texas where he worked as a blues guitarist for hire, playing with a lot of acts that would come through town. He would often cross the border to Juarez, Mexico where he would play as well. He and fellow musician Long John Hunter were so wild; they would hang off of the rafters during their acts.
It was during his time in the border towns that Little Joe was began to live a life too hard for most anyone blues musicians included. Life in a border town is filled with a variety of temptations and Joe succumbed to most of them but it was alcohol that became his life long demon. In the few interviews that I have managed to find with Little Joe, there is very little written about those years. But he did say in an article for the Houston Press that “I’ve got some blue-eyed babies in El Paso, but I never once said ‘I do’.”
From there he migrated west ending up in Los Angeles for several years. During his time there, he played with a veritable who’s-who of musical lore; everyone from Big Mama Thornton, the Ink Spots to the Platters. But the time in LA was long and difficult. Eventually Joe reached out to his old friend Hughes, who by that time was living in Missouri with his wife, Joe’s cousin, Willie Mae, for money to return home to Houston. When he got there, he returned to the house he grew up in and found it boarded up and abandoned, the roof sagging in. But Joe moved in using candles for heat and light.
For cash, Joe would start playing some gigs at the local joints. But rather than hooking up with a band, Joe would go into places, talk to the house band and finagle his way into playing a 15-20 minute set, some times using their gear, and then passing the hat for tips before hitting the road to the next club. He managed to exist this way for several years.
The abandoned home he was holed up in burned down in 1997. Once the lot was cleared by the city, Joe rolled an abandoned compact car onto the lot and began living out of it.
Little Joe still plays in and around the Third Ward. Some of his musician friends will take him home when the weather gets too cold for him to be outdoors. Others though have grown tired of his act. They consider him a clown and worse. Some of the younger bands see Joe taking paying gigs from them or siphoning tips that they think belong to them. Where you stand on that particular issue depends on your perspective.
But those thoughts all get put aside when Joe starts to play. For about 30 minutes, we sat and watched a man of the streets play blues, real raw blues, with a reckless abandon that cuts deep. At times he would change the tune mid-stream much to the chagrin of his bass player and drummer. He would stop in the middle of a screaming riff to address the audience with a hoot and holler. He played the guitar with his groin, with his feet, behind his back and with his few remaining teeth. To say the least, it was a show. A gut busting, bluesy good time.
When Joe ends his set, he leaps from the stage, yanks the hat from his head and approaches each table for his ‘tip’. He grins from ear to ear as he shakes the hat in front of you and it’s too difficult not to dip into your pocket and drop several bills in and thank him for the show. He mumbles something akin to ‘You’re welcome’ and moves on down the line.
If you’ve ever in Houston and have the chance to catch Little Joe at the Continental, go. You’ll get to see something rare. Blues at it’s most primordial being played by a man who always plays to entertain.
Little Joe Washington~Jammi'n at the Wang Guang Reclabs 02
Doyle Bramhall (February 17, 1949 – November 12, 2011) was an American singer-songwriter and drummer with deep roots in the Austin, Texas music scene.
Career
Bramhall joined The Chessmen with Jimmie Vaughan while in high school. The group opened for Jimi Hendrix when he played Dallas. In 1969, he moved to Austin and formed Texas Storm with Jimmie Vaughan. In the 1970s, Bramhall formed The Nightcrawlers with Marc Benno, which also included Jimmie Vaughan's younger brother Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar. While in The Nightcrawlers, Bramhall co-wrote the tune "Dirty Pool," which appeared on Stevie Ray Vaughan's debut album, Texas Flood. He would write or co-write several other songs for the younger Vaughan, such as "Life By The Drop" from SRV's The Sky Is Crying album, and he played the drums on the Vaughan Brothers only album, Family Style.[1]
Bramhall released his debut solo record in 1994, which included appearances from the Vaughans and his own son. He also collaborated with Jennifer Warnes in the 1990s.[1]
He was the father of singer and guitarist Doyle Bramhall II.
Death
On November 12, 2011, Bramhall died of heart failure while asleep at his home in Alpine, Texas. He was 62. It was reported that Bramhall had been suffering from pneumonia in the days immediately preceding his death.
