Mitch Mitchell Dead At 62

A moment of silence for one of the greatest drummers ever.

I used to try (emphasis on try) to play "Fire" off of the first Hendrix album on my shitty Pacific kit all the time. Mitchell had such preternaturally precise timing and force. His genius intimidated me the way Hendrix' legacy makes guitarists feel like sawing off their fingers and packing it in. Still does.

Here is Mitch Mitchell's obit in today's New York Times.

I've wanted to compile and upload a list of songs featuring my favorite drummers/drum tracks for a while now. Hopefully, I'll get around to it soon. For starters, here's what I would include among that list:

Mitch Mitchell on The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Fire
John Bonham on Zeppelin's Kashmir (Save the Moby Dick theatrics for Captain Ahab. The way the drums build on this track is mesmerizing.)
Prince on Lady Cab Driver off of 1999
Topper Headon on The Clash's Brand New Cadillac
Robo on Black Flag's Rise Above
Rat Scabies on The Damned's Noise, Noise, Noise
Stephen Morris on Joy Division's (whom I'd take over New Order any day of the week) Dead Souls
Stephen Perkins on Jane's Addiction's Ted, Just Admit It
Marky Ramone on Blitzkreig Bop
Moe Tucker on Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
Max Roach on the Jazz at Massey Hall live recording
Jaki Liebezeit on Can's Mushroom
Zigaboo Modeliste on 9 'Til 5 off of The Meters' Look-Ka-Py Py
Scott Asheton on The Stooges' Down on the Street
Hunt Sales on Iggy Pop's Lust For Life (if I had a nickel for every time I heard this beat ripped...)
Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown's band)
Phil Rudd (AC/DC)
Dave Lombardo (Slayer)
Michael Shrieve (Santana)
Elvin Jones (John Coltrane quartet)
Jane Weiss (Sleater-Kinney/Quasi)
DJ Bonebreak (X)
Bill Ward (Black Sabbath)
Georgia Hubley (Yo La Tengo)
etc. etc.