Mitch, Noel and Buddy

An excellent musician, Noel dropped his guitar in 1966 to play bass with Jimi. A hell of a bass player he was too. His thunderous playing was an essential part of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s sound.
Born in Folkestone, England, he was a gifted guitarist and played with bands in his home region such as the Modern jazz Group. As part of another local group, The Loving Kind, he recorded three singles on the Picadilly label. While in London to audition as for a place as guitarist in The New Animals, he ended up instead with the job as bass player for the then unknown Jimi Hendrix. Jimi appreciated Noels quickness to grasp musical styles and liked his wirey afro-like hair and nicknamed him Bob Dylan’s Grandmother (Noel replied with “Jimi Henpecked”). The band made their first official public appearance at Evreux, France (13/10/66). The chemistry between Noel, Mitch Mitchell and Jimi was just right and the band quickly developped and refined their stage show. Noel would soon provide backing vocals on numbers like “Fire” , “I Don’t Live Today” or simple “Ooohs” and “Aaahs” on “Purple Haze”. He often joined Jimi in chatting humourously with the audience between songs.
Noel managed to get two of his own songs on the bands albums (“She’s So Fine” and “Little Miss Strange”). The music on “My Friend” was Noel’s (Jimi wrote the lyrics) but he was never credited for it.
However, frustrated with the role of bass man and tired of sitting around while Jimi perfected his studio recordings, he soon developed his own solo project Fat Mattress (he even opened with them at some Experience gigs). He became more and more estranged from Jimi and began to question the management about where all the money was going. The last straw was when Jimi announced to others about his intention to expand the group, without mentioning it to him before hand. So he quit the band.
In 1970 he decided to bury the hatchet and was on the point of rejoining the Experience and he met up with Jimi and Mitch for a press interview to announce this. Jimi however chose to keep Billy Cox from his Band Of Gypsys line-up. It is a pity that Jimi didn’t keep Noel as a second guitarist, it was after all his intention to expand the group.
On guitar with Fat Matress he worked on two albums: “Fat Matress” (Polydor 1969) and “Fat Matress II” which he abandoned when the album was only half finished. He then played bass again with the group Road, recording the album “Road” on the US label Rare Earth in 1972. That same year he also played with Jimi’s old friend Randy California (under the hilarious pseudonyme of Clit McTorious) for the very Hendrix inspired album “Kapt Kopter And The Fabulous Twirly Birds”.
Then he setted in Ireland to form The Noel Redding Band with the ex Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell. They put out two albums: “Clonakilty Cowboys” (RCA 1975) and “Blowin'” (RCA 1976) and more tracks came out later as “The Missing Album” (Griffin 1995).
In 1990 he published his memoires with the book “Are You Experienced: The Inside Story Of The Jimi Hendrix Experience” .
When Jimi’s old flat in London’s Montague Square received a commemorative blue plaque in the nineties, an emotional Noel was there paying his respects in front of the gathered crowd and journalists.
In 1995/96 he toured with the Hendrix tribute band More Experience and later participated in many other Hendrix tribute events in America and Europe and appears on albums “Stone Free” (Dressed To Kill 2001), “On Tour” (Brilliant 2001) and “Live From Bunkr-Prague” (Track 2002). He also put in an appearance with Mitch to jam at The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame to celebrate Jimi’s inauguration. He also toured with a band he formed called Secret Freaks.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an unparalleled three man band. After Noel left the group in mid 1969, Jimi and Mitch never found quite the same excitement that the three of them together could muster.
Cheers Noel.