Noel Redding- say what?

[Mal1905]

There's a sunburst Jazz Bass in De Barra's pub (Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland). Can't recall whether it belonged to Noel or is a Signature model. Loads of Hendrix memorabilia there too. And, they do a good Guinness

I played a gig there many years ago and was approached by a man as I was packing away my gear. He commented on the sound and look of my bass (1985 Wal Mk I fretless, Wenge) and complimented my playing.

As I asked him the question, "do you play bass yourself?", realisation dawned on me.

He'd been at the back of the venue for the entire gig and I'd spotted him bopping.

It was Noel Redding.

We sat and talked for an hour or so, he played around with the Wal and then I drove back to Dublin. I promised that if I was passing through the village again, I'd look him up and we'd continue the chat, but alas, I didn't have occasion to be back in that part of the world until last year :-(

 

[edpal]

I stumbled onto this thread and was just amazed at the lack of decent musicianship or just plain decency in the comments. Noel did a great job in JHE and why should we care if Jimi gave/taught or insisted on particular lines. Nobody knocks a classical musician for playing Beethoven note-for-note like it makes them a hack! They were some great bass lines and fit the music nicely. They were well played for the particular songs. I doubt Noel would ever come here considering the crap he would have to read about himself. He managed to be Jimi's bass player for 3 years - tell us about YOUR accomplishments in comparison. Geesh!

 

[JimmyM]

I doubt Noel would ever come here considering the crap he would have to read about himself

Considering that he's been dead since 2003, I doubt he'll come here either.

 

[edpal]

Considering that he's been dead since 2003, I doubt he'll come here either.

Even a better reason not to trample the guy too much. I shouldn't expect you to get that, I've read enough of your posts.

 

[JimmyM]

Even a better reason not to trample the guy too much. I shouldn't expect you to get that, I've read enough of your posts.

Yeah, God forbid I have an opinion, huh?

 

[edpal]

Yeah, God forbid I have an opinion, huh?

He might.

 

[JimmyM]

God has way better things to do than worry about someone's opinions on music.

And FTR, I like Noel Redding.

 

[edpal]

God has way better things to do than worry about someone's opinions on music.

And FTR, I like Noel Redding.

I do too. Later.

 

[Rocker949]

There's a sunburst Jazz Bass in De Barra's pub (Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland). Can't recall whether it belonged to Noel or is a Signature model. Loads of Hendrix memorabilia there too. And, they do a good Guinness

I played a gig there many years ago and was approached by a man as I was packing away my gear. He commented on the sound and look of my bass (1985 Wal Mk I fretless, Wenge) and complimented my playing.

As I asked him the question, "do you play bass yourself?", realisation dawned on me.

He'd been at the back of the venue for the entire gig and I'd spotted him bopping.

It was Noel Redding.

We sat and talked for an hour or so, he played around with the Wal and then I drove back to Dublin. I promised that if I was passing through the village again, I'd look him up and we'd continue the chat, but alas, I didn't have occasion to be back in that part of the world until last year :-(

That's a great story. I'm not positive, but I think that bass at Da Barra's pub that you mentioned is the one Noel actually played.

 

[catcauphonic]

I visited the 'Hendrix Hits London' exhibit at the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle over the weekend. He is one of Seattle's most prized sons. It was a pretty cool and comprehensive retrospect of how they took England by storm. They had one of Noel's used & autographed jazz basses there along with a dandy looking suit he wore. While I knew it was mostly about Jimi, I was kinda bummed cuz even Mitch had his own corner of the exhibit with lots of older photos of him growing up, articles and a list of his accomplishments, and a few outfits. Other than Noel's bass & one suit, there was just a small write up of him ending with something along the lines of how The Experience split partly because of personal differences including Noel wanting to play guitar. I thought as usual the bass player get's overlooked

 

[Rocker949]

I visited the 'Hendrix Hits London' exhibit at the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle over the weekend. He is one of Seattle's most prized sons. It was a pretty cool and comprehensive retrospect of how they took England by storm. They had one of Noel's used & autographed jazz basses there along with a dandy looking suit he wore. I was kinda bummed cuz it was mostly about Jimi, but even Mitch had his own corner of the exhibit with lots of older photos of him growing up, articles and a list of his accomplishments, and a few outfits. Other than Noel's bass & 1 suit, there was just a small write up of him ending with something along the lines of how The Experience split partly because of personal differences including Noel wanting to play guitar. I thought as usual the bass player get's overlooked

