The coin toss that changed Jimi Hendrix’s sound: “I had complete freedom”
Even though the name, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, is indicative that their vocalist and guitarist is the main focal point of the group, if you had the chance to ever ask Hendrix himself, he would have said that no part of the trio was more important than another.
Despite being regarded as one of the most unique and groundbreaking players to ever pick up a guitar, with his freewheeling approach and blisteringly good improvisational skills, his skills may not have translated as easily on record without the backing of an equally phenomenal band supporting him. Given how maximalist his playing style could be, there was no need to bolster the group with a large ensemble, and so, Hendrix settled on the idea of forming a trio of guitar, bass and drums in order to launch his assault on the music world.
After being discovered playing in New York by Chas Chandler, a talent scout who had previously made a name for himself as the bassist with The Animals, he was encouraged to move to England, where Chandler would become his manager and assist him with finding a band to start performing with. Using his network of connections, he linked Hendrix up with bassist Noel Redding, but decided to offer two different drummers the chance to audition for the role.
While Aynsley Dunbar may have felt like the ideal candidate for the position, having earned his stripes playing with a number of blues-oriented groups up and down the country, the prospect of taking on Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames’ drummer, Mitch Mitchell, felt equally appealing to Hendrix at the time.
During his stint with the Blue Flames, Mitchell had acquired a taste for playing in a jazzier style, but being part of this ensemble was restrictive in how much he could allow himself to be freer in his playing style. Having the chance to play alongside Hendrix would have afforded him a greater scope for throwing in loose fills and for flexing more than just a talent for time-keeping in the band, and so, understandably, he’d have felt the disappointment had he not been given the go-ahead to join the band.
However, his position wasn’t solidified by a heated debate over who would be the better option in the band, and was instead decided on pure luck. Undecided as to who to go with, Hendrix and Chandler opted to toss a coin to see who should get the part, and while Mitchell ended up being the victor, things could have been completely different had Dunbar got the job.
Speaking to BBC Radio 1 in 1990, Mitchell proclaimed that being a part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience not only changed the band’s sound but also allowed him to break down all barriers of convention, playing in the loose style that he had been yearning for. “[The Blue Flames] had been a very structured eight-piece unit,” he explained, “so to go to a three-piece, I could play whatever I wanted. I had complete freedom for the first time in my career as a player.”
While it’s often the looseness of Hendrix’s playing that listeners tend to focus on, it’s undeniable that Mitchell’s fluid drumming style, which he’d procured, was part of the sound that elevated Hendrix from being an unknown guitarist to a rock deity.
