Another giant bids the world adieu

Mitch Mitchel, the iconic drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, died tonight in Portland, Oregon. He was 61

From the AP:

” Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s and the group’s last surviving member, was found dead in his hotel room Wednesday. He was 61. Mitchell was a powerful force on the Hendrix band’s 1967 debut album “Are You Experienced?” as well as the trio’s albums “Electric Ladyland” and “Axis: Bold As Love.” He had an explosive drumming style that can be heard in hard-charging songs such as “Fire” and “Manic Depression.”"

If, like me, you were a huge fan of not only Hendrix the guitarist, but of the band and it’s musicianship as a whole, you’ll know what a giant influence Mitchell was, not only on that band but on a number of contemporaries and bands which followed.

Drummers like Neil Peart, (Rush) Stewart Copeland (The Police) and others all owe a huge debt to Mitchell.

R.I.P. Mitch, we’ll all be a little poorer for you absence.

CD of the Day

Bryan Adams -Reckless

Pink Floyd’s Richard Wright: RIP

Pink Floyd co-founder Richard Wright died today of cancer. He was 65.

Wright was the writer of many of Floyd’s biggest hits and was instrumental in shaping the group’s unique sound and haunting lyrics.

A legend has passed. And I feel old.

A plug for a terrific product

In case you haven’t used the internet as a radio station, or have only used it for news programs, I have a reccomendation for a terrific music site.

Pandora Radio is a commercial-free internet radio station which plays a huge variety of music. But the best part is that you can pick the particular variety of music you want.

Pandora gives you the option to choose from a huge range of pre-set channels; not just including a general genre, but sub-genres as well. For instance if you select “Blues” from the pre-sets, you then get to choose between electric blues, Chicago blues, traditional blues, Kansas City blues, etc.

But you are not limited to the preset channels. You can create your own channels by artist or song.

Let’s say you want to listen to Eric Clapton, but you’re particularly interested in his blues works, like the stuff he’s done in collaboration with BB King. Enter the name of the song (searchable within Pandora) and presto, you will get a whole variety of songs by both Clapton and other artists in the same general music type.

Pandora also allows you to share your favorite stations with friends, download music to your Ipod (for a fee) as well as view music videos, purchase songs and other services.

Folks, this is simply a terrific website. I heartily reccommend it.

CD of the Day

Willie Nelson -One Hell of a Ride

CD of the Day

Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons -London Philharmonic, conducted by Claudio Abbado.

A perfect mood setter for any morning!

CD of the Day

In case you haven’t heard, LeRoi Moore, a founding member of The Dave Matthews Band, died yesterday from complications stemming from an ATV accident. He was only 46.

In honor of this brilliant musician, today’s CD of the Day is:

Dave Matthews Band -Under the Table and Dreaming

RIP

CD of the day

AC/DC -Back in Black

What can I say? When you want to ROCK, it’s hard to beat this one.

CD of the Day

K.D. Lang -Ingenué