The Jimi Hendrix Experience: 3 Minute Brief
On the 12th October 1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience formed. Comprising of Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, they went on to record three albums and become one of the worlds most popular rock acts before Redding left the band in 1969 and Jimi’s death in 1970.
Their music is discussed in today’s 3 minute Brief.
The Experience
Forming after Hendrix came to the United Kingdom in 1966, The Experience was originally conceived as a backup band for Hendrix but became critically acclaimed in their own right.
Rolling Stone for example placed all three of The Experience’s albums in the 500 greatest albums of all time with the debut album ‘Are You Experienced’ being highest at 15.
The Experience were one of the earliest to follow the guitar, bass and drums ‘power trio’ format and were highly influential in the popularisation of hard rock and psychedelic rock.
Jimi Hendrix
Although the band together became one of the greatest rock acts of all time, Hendrix was undoubtedly the star of the band. His name was in the title and he was a superstar in his own right for his incredible guitar playing skills.
Whether it was playing behind his back or with his teeth he was a performer who provided the flair and passion for his instrument that all great guitarists need, but fused it with incredible technical skill.
This technical skill was combined with an ability to create sounds that many guitarists of today make using pedals and fuzz boxes to produce the sound, but Hendrix produced it when this technology, if it was available, was in its infancy.
Of course there is more to the band than Jimi and this is discussed below but, Hendrix is undoubtedly one of the greatest guitar players of all time, despite stiff competition from all sides and different rock genres.
If you want songs to listen to prove this you can choose any, but I recommend Voodoo Child and Purple Haze. Famous and classic but some of the greatest guitar playing that will grace your ears for sure.
Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding
Of course, much has been made of the influence of Jimi Hendrix but very little, or at least much less of the two other members of the band.
Musically, Noel Redding was critical to The Experience. When listening to their music you feel the rhythm provided by Redding’s bass guitar as he keeps the time with a bass groove that allowed Hendrix to riff over and allowed at times the loose drumming of Mitchell to take over.
The song ‘Fire’ from ‘Are You Experienced’ is the perfect song to illustrate this as his fantastic bass groove allows Jimi to riff in and out of the song with both guitar and vocals.
Influenced by his jazz roots, Mitch Mitchell’s impact is clear to anyone listening to records by The Experience. At times, Mitchell’s drumming is tight and works fantastically with Redding’s bass to keep time for Jimi’s wild riffs, but at others his drumming flair steals the show as he plays incredibly loose, kept in time by Redding’s bass.
An example is in the breakdown of ‘Third Stone From The Sun’ again from ‘Are You Experienced’ as once again Redding’s base keeps the time over some psychedelic guitar from Jimi but more importantly for some loose and clearly jazz inspired drumming by Mitchell.
Unfortunately because of our three minute format, we don’t have enough time to get into the full impact of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, however we may be revisiting them at a later date. For now, here are some links and references for further reading before our next brief.
