Jimi Hendrix Bassist Noel Redding Dead At Age 57

05/13/2003 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks

(5/13/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding died Sunday (May 11) at his home in Ireland at the age of 57, according to billboard.com. The cause of death is still unknown. Redding's manager, Ian Grant, posted a message on the Track Records website, trackrecords.co.uk, which said: "I can't yet take it in that once more, I am sitting at my desk bringing sad news. Noel passed away. Noel Redding Born—25th December 1945 Died--11th May 2003." No funeral or memorial arrangements have been announced.

Grant's message also included these words from Redding's girlfriend, Deborah McNaughton. "I am very shocked to learn of my partner's death,” McNaughton said. “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."

A statement was released by Experience Hendrix, the family enterprise which oversees the Hendrix estate, which said, "We at Experience Hendrix mourn the loss of Noel Redding. His contributions to the Jimi Hendrix Experience shall never be forgotten. Our prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."

Redding rose to fame as the bass player with the Jimi Hendrix Experience from 1966 to 1969, but he was a guitarist by trade. After leaving Hendrix, under unhappy circumstances, Redding formed the groups Fat Mattress, Road, and the Noel Redding Band, none of which ever came close to the kind of success he had with the Experience.

In recent years, Redding had written a book and had spoken out about what he claimed was his lack of profit from the continued sale of the Hendrix recordings. He once said, "I was forced to sign away my royalties in 1974. I even had to sell the bass I used during that time, for $16,000." After living for about 30 years in a large house in West Cork, Ireland, that might have dated back to 1680, Redding put the house and property up for sale last summer so he and McNaughton could move to a smaller place in the countryside, according to The Irish Examiner.

At the time, the paper said Redding was living mainly off the royalties from songs he wrote with other artists over the years, the rental income from a guest cottage on his property, and the money he earned by playing every Friday night in a nearby pub, which he'd been doing for 18 years.

Grant told billboard.com that the battle over money dating to Redding's time with Hendrix was just about to enter a new phase. "We were about to be in court over it, and we were on top,” Grant said. “And now he will never know how it turns out. I don't know what will happen with it now." Grant, who'd been Redding's manager for the past two years, added, "I was on a mission to right the wrongs that had been done to him."

Despite his bitterness about the way he thought the music business had treated him, Redding always understood what his music meant to fans, according to Jim Fricke, curatorial manager at the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle. "I don't think he could have missed the impact of what he had done and the joy he'd brought to people's lives, 'cause, you know, he was a recognizable figure,” Fricke said. “And particularly coming through the Jimi Hendrix gallery at Experience Music Project, people lit up, and everyone kind of gravitated to him."

The EMP features among its permanent displays a stage set with Redding's bass and amplifier alongside Mitch Mitchell's drums and the guitar Hendrix played at the original Woodstock festival in 1969. Fricke said that seeing his equipment in such a place of honor made Redding proud. "He was really proud, I think, to have this pride of place in a major cultural institution--that, in itself, you know, he seemed to get some gratification from,” Fricke said. “But just walking through the building, you know, it's just person after person coming up to him and wanting to shake his hand and all of that. So, I think he realized the impact that he'd had."

Of his client and friend, Grant said, "In working with him, I knew him as a very kind, considerate man, especially given what happened to him with royalties and such. He struggled at various times to reap the benefits of that part of his career...He's now with Jimi, I guess, and they'll be comparing notes."

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