Hendrix Bassist Noel Redding Dies Noel Redding, the man who held down the bottom line for Jimi Hendrix, has died. The bassist passed away Sunday at his home in County Cork, Ireland, according to his manager, Ian Grant. Grant made the announcement on a message board for Track Records, Redding's label. "I can't yet take it in that, once more, I am sitting at my desk bringing sad news. Noel passed away," Grant wrote. The cause of death was not immediately known. Redding was 57. His death reportedly comes just a week after his mother's. Originally a guitarist, Redding converted to bass when he joined with Hendrix and drummer Mitch Mitchell to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966. Redding played bass on all three of the group's landmark albums, Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland. The power trio split in 1969, a year before Hendrix died.
Both played at Monterrey Pop & Woodstock, and I believe both played at the Isle of Wight (I know Entwistle did...not sure if Redding did).
Man, I don't know what to say. This guy was a rock legend. I'm not sure how the Experience would had been possible without his contibution. I just recently read an amazing book called "Black Gold - The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix" which Noel forwarded. RIP Noel, we will miss you.
Billy Cox played bass at the Isle of Wight concert. I read that Redding was about to mount another legal attempt to get royalties for his work with Hendrix. I think it's terrible that so many musicians have been swindled out of their rightful royalties the way Redding was. It's too bad he didn't live to see his contributions rightly acknowledged.
Amen. RIP, Noel. I'll never forget seeing him open for Hendrix with his band (I'm blanking out on their name, dammit). They had a very nice and mellow sound... not at all what the majority wanted to hear. There were some cat-calls for Jimi to come out and stuff like that. I remember that Jimi seemed really pissed when he took the stage that they hadn't been treated with respect. That was the shortest concert I saw him play.
Actually, Noel Redding didn't play at Woodstock. Billy Cox did. I like Noel's playing, but I like Billy Cox better for Hendrix. Billy, in my opinion, did a better job of holding the song together through Jimi and Mitch's solos/antics. Must say though, Jimi's show at Monterey is a classic. He played a lot of covers (Killing Floor, Hey Joe, Rolling Stone, Wild Thing), but to come on stage and rip into Killing Floor like he did is classic. The first time in the US with the Experience. What a show, even without the guitar destruction!
Thanks, Bob*. That was bugging me. I've got at least one album by them somewhere. I really need a new stylus. (and some organization)
A lot of the great rock bassists were just guitarists who weren't good enough. Most of the great bass players were dedicated to the groove, the flow, and staying in the background, but a fair amount still liked to make a lot of noise. Noel (as well as Paul McCartney) was a guitarist who wasn't good enough to stand up to Jimi (and who was?). So he played bass. He also played all over the neck, with a pick, and kept it fuzzy. A great bassist. He never really liked re-hashing his years with the EXP, but who could blame the guy? Keep on pickin' ...
Here is an article from July 20, 2000. It may help you understand why Noel didn't like talking about the "Experience" days: Noel Redding Boxes His Own Experience Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding readies his own box set July 20, 2000 Cork, Ireland -- Ask Noel Redding what will be on the "new box set," and he won't offer any insight about the upcoming release that features dozens of unissued tracks of him playing with Jimi Hendrix. Rather, he will discuss Thank You Very Much, Gud Luk, and Goodnight, a just-completed anthology of his solo work from 1962 to the present. Redding, fifty-four, played bass in the Experience from its formation in 1966 until he left in 1969. He was often frustrated by this partnership because he was a guitarist by trade and, according to some reports, was hired for the Experience as much for his look (a massive white-person's afro topped off by granny glasses) as his playing. Redding now lives in County Cork, Ireland, in a house purchased from his Experience earnings. However, he said he has received no further payment for his time with the band. "I was forced to sign away my royalties in 1974," he says. "I even had to sell the bass I used during that time, for $16,000." That particular bass was subsequently purchased by Paul Allen, and is now part of the Experience Music Project's Hendrix exhibit. "I never thought I'd see it again," Redding says, but he did during the museum's opening weekend. "I just stared at it for a long time. I was very moved." While he admits that his relationship with the Hendrix estate is "pretty strange," he expects that he will receive some royalties from the upcoming Hendrix release. "I have it on paper that I will be paid," he says, although he's not sure how much. Redding wrote two songs for the Experience, "She's So Fine" and "Little Miss Strange." These are included on his anthology, along with some tracks from two pre-Experience bands and Fat Mattress (Redding's band he led concurrent to his stint in the Experience). Additionally, there are tracks with Spirit guitarist Randy California and two members of the Spin Doctors. Redding calls his 1996 jams with Spin Doctors' guitarist Anthony Krizan and drummer Frankie LaRocker "better than the Experience." Several tracks from that session are included here, as well as covers of songs by the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Blues Image. There is nothing from the Experience aside from Redding's two solo tracks, although some existing tapes would be appropriate. According to Redding, Hendrix recorded a few of Redding's compositions with the Band of Gypsies, including one called "Dance." Redding says that Hendrix "basically lifted the song" but did so without malice. "I'm sure that he didn't remember it was mine." In any case, ownership of the song or its royalties are moot, as it remains un-issued. A more interesting collaboration took place in 1986 when Redding and Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell (with whom Redding has since fallen out) traveled to former manager Chas Chandler's Newcastle home and recorded new tracks to at least four unreleased Hendrix demos. (In this they were pioneers, as this well preceded the Nineties trend of overdubbing incomplete tapes by famous dead people.) Redding could recall none of the titles of these songs aside from "Sunshine of Your Love." "There was a party thing, like a sing-along thing at a wedding, and another tune that had like a sitar in it," he says. John McDermott, who assembled the upcoming Hendrix box set, confirmed the existence of these tracks but would not comment on their quality. Redding says that several British and American labels have shown interest in releasing his album, but there have been no solid commitments. Still, he's optimistic that it will see the light of day before the end of the year. "With all the commotion about [the thirtieth anniversary of Hendrix's death] someone with any intelligence will put it out. It's all finished anyway." Written by CHARLES BERMANT for RollingStone.com News