Career
Bramhall joined The Chessmen with Jimmie Vaughan while in high school. The group opened for Jimi Hendrix when he played Dallas. In 1969, he moved to Austin and formed Texas Storm with Jimmie Vaughan. In the 1970s, Bramhall formed The Nightcrawlers with Marc Benno, which also included Jimmie Vaughan's younger brother Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar. While in The Nightcrawlers, Bramhall co-wrote the tune "Dirty Pool," which appeared on Stevie Ray Vaughan's debut album, Texas Flood. He would write or co-write several other songs for the younger Vaughan, such as "Life By The Drop" from SRV's The Sky Is Crying album, and he played the drums on the Vaughan Brothers only album, Family Style.[1]
Bramhall released his debut solo record in 1994, which included appearances from the Vaughans and his own son. He also collaborated with Jennifer Warnes in the 1990s.[1]
He was the father of singer and guitarist Doyle Bramhall II.
Death
On November 12, 2011, Bramhall died of heart failure while asleep at his home in Alpine, Texas. He was 62. It was reported that Bramhall had been suffering from pneumonia in the days immediately preceding his death.
Doyle Bramhall - Life By The Drop
Rainer Ptacek +12.11.1997
Es müssen nicht immer junge, drogenabhängige Musiker sein, die für tragische Momente in der Musikgeschichte sorgen (Club 27 bspw.), sondern auch andere widrige Umstände können zum Tode führen, wenngleich das im Falle von Rainer Ptacek wohl im Gegensatz zu allen 'Helden' auf nicht allzu viel Widerhall stieß.
Der im Juni 1951 in Ostberlin geborene Musiker, der mit seinen Eltern fünf Jahre später nach Chicago auswanderte, verließ diese Welt am 12. November 1997 infolge eines wieder aufgeflackerten Hirntumors, der erstmalig im Februar 1996 diagnostiziert wurde. Monate zuvor verhieß eine erfolgreiche Therapie eine gute Prognose. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Heilungschance wurden dann auch diese Aufnahmen im Juli und August 1997 in Tucson/Arizona eingespielt und gewinnen, angesichts des einige Monate später eingetretenen Todes, eine besondere Tragik. Dieser nahende Tod schwingt für mich als Zuhörer immer mit und kann in eine sehr traurige Stimmung versetzen. Wenn dann der Titel "Di Lantin" angestimmt wird, ist das schon fast zum Tränen vergießen, echt!
Die Zeit in Chicago hinterließ bei Rainer sicher einige Blues-Spuren, zumal seinerzeit in den Fünfzigern reichlich Zugriff auf Stars bestand. Doch vielmehr war der Umzug nach Tucson in den frühen Siebzigern bestimmend für das, was sich musikalisch entwickelte. Dafür stehen auch solche mit dem Musiker eng verknüpfte Namen wie Giant Sand, Howie Gelb oder Calexico.
Der im Juni 1951 in Ostberlin geborene Musiker, der mit seinen Eltern fünf Jahre später nach Chicago auswanderte, verließ diese Welt am 12. November 1997 infolge eines wieder aufgeflackerten Hirntumors, der erstmalig im Februar 1996 diagnostiziert wurde. Monate zuvor verhieß eine erfolgreiche Therapie eine gute Prognose. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Heilungschance wurden dann auch diese Aufnahmen im Juli und August 1997 in Tucson/Arizona eingespielt und gewinnen, angesichts des einige Monate später eingetretenen Todes, eine besondere Tragik. Dieser nahende Tod schwingt für mich als Zuhörer immer mit und kann in eine sehr traurige Stimmung versetzen. Wenn dann der Titel "Di Lantin" angestimmt wird, ist das schon fast zum Tränen vergießen, echt!
Die Zeit in Chicago hinterließ bei Rainer sicher einige Blues-Spuren, zumal seinerzeit in den Fünfzigern reichlich Zugriff auf Stars bestand. Doch vielmehr war der Umzug nach Tucson in den frühen Siebzigern bestimmend für das, was sich musikalisch entwickelte. Dafür stehen auch solche mit dem Musiker eng verknüpfte Namen wie Giant Sand, Howie Gelb oder Calexico.
