Noel Redding

(this article was from the webhttp://www.thestar.com/Obituary/NtoS/article/107778)DUBLI N, Ireland (AP) — Noel Redding, bass player for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience from its formation in 1966 through its dissolution three years later, has died. He was 57.Redding was found dead Monday at his home in the town of Clonakilty in southern Ireland, his manager, Ian Grant, said today. An autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death."Noel was an extremely gentle and gracious soul. He had a kind of chivalry and nobility about him and he was kind to everyone bar none, people and animals alike," said Deborah McNaughton, his longtime partner.Chas Chandler, a former bassist for The Animals who became a rock manager, recruited Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell to form the Experience with Hendrix in England.The band produced three groundbreaking albums of psychedelic rock — Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. Its hits included "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "Foxey Lady."The group broke up in 1969 before the famed Woodstock appearance by Hendrix, who died the next year from choking on his vomit after taking sleeping pills and drinking wine.Redding wrote two Experience songs: "She's So Fine" and "Little Miss Strange."Born Dec. 25, 1945, in the English Channel port city of Folkestone, Redding played with the Modern Jazz Group and the Loving Kind before joining the Experience.He has said that his greatest achievement was playing the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where the Experience made its American debut and Hendrix lit his guitar on fire, and the band's 1992 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.After the break-up of the Experience, Redding formed his own band, Fat Mattress, which released a 1969 album of the same name, followed by Fat Mattress 2 in 1970. Both were re-released as a set in 2000.Later, he formed the Noel Redding Band, which recorded Clonakilty Cowboys in 1975 and Blowin' in 1976. Other recordings included On Tour in 2001 and last year's Live From Bunkr-Prague.In 1990, Redding and Mitchell each published books about their experiences."Jimi's death was the most lucrative act of his sad career," Redding wrote in Are You Experienced? in which he alleged that the Hendrix estate owed him money.In February, Redding threatened to sue Experience Hendrix, the company that manages the Hendrix catalogue, for up to $5 million in lost earnings. The estate rejected the claim.Today, the Experience Hendrix Web site mourned Redding's death, saying, "His contributions to the Jimi Hendrix Experience shall never be forgotten."Redding played most Friday nights for the last 20 years at De Barra, a local pub, Grant said, often with his friends John Coughlin from Status Quo and Eric Bell of Thin Lizzy.Redding had no children. A funeral was planned for the weekend in Clonakilty.
Noel Redding AKA David ReddingBorn: 25-Dec-1943 Birthplace: Folkestone, Kent, England Died: 11-May-2003 Location of death: Clonakilty, Cork, Ireland Cause of death: Natural CausesGender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: BassistNationality: England Executive summary: Bassist for The Jimi Hendrix ExperienceRetired to Ireland in 1972.Bitterly regretted being forced to sign away his rights to royalties from the Jimi Hendrix Experience catalogue in 1974.Wife: Susanne (div.) Son: Nicolas Noel ReddingBorn in Folkestone, England, he was selected by Chas Chandler to join Hendrix's band in 1966, and left in 1969. Although he appeared in other bands before and after Hendrix's death, he never achieved a similar level of success, and retired to Clonakilty, Ireland in 1972.At 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 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 (45 EP vinyl, private record) 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 in Scotland and Germany, in the clubs with Neil Landon and the Burnettes formed in late 1962 and The Loving Kind formed in November 1965.Redding was the first person to join the Jimi Hendrix Experience.Redding went on to form Fat Mattress with another Kent musician Neil Landon (the former Burnettes-singer) (born Neil Cahil, 27 July 1941, in Kindford, Sussex on vocals, Jim Leverton (born James Leverton, in 1946, in Dover, Kent) and Eric Dillon, the drummer, (born in 1950, in Swindon). Later, Martin Barre played for a short time before he joined Jethro Tull.One more effort by Hendrix manager, Michael Jeffery was attempted to reunite the Jimi Hendrix Experience months after the Woodstock event. This basically consisted of an interview with Hendrix, Redding and Mitchell by Rolling Stone magazine. No shows or recordings resulted. He soon left the Jimi Hendrix Experience for the last time and went on to other projects.While living in Los Angeles. Noel joined Road, a heavy metal outfit. They released one album, Road (1972).Noel moved to Ireland in 1972. He formed The Noel Redding Band with Eric Bell from Thin Lizzy, Dave Clark and Les Sampson. 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 America. The band dissolved after a dispute with their management company.In his book Are You Experienced? (co-authored with Carol Appleby) he spoke openly about his disappointment in his being cut off from the profits of the continued sale of the Hendrix recordings. He was forced to sign away his royalties in 1974, and later had to sell the bass guitar he used during that time.Noel Redding recorded and toured sporadically through the years, occasionally doing session work on other artists' albums. He performed with the rock band Phish in 1993.Redding was found dead in his home in Ireland on May 12, 2003. He was 57 years old. In the village of Ardfield, local people have erected a plaque to his memory.A compilation CD and record entitled The Experience Sessions was released by Experience Hendrix, LCC in 2004. Along with the released tracks ("She's So Fine" and "Little Miss Strange") the collection contains rare and unreleased Redding-penned songs recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Most of the tracks are outtakes from Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland, and feature Redding predominantly on guitar (with Hendrix on bass). It also features a live version of Hendrix's "Red House" with Redding on rhythm guitar.[edit] DiscographyOther bands noel redding was in was, Fat Mattress Road The Noel Redding Band