PORTLAND, Ore. – Authorities say Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s, was found dead in his Portland hotel room.

Erin Patrick, a deputy medical examiner in Multnomah County, said Mitchell was found dead a little after 3 a.m. Wednesday in his room at the Benson Hotel in downtown Portland.

She said Mitchell apparently died of natural causes. He was 62. An autopsy is planned.

Mitchell was touring with the Experience Hendrix Tour, which performed Friday at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland. It was the last stop on the West Coast portion of the tour.

Hendrix died in 1970. Noel Redding, bassist for the trio, died in 2003.

Check out this video from 1969.  Here’s the original poster’s description.

“The legendary Mitch Mitchell pioneered a style of drumming, which would later become known as fusion. This is a “lead” style of playing distinguished by interplay with lead instruments such as guitar or keyboards, and the melding of jazz and rock drumming styles.  Alongside Hendrix’s revolutionary guitar work and songwriting, Mitchell’s playing helped redefine rock music drumming. 

Mitch Mitchell playing style is like one big solo and sounds far more impressive when its not intended to be.  He does everything he needs within the songs.  Mitch Mitchell, the best, the intuitive, the creator of the fusion, the inovator and versatile drummer ever.”  Nuff said!

Here’s an interview with Mitch in 1973

LONDON – Jimmy Carl Black, drummer, vocalist and self-anointed “Indian of the group” of Frank Zappa’s The Mothers of Invention, has died at age 70.

Black, a native of El Paso, Texas, died Saturday of cancer in Siegsdorf, Germany, according to Roddie Gilliard, a British musician who performed with him.

Born James Inkanish Jr. on Feb. 1, 1938, Black had Cheyenne Indian ancestry through both parents. He changed his name legally to Jimmy Carl Black in 1958, adapting the name of his stepfather, Carl Black.

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