Rainer
Ptacek (a.k.a. Rainer) (June 7, 1951 – November 12, 1997) was a Tucson,
Arizona-based American guitarist and singer-songwriter. His guitar
technique, which incorporated slide, finger-picking, tape loops and
electronic manipulation, earned him admiration of some notable musicians
such as Robert Plant and Billy Gibbons. A tribute album to Ptacek, The
Inner Flame, included contributions by Plant, Jimmy Page, PJ Harvey,
Emmylou Harris and others, and was indicative of his reputation as a
"musician's musician". He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in early 1996
and died nearly two years later after the illness recurred.
Early life and career
Ptacek
was born in East Berlin to a family of Czech and German descent. His
family fled East Germany for the United States when he was five years
old. They eventually settled in Chicago, where young Ptacek was first
exposed to blues music. He moved to Tucson in the early 1970s, where he
began his own musical career, most often solo, but sometimes he plugged
in and led a trio as Rainer & Das Combo. He co-founded Giant
Sandworms with Howe Gelb in the late 1970s. When the band decided to
move to New York, he opted to stay in Tucson to make sure that he would
not disrupt his then-new family. Although he never became well known in
the United States, he became more and more recognized in Europe. Billy
Gibbons was so impressed with the singer-guitarist that he arranged to
have Kurt Loder review Ptacek's "Mush Mind Blues" single in Rolling
Stone. Ptacek later returned to Houston at the invitation from Billy
Gibbons to complete the recordings at Gibbons' Gold Star Sound Services
studio which saw release as "The Texas Tapes" meeting international
attention and approval.[1] Robert Plant, similarly impressed, flew
Ptacek to England for the sessions for B-sides to supplement the singles
from Fate of Nations.[2]
Illness
He was diagnosed with a
brain tumor and lymphoma in February 1996. He did not have medical
insurance and his bills were mounting. Howe Gelb and Robert Plant
organized sessions for a charity album. The resulting record, The Inner
Flame: Rainer Ptacek Tribute, featured Ptacek-penned songs performed by
Gelb (with Giant Sand), Plant, Jimmy Page, Emmylou Harris, Evan Dando,
Victoria Williams, Vic Chesnutt, PJ Harvey, The Drovers, Madeleine
Peyroux, Kris McKay, Jonathan Richman and Bill Janovitz. Ptacek is a
participant on most of the tracks.
Intense chemotherapy sessions
put his tumor into remission and Ptacek resumed his concert activity
vigorously, beginning with a guest performance at Greg Brown's show in
November 1996. By this time, media attention was more focused on him
than ever before. Just when it seemed as though he had beaten his
disease, it recurred in October 1997, and he died three weeks later at
age 46.
Rainer - "When You've Got A Good Friend"
John „Mitch“ Mitchell +12.11.2008
John „Mitch“ Mitchell (* 9. Juli 1947 in London; † 12. November 2008 in Portland, Oregon[1]), war ein britischer Jazz- und Rock-Schlagzeuger, der zunächst als Kinderschauspieler und später als Schlagzeuger von Jimi Hendrix in die Öffentlichkeit trat. Er war das letzte noch lebende Bandmitglied der Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Leben
Mitchell lernte sein Instrument bei Jim Marshall (dessen Verstärkersystem den Rock-Sound der 1960er Jahre entscheidend prägte), als er neben der Schauspielerei in dessen Musikinstrumentenladen mitarbeitete. Mitchells musikalisches Vorbild war der US-amerikanische Jazz-Drummer Elvin Jones. Wie dieser war Mitchell in hohem Maße ein Autodidakt. Ein zusätzlicher Hinweis auf seine rhythmische Begabung besteht darin, dass er vorzüglich stepptanzen konnte – eine Fähigkeit, die er auch mit anderen großen Schlagzeugern wie Buddy Rich und Steve Gadd teilte. Er spielte bevorzugt auf Drums der renommierten britischen Marke Premier.
Vor seiner Zeit mit der Jimi Hendrix Experience spielte er unter anderem mit Georgie Fame bei Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames und auch nach der Auflösung dieser Gruppe in Fames Soloprojekt. Als Chas Chandler – ehemaliger Bassist der Rockband The Animals – im September 1966 Jimi Hendrix unter Vertrag nahm und in London Musiker für die geplante Jimi-Hendrix-Group suchte, wurde ein umfangreiches Drummer-Casting durchgeführt. Dabei hinterließ Mitchell im Vergleich zu allen anderen Mitbewerbern den besten Eindruck und setzte sich am Ende auch gegen den zur damaligen Zeit bereits renommierten Schlagzeuger Aynsley Dunbar durch. Mit der Absolvierung dieses Ausleseverfahrens war seine Aufnahme in die Jimi Hendrix Experience vollzogen.
