Rate Noel Redding! A great rock bassist or not?

[de la mocha]

Forget the fact that he was a guitarist turned bass player. Forget the fact that he was often overshadowed by one of the greatest guitarists of all time and one of the most unique drummers of all time.

Did he get the job done? Did he lay down that groove? Did he keep everything coherent and grounded? Did he have a good rock tone and style of his own? He even had cool solo songs with just him alone like on "She's So Fine" and "Little Miss Strange"!

[marcray]

a great fit in a great, great band... whether he was great singularly doesn't really matter now IMO...

[Marcury]

YES!!!

[DrayMiles]

no.

[RED5]

A great bassist? Maybe not, but he certainly was a most fortunate bassist. (they coulda took the next guy in line)

[Akami]

Adequate, but not great.

I feel Mitch was great and the addition of Jimi's original bassist of choice, Billy Cox, toward the end was much better, although still probably not a great.\

Jimi tried to get Billy to go to England with him at the start and to listen to his lines in contrast with Noel's... it would be nice to hear more of what Billy and Jimi would have done if their recording career hadn't been curtailed so early.

[skaliwag66]

He held Mitch and Jimi together.
R.I.P.

[Akami]

Just found a couple of pics with Billy Cox.

In Tennessee before the big times.
Hendrix on the left (obviously!) and Billy in front.


And with a fairly rare bass to boot!

[Doughd54]

My bass teacher would always tell me to learn more Hendrix Experience bass lines so I'm going to say yes. He definitely knew how to flow with Jimi's voice as part of their rhythm section.

[Fuzzbass]

Originally Posted by skaliwag66

He held Mitch and Jimi together.
R.I.P.

+1

[Linkert]

Supafly afro! I envy his afro.. I got flat whiteboy hair!
I think he was quite groovy as a bassist. Very english bassist.

[Rob Mancini]

Not a great technician, but for the bass line of "Foxey Lady" alone, I consider him a great.

[Chef]

Greatest ever?
Maybe not; but I've always enjoyed his work, and stealing from it
Whomever noted he followed Jimi's lead was right on, and that applies for both lyrics and guitar work.

[pedro]

I would say no. In fact, I doubt he was the best bass player in the band. When you think of all the great bass players that Hendrix could have had in his band I'd Noel was at the right place at the right time.

[joelb79]

I happen to love Noel Redding. Around these parts, people have started calling me Joel Redding. Now if I could only get the fro' going like my dad had.

[MrDOS]

Not. But it's hard to say what another person would have played when put into that once in a millenium band situation.

[Mojo-Man]

Noel was in the right place, at the right time.

I heard story's that Hendrix picked Noel for his look ( Hair, cloths)
As much as his playing.

But, the Experence, needed a solid, groove, type player.
With Hendrix's wild guitar, and Mitch's swinging drums.
Noel fit the bill.

He reminds me of Adam Clayton in U2.

[mcm]

Are you crazy?

[dgelting]

Originally Posted by de la mocha

Did he keep everything coherent and grounded?

I've heard people say that he "anchored" the band. To which I replied "Why would you want an anchor on an airplane?"

I'm not a fan, and after I saw him do a clinic once I was less of a fan. I'll leave it at that so as not to disrespect those that aren't here to defend themselves....

But I will say that I asked him if he ever played around with any of those crazy effect boxes that Jimi had laying around all over the place. He said no. I thought that was odd. It would have been interesting for Jimi to play with a bassist with a bit more curiosity.

[pedro]

I think it would've been great to have heard Jimi with a bass player that would've pushed him more. Imagine Jimi with

Jack Bruce
Bootsy
Larry Graham
JPJ

Food for thought.