Noel Redding and Friends July 14th 1995 Part 3
Noel Redding and
Friends July 14th 1995 Part 3 (
Anthony Krizon, )
Video by
Larry Blumenstein Video Productions.
Contact: larryblumenstein@aol.com, 917-817-2112. (
Copyright 1995) (c)
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Noel Redding (
25 December 1945 -- 11 May
2003) was an
English rock bassist and guitarist best known for his work as bassist with
The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Born as
David Noel Redding in
Folkestone, he was selected by
Chas Chandler to join
Hendrix's band at its inception in 1966 and left in
1969. Although he played in other bands before, after, and even during his stint with the
Experience, he never achieved a similar level of success and retired to
Clonakilty, Ireland, in
1972.
At age nine,
Redding played violin at school and then mandolin and guitar. His first public appearances were at the Hythe
Youth Club then at
Harvey Grammar School where he was a student.
His first local bands, in which he played lead guitar, were:
The Strangers: with
John "
Andy" Andrews (bass)
The Lonely Ones:
1961 -
John Andrews (bass), Bob Hiscocks (rhythm guitar), Mick Wibley (drums),
Pete Kircher (vocals and in '62, drums). The Lonely Ones made a privately pressed EP at the Hayton
Manor Studio in
Stanford, Kent, in
1963, with
Derek Knight on vocals,
Trevor Sutton on drums, Noel Redding on lead guitar and John Andrews on bass.
First recordings: "
Some Other Guy"; "
Money"; "
Talking About You"; "
Anna".
The Loving Kind: 1966 with
Pete (Kircher)
Carter (drums);
Jim Leverton (bass); and Derek Knight (vocals).
At 17 Redding went professional and toured clubs in
Scotland and
Germany with
Neil Landon and the Burnettes (formed in late 1962) and The Loving Kind (formed in
November 1965). In addition, The Lonely Ones reunited in
September 1964, and Redding remained with them a year before taking his leave.
Redding switched from guitar to bass on joining the
Jimi Hendrix Experience. He was the first person to join the Experience, and the first to leave. His final concert with them was in June 1969. With the band, he helped create the 3 landmark albums
Are You Experienced,
Axis: Bold as Love, and
Electric Ladyland, as well as performing in some of Hendrix's most celebrated concerts. His playing style was distinguished by the use of a pick, a mid-range "trebly" sound, and in later years the use of fuzz and distortion effects through overdriven
Sunn amps. His role in the band was that of a time-keeper. He would typically lay down a bass groove which Hendrix and drummer
Mitch Mitchell would loosely play on top of. He wrote two
album tracks, "
Little Miss Strange" and "
She's So Fine". He played the bass line on "
Red House" using the bass strings on a normal six-string guitar.
In
1968, Redding formed the group
Fat Mattress with another
Kent musician, Neil Landon (born as
Patrick Cahill, 27 July
1941, Kindford,
Sussex), on vocals.
The band also included Jim Leverton (born 1946,
Dover, Kent) on bass and keyboards and
Eric Dillon (born
1950,
Swindon) on drums. Redding played guitar and vocals, and a key part of the Fat Mattress sound was the vocal harmonies between him, Landon, and
Leverton. The band initially toured in support of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, requiring Redding to play two full sets each night.
He left Fat Mattress after only one album with them, though some of his compositions would appear on their second album.
Hendrix's manager,
Michael Jeffery, attempted to reunite the Jimi Hendrix Experience months after the
Woodstock event. The three were interviewed by
Rolling Stone magazine, but no shows or recordings resulted. Redding soon went on to other projects. While living in
Los Angeles he formed
Road,[6] a three-piece in the same psychedelic hard rock vein as the Experience, with
Rod Richards (born as Rod Cox; ex
Rare Earth) on guitar and Les
Sampson on drums, and Redding himself switching back to bass. They released one album, Road (1972), with the three members taking turns on lead vocals.
Noel Redding moved to
Ireland in 1972. He formed
The Noel Redding Band with
Eric Bell from
Thin Lizzy,
Dave Clarke, Les Sampson, and
Robbie Walsh.
Despite the band's name, Redding shared songwriting and lead vocal duties equally with
Clarke. They did two albums for
RCA, three tours of the
Netherlands, two tours of
England, one tour of Ireland, and a 10 week tour in the US. The band dissolved after a dispute with their management company.
Tracks recorded for a third unreleased album were later released as
The Missing Album on
Mouse Records.
Redding was married to
Danish schoolteacher
Susanne Redding.
Redding recorded and toured sporadically through the years, occasionally doing session work for other artists, including Thin Lizzy and
Traffic. He performed with the rock band
Phish in
1993. He also formed
Shut Up Frank with Dave Clarke,
Mick Avory of
The Kinks and
Dave Rowberry of
The Animals. They toured extensively and recorded several albums.