Auch nach Auflösung der Jimi Hendrix Experience spielte Mitchell weiterhin mit Jimi Hendrix, zum Beispiel beim Woodstock-Festival 1969. Von April bis September 1970 spielte er in einer Neuauflage der Jimi Hendrix Experience (Cry-of-Love-Band) mit Jimi Hendrix und Billy Cox am Bass auf deren letzter US- und Europatournee.
Als versierter Jazz-Schlagzeuger verfügte Mitchell über ein großes schlagtechnisches Repertoire sowie über ein ausgeprägtes musikalisches Einfühlungs- und rhythmisches Antizipationsvermögen. Auf Grund dieser exzeptionellen Fähigkeiten gelang es Mitchell problemlos, auf Hendrix – gerade live – stark improvisatorisch gehaltene Musik in kongenial-kreativer Weise einzugehen. Einerseits vermochte er dessen komplexe Gitarren-Soli virtuos mit einer diffizilen Polyrhythmik zu unterlegen, andererseits war er in der Lage, in den „Lücken“ zwischen Hendrix' Gitarren-Soli bruchlos seine schnellen, energetischen Drum-Soli einzuflechten.
Drei Paradebeispiele für Mitchells variantenreiche, äußerst dynamische und dabei stets überaus präzise Schlagzeugarbeit – auch im schlagtechnisch besonders anspruchsvollen Fast Rock – zeigen sich unter anderem in der Hendrix-Komposition Fire vom Album Are You Experienced, in der Coverversion des Howlin’-Wolf-Klassikers Killing Floor oder auch in der Hendrix-Komposition If 6 was 9 vom Album Axis: Bold as Love, welche er mit einem ausgeprägt unorthodoxen, gegenrhythmisch feinziselierten schlagtechnischen Soundteppich unterlegte.
Nach der Auflösung der Jimi Hendrix Experience infolge des Todes von Jimi Hendrix am 18. September 1970 schloss sich Mitchell keiner Musikformation mehr als ständiges Mitglied an. Seit diesem Zeitpunkt war Mitch Mitchell als Session- und Studiomusiker tätig.
Mitchell wurde am 12. November 2008 in einem Hotelzimmer in Portland im US-Bundesstaat Oregon tot aufgefunden.
Leben
Mitchell lernte sein Instrument bei Jim Marshall (dessen Verstärkersystem den Rock-Sound der 1960er Jahre entscheidend prägte), als er neben der Schauspielerei in dessen Musikinstrumentenladen mitarbeitete. Mitchells musikalisches Vorbild war der US-amerikanische Jazz-Drummer Elvin Jones. Wie dieser war Mitchell in hohem Maße ein Autodidakt. Ein zusätzlicher Hinweis auf seine rhythmische Begabung besteht darin, dass er vorzüglich stepptanzen konnte – eine Fähigkeit, die er auch mit anderen großen Schlagzeugern wie Buddy Rich und Steve Gadd teilte. Er spielte bevorzugt auf Drums der renommierten britischen Marke Premier.
Vor seiner Zeit mit der Jimi Hendrix Experience spielte er unter anderem mit Georgie Fame bei Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames und auch nach der Auflösung dieser Gruppe in Fames Soloprojekt. Als Chas Chandler – ehemaliger Bassist der Rockband The Animals – im September 1966 Jimi Hendrix unter Vertrag nahm und in London Musiker für die geplante Jimi-Hendrix-Group suchte, wurde ein umfangreiches Drummer-Casting durchgeführt. Dabei hinterließ Mitchell im Vergleich zu allen anderen Mitbewerbern den besten Eindruck und setzte sich am Ende auch gegen den zur damaligen Zeit bereits renommierten Schlagzeuger Aynsley Dunbar durch. Mit der Absolvierung dieses Ausleseverfahrens war seine Aufnahme in die Jimi Hendrix Experience vollzogen.
