Picture of Jimi Hendrix

During one of Hendrix’s early England club jams, French singer Johnny Hallyday attended. He was extremely impressed and offered Jimi two weeks of supporting dates for a tour in France that October. This was exactly what Chas Chandler was seeking for the Experience, although they still needed a drummer. So Chas phoned up a five foot seven, twenty year old drummer named John “Mitch” Mitchell. Mitch had just left Georgie Fame’s band, and had great experience touring and doing studio work. After auditioning twice, Mitch was given the job. Despite if you call it fusion, jazz-rock, or rock-jazz, Mitch's playing mixed the improvisational ingredients and the rhythmic sense of swing from jazz with the audacity and power of rock 'n' roll. This combination meant that the art form of drumming would never be the same.