It is much more than just about the bass player being ignored. When it comes to the Hendrix estate which controls everything (Experience Hendrix,) Jimi is made out to be almost like he was a solo act. Noel himself commented on this in one of his interviews. Both Mitch and Noel are strictly treated as sidemen, especially Noel. Also, in the Hendrix community of fans there is a fervent devotion to Jimi Hendrix himself, almost as if he were a god incapable of wrongdoing. (I say this as an enthusiastic Hendrix fan.) But to many of these people the fact that Noel actually disagreed with Hendrix from time to time (like during the Electric Ladyland sessions) is not something they take lightly. That may be one reason why the majority of them seem to favor Billy Cox over Noel Redding--after all Billy never had any major disagreements with Hendrix. Also, I'm sure there are some strictly musical reasons why many of them prefer Billy over Noel. (I've never fallen into this category myself and have always preferred the psychedelic rock that Noel played with Jimi.) A lot of people on TB appreciate Noel's contribution, though, as indicated on this thread. There is more of an effort to see the big picture rather than to just view Hendrix as a guitar god who operated in a vacuum. As a purely personal observation, I feel Hendrix was literally falling apart by 1970. Those who view his music as reaching a peak during that time certainly have a perspective which totally differs from mine. Not to be judgmental at all, but I do think drugs had a lot to do with causing Hendrix to lose focus during the last year of his life. Drugs also had quite an effect on Billy Cox. Whether he accidentally took LSD or whatever it was which caused him to become dysfunctional, the fact of the matter is he had already been sent back to the U.S. while they were attempting to finish what they were committed to. Noel Redding was asked to finish the tour, of course; that wasn't to be due to Hendrix's unexpected death.

 

[JimmyM]

Hate to tell you this, but Jimi WAS a solo act. If not for him, Mitch and Noel would have been a rhythm section without a frontman.

 

[RCCollins]

Hate to tell you this, but Jimi WAS a solo act. If not for him, Mitch and Noel would have been a rhythm section without a frontman.

They wouldn't even have been a rhythm section! They were assembled to back Jimi. Nothing wrong with that, as they kicked ass together. Noel might not have been Stu Hamm or Billy Sheehan or whoever, but he had a cool afro and he did a bang-up job.

I play bass today because when I listened to "Are You Experienced?" I was captivated by the bass playing. And I'm not the only one to say that in this thread. Seems to me Noel's a pretty important figure. Bass might not have been his first instrument but he did a more than solid job!

 

[AltGrendel]

Read an interview (forget where) where Hendrix said he hired NR because he only had to show him a song one time, after that he was good to go.

 

[Meddle]

Hate to tell you this, but Jimi WAS a solo act. If not for him, Mitch and Noel would have been a rhythm section without a frontman.

True... but...

At least Noel and Mitch had their own character. I respect players like SRV, Joe Bonomassa (sp?), Jeff Beck etc... but at times I think they all might as well be playing along to a Midi backing track. I know their bandmates are good, and have amazing chops, but sonically they are pushed into the shadows. Tal's tone on Ronnie Scotts is especially grating IMHO.

Mitch and Noel played OUT! This is the difference.

 

[Rocker949]

Hate to tell you this, but Jimi WAS a solo act. If not for him, Mitch and Noel would have been a rhythm section without a frontman.

Not if you were there at the time and perceived the phenomenon as it occurred. Of course, from the very first it was understood that Jimi would be the star. It was, after all, called the Jimi Hendrix Experience. But in terms of image, a solo act is not what was desired, otherwise they could have easily fixed it up to be something like that. At least for a time, the Jimi Hendrix Experience was considered an actual band, at least by the public. Behind the scenes, of course, it might not have been looked at exactly as that way. Jimi Hendrix is my favorite guitarist, but sometimes I get weary of some people who idolize him so much they virtually worship him as if he were a god. That's unlikely to happen here since this is a bass forum. But I've been around plenty of people who seem to think it's perfectly acceptable to build Hendrix up at the expense of others. His reputation is secure enough without something like that being necessary at all. I think it's accurate to say by the time of Electric Ladyland Hendrix had, in effect, become a solo act. But for the first two albums, an actual band, more or less, was still in place.