Auch nach Auflösung der Jimi Hendrix Experience spielte Mitchell weiterhin mit Jimi Hendrix, zum Beispiel beim Woodstock-Festival 1969. Von April bis September 1970 spielte er in einer Neuauflage der Jimi Hendrix Experience (Cry-of-Love-Band) mit Jimi Hendrix und Billy Cox am Bass auf deren letzter US- und Europatournee.
Als versierter Jazz-Schlagzeuger verfügte Mitchell über ein großes schlagtechnisches Repertoire sowie über ein ausgeprägtes musikalisches Einfühlungs- und rhythmisches Antizipationsvermögen. Auf Grund dieser exzeptionellen Fähigkeiten gelang es Mitchell problemlos, auf Hendrix – gerade live – stark improvisatorisch gehaltene Musik in kongenial-kreativer Weise einzugehen. Einerseits vermochte er dessen komplexe Gitarren-Soli virtuos mit einer diffizilen Polyrhythmik zu unterlegen, andererseits war er in der Lage, in den „Lücken“ zwischen Hendrix' Gitarren-Soli bruchlos seine schnellen, energetischen Drum-Soli einzuflechten.
Drei Paradebeispiele für Mitchells variantenreiche, äußerst dynamische und dabei stets überaus präzise Schlagzeugarbeit – auch im schlagtechnisch besonders anspruchsvollen Fast Rock – zeigen sich unter anderem in der Hendrix-Komposition Fire vom Album Are You Experienced, in der Coverversion des Howlin’-Wolf-Klassikers Killing Floor oder auch in der Hendrix-Komposition If 6 was 9 vom Album Axis: Bold as Love, welche er mit einem ausgeprägt unorthodoxen, gegenrhythmisch feinziselierten schlagtechnischen Soundteppich unterlegte.
Nach der Auflösung der Jimi Hendrix Experience infolge des Todes von Jimi Hendrix am 18. September 1970 schloss sich Mitchell keiner Musikformation mehr als ständiges Mitglied an. Seit diesem Zeitpunkt war Mitch Mitchell als Session- und Studiomusiker tätig.
Mitchell wurde am 12. November 2008 in einem Hotelzimmer in Portland im US-Bundesstaat Oregon tot aufgefunden.
John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 1947 – 12 November 2008)[1][2][3][4] was an English drummer who was best known for his work in the Jimi Hendrix Experience. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2009.[5]
Biography
Early days
Mitchell was born in Ealing, Middlesex[6] to Phyliss C (née Preston) and Thomas J Mitchell.[7][8]
As a teenager, he starred in a children's television programme, Jennings and Derbyshire, and starred in a leading role in the 1960 British film Bottoms Up with Jimmy Edwards.[9] Mitchell became a musician through working at Jim Marshall's drum shop on Saturdays while still at school.[10] 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.[11] In 1965, he also replaced temporarily Viv Prince as drummer in the Pretty Things.
Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames
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!'[12]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Mitchell auditioned for Hendrix's band in October 1966, edging out drummer Aynsley Dunbar on the flip of a coin. Mitchell's fast, driving, jazz influenced playing meshed well with Hendrix's open-ended, revolutionary approach to the electric guitar. Some highly praised examples of his collaboration with Hendrix include the songs "Manic Depression", "Stepping Stone", "Little Miss Strange", "Fire", "Third Stone from the Sun", and Hendrix's signature "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)".
Mitchell came from a jazz background, and like many of his contemporaries in the London scene, was influenced by Elvin Jones, Max Roach, and Joe Morello.[13] He played in Hendrix's Experience trio from October 1966 to mid-1969, in the Woodstock band, (August 1969), and in the 1970 "Experience" version with Billy Cox on bass, known posthumously as the "Cry of Love band".
Notable projects
In December 1968, Mitchell played with The Dirty Mac, an all-star 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 the Band of Gypsys from late 1969 until early 1970, Mitchell also collaborated with the Jack Bruce and Friends band along with ex-Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, keyboardist Mike Mandel and jazz-fusion guitarist and future The Eleventh House frontman Larry Coryell. Mitchell also took part in Miles Davis' demo sessions for the 1969 album Bitches Brew, but did not appear on the final album.
