R.I.P. Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix drummer)

Drummer and founding member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience Mitch Mitchell was found dead in a Portland Oregon hotel room yesterday morning. He apparently died of natural causes at age 61. Mitchell's manic, jazzy, Keith Moon-influenced approach was a key element in the Experience's sound. In addition to playing with Hendrix for several years, including the famous Woodstock Festival gig, Mitchell also played at various times with Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Jack Bruce, Jeff Beck and Muddy Waters, among others. Mitchell had just finished playing a run of dates with the Experience Hendrix Tour, a tribute act sponsored by the Hendrix family which teamed musicians who knew or played with Jimi during his lifetime with newer artists who were influenced by his music.

For sale: one Jimi Hendrix guitar, slightly crispy

When Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire at the end of his legendary live set at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, he changed the meaning of the term "incendiary performance" forever. What fans not steeped in rock history may not realize is that Monterey was actually the second time Hendrix "lit up" on stage. The first time he tried it, at a gig in London earlier the same year, he ended up being rushed to the hospital with burns on his hands.

The guitar Hendrix used in that first nearly disastrous on-stage fire show will be auctioned later this year after recently being rediscovered in the garage of Hendrix' former press spokesman Tony Garland. Considering that the Strat Hendrix used at Woodstock was sold for $1.8 million, it will take some serious coin to pick up this slightly crispy piece of rock history.