 

[Rocker949]

Read an interview (forget where) where Hendrix said he hired NR because he only had to show him a song one time, after that he was good to go.

It is a misconception that some people seem to think Noel Redding didn't learn songs quickly. In fact, like you are saying, I think just the opposite was true. Noel was obviously a quick learner. For instance, looking at Eddie Kramer's account of "The Wind Cries Mary," he said Jimi brought the song into the studio. Mitch and Noel still had to learn the song and they only had 20 minutes to record it. I'd call that pretty quick. It's a simple song in many ways, but that's still quite a lot to learn and record a song in just 20 minutes. It's my understanding that when Noel learned Jimi's songs, he would first learn the chords and then make the transition to playing the songs on bass. It's obvious Noel didn't do much writing, but there were some exceptions, such as , for example, the ending to "Foxy Lady" which was actually Noel's idea. I think part of the misconception about Noel having trouble learning songs goes back to that freaking interview with Chris Squire. But Squire's entire interview has to be considered. He notes at the end that the initial doubt he had had about things was totally erased when he actually heard them play.

 

[bluewine]

I'm more of a Cox fan. The bass work on the Are You Experienced album is buried half of the time and there's a lot of weird manual tape editing.

I could never really hear what he was actually playing.

I heard he just bolted on the band cause his feelings got hurt.

Blue

 

[Rocker949]

I'm more of a Cox fan. The bass work on the Are You Experienced album is buried half of the time and there's a lot of weird manual tape editing.

I could never really hear what he was actually playing.

I heard he just bolted on the band cause his feelings got hurt.

Blue

Billy had always been Jimi's first choice from the beginning. He had asked Billy to be with him in England, but Billy hadn't been able to. Noel didn't quit the band because his feelings were hurt. In fact, he got kicked out. Jimi never had the nerve to tell him. When Noel showed up to play, he was told he had already been replaced. That's what really happened. However, ultimately, Billy Cox wasn't working out too well, either. I think a lot has to do with his feeling uncomfortable playing strange gigs in strange places. His actual playing wasn't the issue. If he would release an autobiography, I'm sure much would be cleared up. But for whatever reason, that has never happened. Although the info is out there, it doesn't seem to be well-known for some reason. Billy Cox had already been sent back to the U.S. They were searching for a replacement. Other than Noel Redding, the only person seriously considered who was available was Ric Grech. Although talented, he wasn't known for being able to learn songs quickly. So, I can see why he wouldn't have been a good choice since they needed someone who could fit in immediately. Noel was called. Some speculate that Jimi would never have played with Noel again, but that's all speculation. The fact is Noel was called, was ready to start playing, but Jimi, of course, died in one of the most tragic deaths in rock history.

 

[JimmyM]

Not if you were there at the time and perceived the phenomenon as it occurred.

I was there at the time and perceived the phenomenon as it occurred. I knew who Mitch and Noel were and what they did, but there was no question who drove the bus.

Of course, from the very first it was understood that Jimi would be the star. It was, after all, called the Jimi Hendrix Experience. But in terms of image, a solo act is not what was desired, otherwise they could have easily fixed it up to be something like that. At least for a time, the Jimi Hendrix Experience was considered an actual band, at least by the public. Behind the scenes, of course, it might not have been looked at exactly as that way. Jimi Hendrix is my favorite guitarist, but sometimes I get weary of some people who idolize him so much they virtually worship him as if he were a god.

The circumstances of his death ruled that out for me, but I did think he was an awesome guitarist and writer.

That's unlikely to happen here since this is a bass forum. But I've been around plenty of people who seem to think it's perfectly acceptable to build Hendrix up at the expense of others. His reputation is secure enough without something like that being necessary at all. I think it's accurate to say by the time of Electric Ladyland Hendrix had, in effect, become a solo act. But for the first two albums, an actual band, more or less, was still in place.

I'd say more of a real band than a solo act who only puts himself on the cover, I'll give you that. But take away Jimi and there's no band.