Post Experience
After Hendrix's death, Mitchell finished production work with engineer Eddie Kramer on incomplete Hendrix recordings, resulting in the releases The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge. In 1972, he teamed up with guitarists Mike Pinera and April Lawton to form Ramatam. They recorded the first of Ramatam's two albums and were Emerson, Lake & Palmer's opening act at a number of concerts. Mitchell and Hendrix had been offered spots in the band Keith Emerson and Greg Lake were forming, but Carl Palmer got the drum position instead. Ramatam never achieved commercial success and Mitchell left the act before their second LP was released. Mitchell also performed in concerts with Terry Reid, Jack Bruce, and Jeff Beck as a substitute for drummer Cozy Powell.
Mitchell drummed alongside John Halsey in the 1970s jam band, "Hinkleys Heroes", the only time he played alongside another drummer. Michael Jeffery, Hendrix's manager, relegated Mitchell and Noel Redding to paid employees without an ownership share in future revenues. This limited their earnings and led to Mitchell and Redding being largely excluded from sharing in revenues generated from the Experience. Financial hardship pressured Mitchell in the mid-1970s to sell a prized Hendrix guitar. He also sold his small legal claim to future Hendrix record sales for about $200,000. In 1974, he auditioned for Paul McCartney's band Wings but lost the part to Geoff Britton in another coin toss.
For the rest of the 1970s through to the 1990s, Mitchell, semi-retired and living in Europe, continued to perform and occasionally record. In 1986, Mitchell teamed up with jazz musician Greg Parker and made a music video session of Led Zeppelin's Black Dog.[14] He did session work on Junior Brown's Long Walk Back album and participated in various Hendrix-related recordings, videos, and interviews. In 1999, Mitchell was part of the Gypsy Sun Experience, along with former Hendrix bassist Billy Cox and guitarist Gary Serkin. He also appeared on Bruce Cameron's album Midnight Daydream that included Billy Cox, Buddy Miles and Jack Bruce.
Death
He spent his final days celebrating Hendrix's music on the 2008 Experience Hendrix Tour. For nearly four weeks the tour travelled on an 18-city tour of the US, finishing in Portland, Oregon.[15] The tour also featured Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, Robby Krieger, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Cesar Rosas, David Hidalgo, Aerosmith's Brad Whitford, Hubert Sumlin, Chris Layton, Eric Gales, and Mato Nanji. Five days after the tour ended Mitchell died in his sleep on 12 November, in his room at the Benson Hotel in Portland of "natural causes."[16][17][18][19] Mitchell had been in ill health for many years due to alcohol-related problems. He was the last surviving member of the original Experience. Mitchell had planned to leave Portland that day to return to his home in England.[19] He was buried in Seattle.
He is survived by his wife, Dee, a daughter and two grandchildren.[20]
Legacy
In 2005, Mitchell was named the 23rd greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone.
Queen drummer Roger Taylor has described Mitchell as his early role model. He said: "I still think listening to Mitch Mitchell, especially the early stuff with Hendrix, is just fantastic."[21] Matt Sorum, drummer with Guns N'Roses and Velvet Revolver, has praised his "pure musicianship" and called him "one of the greatest drummers of all time".[22]
In an interview with the Police drummer Stewart Copeland in the late 2000s, Copeland listed the Jimi Hendrix Experience debut album Are You Experienced as his favorite drum album of all time, and relates that as a child in school, he would walk around with drum beats in his head and wonder how Mitch Mitchell would carve out a rhythm were he to play that song.
In 2016, Mitchell was named the 8th greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone.[23]
Style
Jazz fusion is a lead style of playing distinguished by interplay with lead instruments such as guitar or keyboards, and the blending of jazz and rock drumming styles. Though the use of lead drums was not a new concept in jazz, it was relatively unheard of in rock. Upon joining Hendrix in late 1966, it became evident to Mitchell that the trio format of the band was similar to the recently formed Cream, and that it would allow him to become more free with his playing. Like a jazz drummer, Mitchell's playing not only provided a rhythmic support for the music, but also a source of momentum and melody. He made heavy use of snare rudiments, fast single and double stroke rolls, and jazz triplets patterns, and shifted between both traditional and matched grips. Examples of his style include the rudiment-heavy fills on "Hey Joe", which help to carry the song through a series of increasingly intense climaxes. "Manic Depression" is a 3/4 rock waltz that finds Mitchell playing a driving Afro-Cuban inspired beat which then shifts to an explosion of triplets around the drumkit during the outro.
