It is official, there was a MAJOR concert and jam session going on in Heaven this past weekend.  Unfortunately for us, however, that means that we lost yet another rock legend over the past few days.  That’s right, Mitch Mitchell, legendary drummer for Hendrix, has passed away.  The fact that there have been many amazing rock drummers takes absolutely nothing away from Mitchell, his sound, his style and his drums were completely indispensible to the entire Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Mitchell, who was 61, was found dead in his hotel room Wednesday of last week.  Reports now are saying the death was of natural causes, and he went peacefully in his sleep.  Sadly, this marks the death of the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  As mentioned, I do not doubt that Heaven was absolutely ROCKING Thursday and all the way through this weekend.  He will be missed, as he brought a unique style to drumming that few could match.

According to an article on NPR, “Back in the mid-1960s, many drummers came to rock, either from the snap and precision of a youth spent in drum and bugle corps (like The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart) or jazz (like The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts). Mitchell fell into the latter camp, using jazz as a touchstone for what was supposed to be just a two-week gig.”

Two-weeks turned into a lot longer than that, and the entire music world has lost a genius this week.  Rest in Peace Mitch, and to his family that survives him, thank you for Mitch.  Check him out below…he will be missed.

Happy Friday friends.  Today we’re going to start rocking what is going to be a new feature on GuitarBassMan…funky, awesome, rare and unique guitar videos every Friday morning.  Why not start your weekend off a little early with some rare glimpses into rock and roll past, present and future with some video proof of everything from hardcore shredding to tearjerking acoustic solos?

To start things off, I thought who better to start things off with than one of the best, of the best, of the best of all time, Jimi Hendrix?  This is obviously from a long, long time ago and is a pretty awesome, fun performance of Purple Haze and shows just how laid back Hendrix is when he’s playing.

Without further ado, enjoy Hendrix, enjoy Purple Haze and more than anything, enjoy your weekend.  Got any videos you are dying to see, or any videos you think we should all enjoy?  Leave us some comments, leave us an email, or send us some recommendations!

The fact that Guitar Hero is one of the most popular video games to EVER hit the market should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone out there.  The moment it was launched, millions of kids and adults alike were able to live out their rock and roll fantasies all in the comfort of their own homes, and all without any actual musical ability whatsoever.

Now, all of us who are STILL living out those fantasies with each subsequent Guitar Hero release, get to live it out even more, in the form of a few new “Download Packs” that are coming out in early November.  All I need to say to get people extremely hyped up for these extra songs is two words:  Jimi.  Hendrix.  Enough said.  Word is, “The Jimi Hendrix Track Pack, arriving November 13, features “If 6 Was 9,” “Little Wing,” and a live version of “Fire.”” Count me IN.  The cool news is that at the very same time, they will be also throwing out a Raconteurs Track Pack a week later that gives you the ability to rock on songs like “Salute Your Solution,” “Hold Up,” and “Consoler of the Lonely.”

It looks like all of this will go for the price of about 440 Microsoft Points, which loosely translates into $5.49 on the PlayStation Network.  Not too shabby to Rock like Jimi.

Jimi Hendrix’s burnt 1965 Fender Stratocaster I mentioned yesterday, sold for £280,000 at the Fame Bureau’s It’s More Than Rock And Roll auction, after intense bidding. The guitar’s anticipated sale price of a quarter of a million dollars.

Daniel Boucher, an American collector and winner of the Hendrix guitar, says: “I thought I’d have to pay a little bit more for it, actually. I am going to play it, I hope some of it rubs off on me.” Wow, guy. You could get a lifetime worth of guitar lessons for less than what you spent on that guitar and I’m guessing they would work better.

Another item auctioned off that seems pretty cool was the lyrics for Sexy Sadie, a song from The Beatles’ White Album, which were carved by John Lennon onto a wooden plaque. Did I say pretty cool? Maybe not so cool along with a price tag of £32,000!

The legendary guitar, which was found earlier this year, will go on sale tomorrow at an auction in London titled It’s Not Just Rock n’ Roll. Hendrix “sacrificed” the fender strat by setting fire to it at the end of a performance on March 31, 1967 in the UK, an “act which turned him from rumor to legend.” According to the BBC, the pickup switch is the only thing that has been altered on the charred guitar since Jimi last played it. They anticipate that the guitar will go for at least a quarter of a million dollars.

Hendrix was known to have lit two guitars on fire during his short-lived career. Footage was taken of his second guitar torching during his kick-off performance of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and can be viewed here.

Other items that will be on sale in the auction tomorrow include The Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison’s last notebook of poems, The Beatles’ first contract signed in 1962 and an unreleased song by David Bowie titled Mockingbird.

“Universal Music Enterprises (UME) says there are no plans to release Jimi Hendrix archival material as part of a recent agreement with Wolfgang’s Vault to sell vintage live performance downloads on the latter Web site.

As reported last week, Universal entered into an agreement with Wolfgang’s Vault that gives UME the opportunity to release certain live recordings by UMG artists. The master tapes originated from the archives of late concert promoter Bill Graham and were purchased in 2003 by Wolfgang’s Vault.”

This is unfortunate as Wolfgang’s Vault has access to hundreds if not thousands of legendary live recordings, ranging all the way from the 60’s up to the mid-to-late 90’s. Artists such as Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and many more have all played Bill Graham events and therefore have a large amount of material in the vault. Hopefully Universal Music can work out an agreement as these recordings, I am sure, are quite interesting and historical.

Source.