The drummer Jimmy Page thought was sorely overlooked: “A man inspired”
Drummers are often given a pretty raw deal within the world of rock and roll, resigned to sit behind a kit at the back of the stage while the lead singers and guitarists soak up all the limelight and adoration. Nevertheless, the quality and skill of a drummer can make or break a rock band – a fact that Jimmy Page was all too aware of when constructing the line-up for Led Zeppelin during the late 1960s. Luckily, the guitarist has always maintained a keen eye for great drummers and the importance of a rhythm section.
From his early days as a sought-after session musician during the 1960s, Page always coveted the skill of drummers. In fact, he has regularly remarked that most of those sessions involved him playing only alongside a drummer, without the rest of the band. As a result, the future Zeppelin guitarist was privy to the essential importance of drumming within the world of rock and roll music. “It was usually myself and a drummer”, he once said of his life as a session artist, “though they never mention the drummer these days, just me.”
Of course, when it came time to form Led Zeppelin, Page struck gold with the recruitment of John Bonham. Bonham completely revolutionised rock drumming during his time with the band, paving the way for virtually every hard rock and metal drummer who followed. In turn, Bonham was indebted to the influence of notable jazz and blues drummers like Buddy Rich or Gene Krupa. In that sense, Bonham shared a great deal in common with the iconic counterculture drummers of the 1960s, like Mitch Mitchell – another drummer for whom Jimmy Page had immense respect.
Like Page, Mitchell had been perfecting his musical craft from a very young age, working as a session musician and playing with various groups prior to crossing paths with the one and only, Jimi Hendrix. Soon after, Mitchell was recruited for The Jimi Hendrix Experience alongside bassist Noel Redding.
Inevitably, when playing in a group with a figure as groundbreaking and iconic as Jimi Hendrix at the forefront, Mitchell was never going to be the one in the limelight. However, his distinctive drumming style was essential for the success and sound of The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
As a guitarist, Jimmy Page is often pitched against Hendrix as two of the greatest rock guitarists of the 20th century, but it seems as though Page was just as keen to heap praise on Mitchell as he was on Hendrix. Speaking to Guitar World, the Led Zeppelin guitarist once shared, “Jimi’s drummer, Mitch Mitchell was also a man inspired. He never played drums like that before or since. He played some incredible stuff!”
Mitchell’s jazz-influenced playing style complimented the pioneering psychedelic stylings of Hendrix’s guitar stylings perfectly, but if you removed the guitar and bass from those legendary records, the drumming is pretty fantastic in its own right. Page, obviously, had a deep appreciation for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, as every rock guitarist should, but it seems as though his love of the 1960s psychedelic outfit extended far past the improvisational solos of Hendrix himself.
Following the trend of rock drummers, Mitchell is rarely afforded the same mainstream appreciation as his bandmates. However, the Middlesex-born musician has amassed something of a legendary reputation within music and rock circles, inspiring countless future music obsessives to adopt the drums. Page is merely one of many admirers to have voiced his adoration of the drummer and his pioneering use of jazz influences within rock and roll music.