"Third Stone from the Sun" incorporates a swing ride pattern to underpin Hendrix's jazzy surf guitar, and the spacey breakdown section features polyrhythmic drum fills that float over the 4/4 meter. "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" features military-style snare drum work and delicate cymbal playing that evokes the sound of wind chimes. The long blues jam "Voodoo Chile" features Mitchell playing a deep blues groove with subtle hi-hat accenting and powerful drum fills.
Equipment
During his tenure with Hendrix, Mitchell, along with other professionals like Ringo Starr of The Beatles fame, was a noted user of Ludwig drums and used what were most likely early Vic Firth drumsticks. He also used various setups or combinations of Zildjian and Paiste cymbals, though he used Zildjian a lot more often and was a Zildjian endorsee by the time of his death in 2008.
Biography
Early days
Mitchell was born in Ealing, Middlesex[6] to Phyliss C (née Preston) and Thomas J Mitchell.[7][8]
As a teenager, he starred in a children's television programme, Jennings and Derbyshire, and starred in a leading role in the 1960 British film Bottoms Up with Jimmy Edwards.[9] Mitchell became a musician through working at Jim Marshall's drum shop on Saturdays while still at school.[10] 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.[11] In 1965, he also replaced temporarily Viv Prince as drummer in the Pretty Things.
Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames
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!'[12]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Mitchell auditioned for Hendrix's band in October 1966, edging out drummer Aynsley Dunbar on the flip of a coin. Mitchell's fast, driving, jazz influenced playing meshed well with Hendrix's open-ended, revolutionary approach to the electric guitar. Some highly praised examples of his collaboration with Hendrix include the songs "Manic Depression", "Stepping Stone", "Little Miss Strange", "Fire", "Third Stone from the Sun", and Hendrix's signature "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)".
Mitchell came from a jazz background, and like many of his contemporaries in the London scene, was influenced by Elvin Jones, Max Roach, and Joe Morello.[13] He played in Hendrix's Experience trio from October 1966 to mid-1969, in the Woodstock band, (August 1969), and in the 1970 "Experience" version with Billy Cox on bass, known posthumously as the "Cry of Love band".
Notable projects
In December 1968, Mitchell played with The Dirty Mac, an all-star 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 the Band of Gypsys from late 1969 until early 1970, Mitchell also collaborated with the Jack Bruce and Friends band along with ex-Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, keyboardist Mike Mandel and jazz-fusion guitarist and future The Eleventh House frontman Larry Coryell. Mitchell also took part in Miles Davis' demo sessions for the 1969 album Bitches Brew, but did not appear on the final album.
Post Experience
After Hendrix's death, Mitchell finished production work with engineer Eddie Kramer on incomplete Hendrix recordings, resulting in the releases The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge. In 1972, he teamed up with guitarists Mike Pinera and April Lawton to form Ramatam. They recorded the first of Ramatam's two albums and were Emerson, Lake & Palmer's opening act at a number of concerts. Mitchell and Hendrix had been offered spots in the band Keith Emerson and Greg Lake were forming, but Carl Palmer got the drum position instead. Ramatam never achieved commercial success and Mitchell left the act before their second LP was released. Mitchell also performed in concerts with Terry Reid, Jack Bruce, and Jeff Beck as a substitute for drummer Cozy Powell.
Mitchell drummed alongside John Halsey in the 1970s jam band, "Hinkleys Heroes", the only time he played alongside another drummer. Michael Jeffery, Hendrix's manager, relegated Mitchell and Noel Redding to paid employees without an ownership share in future revenues. This limited their earnings and led to Mitchell and Redding being largely excluded from sharing in revenues generated from the Experience. Financial hardship pressured Mitchell in the mid-1970s to sell a prized Hendrix guitar. He also sold his small legal claim to future Hendrix record sales for about $200,000. In 1974, he auditioned for Paul McCartney's band Wings but lost the part to Geoff Britton in another coin toss.
For the rest of the 1970s through to the 1990s, Mitchell, semi-retired and living in Europe, continued to perform and occasionally record. In 1986, Mitchell teamed up with jazz musician Greg Parker and made a music video session of Led Zeppelin's Black Dog.[14] He did session work on Junior Brown's Long Walk Back album and participated in various Hendrix-related recordings, videos, and interviews. In 1999, Mitchell was part of the Gypsy Sun Experience, along with former Hendrix bassist Billy Cox and guitarist Gary Serkin. He also appeared on Bruce Cameron's album Midnight Daydream that included Billy Cox, Buddy Miles and Jack Bruce.
Death
He spent his final days celebrating Hendrix's music on the 2008 Experience Hendrix Tour. For nearly four weeks the tour travelled on an 18-city tour of the US, finishing in Portland, Oregon.[15] The tour also featured Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, Robby Krieger, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Cesar Rosas, David Hidalgo, Aerosmith's Brad Whitford, Hubert Sumlin, Chris Layton, Eric Gales, and Mato Nanji. Five days after the tour ended Mitchell died in his sleep on 12 November, in his room at the Benson Hotel in Portland of "natural causes."[16][17][18][19] Mitchell had been in ill health for many years due to alcohol-related problems. He was the last surviving member of the original Experience. Mitchell had planned to leave Portland that day to return to his home in England.[19] He was buried in Seattle.
He is survived by his wife, Dee, a daughter and two grandchildren.[20]
Legacy
In 2005, Mitchell was named the 23rd greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone.
Queen drummer Roger Taylor has described Mitchell as his early role model. He said: "I still think listening to Mitch Mitchell, especially the early stuff with Hendrix, is just fantastic."[21] Matt Sorum, drummer with Guns N'Roses and Velvet Revolver, has praised his "pure musicianship" and called him "one of the greatest drummers of all time".[22]
In an interview with the Police drummer Stewart Copeland in the late 2000s, Copeland listed the Jimi Hendrix Experience debut album Are You Experienced as his favorite drum album of all time, and relates that as a child in school, he would walk around with drum beats in his head and wonder how Mitch Mitchell would carve out a rhythm were he to play that song.
In 2016, Mitchell was named the 8th greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone.[23]
Style
Jazz fusion is a lead style of playing distinguished by interplay with lead instruments such as guitar or keyboards, and the blending of jazz and rock drumming styles. Though the use of lead drums was not a new concept in jazz, it was relatively unheard of in rock. Upon joining Hendrix in late 1966, it became evident to Mitchell that the trio format of the band was similar to the recently formed Cream, and that it would allow him to become more free with his playing. Like a jazz drummer, Mitchell's playing not only provided a rhythmic support for the music, but also a source of momentum and melody. He made heavy use of snare rudiments, fast single and double stroke rolls, and jazz triplets patterns, and shifted between both traditional and matched grips. Examples of his style include the rudiment-heavy fills on "Hey Joe", which help to carry the song through a series of increasingly intense climaxes. "Manic Depression" is a 3/4 rock waltz that finds Mitchell playing a driving Afro-Cuban inspired beat which then shifts to an explosion of triplets around the drumkit during the outro.
"Third Stone from the Sun" incorporates a swing ride pattern to underpin Hendrix's jazzy surf guitar, and the spacey breakdown section features polyrhythmic drum fills that float over the 4/4 meter. "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" features military-style snare drum work and delicate cymbal playing that evokes the sound of wind chimes. The long blues jam "Voodoo Chile" features Mitchell playing a deep blues groove with subtle hi-hat accenting and powerful drum fills.
Equipment
During his tenure with Hendrix, Mitchell, along with other professionals like Ringo Starr of The Beatles fame, was a noted user of Ludwig drums and used what were most likely early Vic Firth drumsticks. He also used various setups or combinations of Zildjian and Paiste cymbals, though he used Zildjian a lot more often and was a Zildjian endorsee by the time of his death in 2008.
Incredible Drum Solo (Mitch Mitchell, 1969)
From Jimi Hendrix, Live In Stockholm. Live at the Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, 9th January 1969.
Mitch Mitchell Tribute Video
The new EMP Museum exhibit "Hear my Train a Comin': Hendrix Hits London"
looks at the legendary guitarist's life as he arrived in London and
includes some never before seen artifacts of drummer Mitch Mitchell.
This video looks at the legacy of Mitch and why he was more than your
average classic rock drummer.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen