JAY: - As I am an opportunist and a very nervous rock scholar, I requested an in-depth interview. What follows are some highlights, starting with the early days. Young Noel learned to play the violin, then the banjo and the guitar, and at age 16 he attended art school in London, where he studied commercial art before deciding to pursue a musical career, playing with The Modern Jazz Group and The Burnetts -
NOEL: All the groups at that time played in Germany. It wasn't a good job, but at least it was average, £ 30 a week. The Beatles had made it very fashionable, but you played these big clubs from 7 to 2 every night, in addition to matinees! We did it for a couple of years.
JAY: Were they all consciously influenced by the Beatles musically as well?
NOEL: In Germany at that time, we were expected to play Beatles songs, because that was what was on the hit list. While we were there, our mothers sent us a new single once a month so we could learn it. The Germans expected the top 40, like the Rolling Stones. Then we started to play some blues, which was appreciated by many Germans, especially in Frankfurt. Frankfurt especially. They just wanted us to keep them entertained for about seven hours.
JAY: Then you did three singles with The Loving Kind. I know you had some kind of management problem, but how did you go from there to auditioning for The Animals?
NOEL: I basically left the group and thought about becoming a drummer as there weren't many at the time ... I saw an ad on Melody Maker that Eric Burdon was doing these auditions. I went and played the guitar, and Chas Chandler asked me to try playing the bass. Jimi was in the building that day.
JAY: Have you ever heard of him, or heard of him?
NOEL: Nothing at all. It was all a bit strange, because he had never played bass. Jimi came and we only did three songs, no vocals or anything. Very little was said. Afterward, Jimi asked me if he wanted to go down to the pub. There Jimi would ask me about English music and I would ask him about the American scene. Then he asked me if he wanted to join his new group.
JAY: Was the concept, from the beginning, to be a three-piece band?
NOEL: Well, it wasn't known at the time because at the beginning there was a keyboard player with us. Everything was very open and unspoken. I think I just wanted the right mix of musicians, the perfect chemistry.
JAY Was there any feeling, any premonition, that in a few weeks they would be playing Olympus and breaking attendance records across Europe?
NOEL: Not really. Everything went very fast. First, we went through a series of drummers over the course of a week or so, before finding Mitch Mitchell. Then Chas tossed a coin and we ended up going to a concert in France, to do three tunes. At the time, I didn't realize that everything would go so fast, but I DID realize that we were doing something totally DIFFERENT.
JAY: Tell us about the unfortunate tour that found you playing in support of the Monkees.
NOEL: Personally, I think it was a lot of fun. We were traveling in a private plane, with our Monkees badges and all. We did not go well with the public, but we did what we could. As for the promotion, I thought it was a great way for a lot of people to see us, but a lot of other people thought it was a bad decision. It wasn't ALL disastrous shows. Nobody was throwing things at us or anything like that. They were just eager to see the Monkees. It was nice, a bit of fun, and it created a bit of publicity, didn't it!
JAY: What was your perception of Monterey?
NOEL: First of all, it was my first time in America. It was an incredible moment for me. I sat next to Brian Jones, about whom I had just read a book. Besides, he was only 21 years old! There I was in San Francisco with Booker T And The MGs, Otis Redding, all my heroes! We stuck around and when we finally got on stage, after The Who, and Jimi did the part of it, it was the moment we took over America, I think. I don't think anyone knew I was going to set his guitar on fire. The scene in America at that time was very different from what you were used to in Europe. It must have been pretty overwhelming.
As an observation, at that time we did not have very long hair. Upon arriving in the United States, I realized that all the people were laughing at me on the street, pointing at my hair! It was a bit strange because I thought that the United States was the most advanced and progressive country in the world. But we got over it. The other thing: when we got to Monterey, people were hanging out in various "states", if you know what I mean, ha ha! It was the heart of the "hippies", a totally different scene from Europe. It was amazing ate right at Haight-Ashbury. I wish I had more time! She was too busy working and overwhelmed by everything.
JAY: You mention the different "states" that people were in. Not to insist on the dark side, but was it all bread and roses, or was the deadly undertone already starting to come into play? You know, the danger, the drugs ...
NOEL: No, everyone was quite happy, having a good time ... I mean, these things were illegal in Europe in those days. A few joints and uppers maybe, but that summer in America was, the year of LSD, right? While you were with the Hendrix Experience, you formed
JAY: You formed a four-member side band called Fat Mattress.
NOEL: That's right, two of the members were from The Loving Kind. In late '67, this was my songwriting outing, and Jimi seemed to think the idea was great. We all plan to have our side projects separate, to keep everyone happy, but also to keep the Experience going.
JAY: But then the Experience parted ways. Was the separation really planned to be temporary? Be sincere.
NOEL: Well, the Experience ended in June '69 when everyone went to do their own thing. The idea was that, in January or February, we were going to re-form the original Experience to do a great tour of America, Australia, Japan and Europe. But then around March, when we were supposed to start rehearsing again, I realized that Michael Jeffries was, well, at that point he was asking a lot of questions about finances, about where all the money was. I think they brought Billy Cox because I was asking a lot of questions.
JAY: The rumor is that you heard about Billy Cox and then he became the first to officially leave permanently, announcing that he was not coming back. Is this how it happened?
NOEL: Well, in 1969 there was talk of the "expansion" of the band. They hadn't asked me about it. Then in 1970, we were going to get together again, like I said, for this big tour. But by then I had become, I don't know, too big of a problem. They didn't want to deal with me any more than I wanted to deal with them.
JAY: In August 1969, while Jimi was appearing on The Tonight Show - without you - you were premiering Fat Mattress at the Windsor Jazz Festival. Which one was his
NOEL: "The idea was that, in January or February, we were going to reform the original Experience to do a great tour of America, Australia, Japan and Europe''
JAY: relationship with Jimi right now?
NOEL: Completely fine. When we met again in the early 1970s, there was no animosity. We did an interview with Rolling Stone and then when we got back from rehearsals, I found out from someone else that they had gotten to rehearse with Cox. It bothered me a lot because Hendrix didn't have the ... neck to tell me face to face.
JAY: I find it interesting that you switched to lead guitar back then.
NOEL: I wouldn't have tried to simulate Jimi's style because who could? I used the guitar while writing the songs, because it is easier to show someone the song with a guitar. There were also problems with Fat Mattress. We had a great discussion, about songwriting, I think. I must admit that after The Experience I was very tired, on the verge of collapse. We basically decided to call it quits, after doing the second album and a few dates to see if we could keep working together. That's when I was about to rejoin The Experience, but that never happened. I should have taken some time off.
JAY: Instead, you jumped into various session jobs. The one that comes to mind is Screaming Lord Sutch, with Jimmy Page, Bonham, Jeff Beck ...
NOEL: I did those sessions with him in Los Angeles, just putting my bass on top of the tape, and then a few more in London. It was kind of "play your bass here, thank you very much." You know, you have to pay the bills.
JAY: How about the pseudonym you used on the Randy California record? Kaptain Kopter. Why was "Clit MeTorious" contractually prohibited from using his real name?
NOEL: [Laughs] So he was hired by Motown. The drummer thought about it. He was originally going to call me "Henry Mankovitz", but they turned him around. I saw Randy again in 1990 in Paris and played with him, and he was in great shape that night.
JAY: He seems to be a very mercurial guy, who goes from one mood to another.
NOEL: "J kept a diary in which he reviewed the concerts, and there were many bad ones. The drugs and the exhaustion. He reached a point where he was very selfish ... Well, he is a Pisces, ha ha !
JAY: Then came the band The Road, which I understand didn't last long. Then you moved to Ireland at the end of '72.
NOEL: I still play with some of those guys. Les Sampson is my friend on a new project, as well as Dave Clark, who now plays guitar as well as keyboards. I just toured Sweden with Dave, Mick Avory from The Kinks, and Dave Rowberry from The Animals. We did some Kinks, some Animals, something Dave Clark and I have been writing, "Hey Joe." We are now playing Irish pubs. Looking for a record label?
I've done a few demos in the last couple of years. I've met a few people in New York and there seems to be some interest. It's difficult, since I basically disappeared around 1978.
JAY: Can you tell us about the effects of the various lawsuits you've been through?
NOE: I settled my lawsuit with the Hendrix estate around 1974, but I still had a dispute with the Michael Jeffries estate. There were also two other guys who had received an advance from RCA for $ 326,000, of which we got about $ 50,000. I had to take a loan from the bank, and then I was forced to settle the inheritance disputes. Financially, if you can't afford to keep fighting a lawsuit, you have to settle. In the end, he just had no money, to be honest.
JAY: Weren't you and Mitch involved in a Hendrix tribute band with Rand Hansen? It must have been a ghostly experience, reliving a time so far away. Did you do u because music was still a challenge to play?
NOEL: Well, I don't have to rehearse a lot, do I? [Laughs]
JAY: You need to live, you know what I mean? I'm not exactly fine, I don't get any artist royalties or
NOE: nothing like that. There is an interest, a nostalgia, I suppose. We played basically the same way The Experience did, totally and absolutely free. You have your basic format for a song and, at any moment of a solo, you stretch out and then come back whenever. We stretch out a bit, musically Mitch and I have done it at separate times but never together.
JAY: Did Jimi really "cast a spell on those two white guys, as they say in the movie? Was their relationship work-related or were they all on the adventure together?
NOEL: We were completely together. For a band, we got along really well. There were only a few problems, mainly because of the women or the music.
JAY: I guess you avoided beating around the bush, when it comes to secondary postures. It must have been difficult to see Jimni becoming more and more tied up
NOEL: He was. He was going to his hotel room, and he wasn't there. There were all kinds of people getting room service and smoking all those joints, etcetera, etcetera, and I could tell it was getting, you know, a little off. But what could I say? It also affected performances. He kept a diary in which he reviewed the concerts, and there were a lot of bad ones. The drugs and the exhaustion He got to a point where he was very selfish, and I don't like that. I think she was in Devonshire, there was a hum on the amp. He played with his back to the audience and then left. That is really embarrassing for me and Mitch. So he would say something to him, he would try to scold him and put it in my journal.
When he died, well, I saw him a couple of weeks before he passed away. It was great, we got along pretty well. I would like to think that things were in order, that nothing was left unsolved. That is what I would like to think.
JAY: - Noel and I chatted some more, about his fiancée, about Janis Joplin ("I never realized she was a junkie!"), Her life in Ireland ("There is no club scene except this new place called The Experience, ha ha! ") and their hopes for the future. "I would never do a tour of more than a month," he declares, "whatever happens! It's the only way to stay sane." About the extent of the legend that he has achieved, he speaks in a low voice. "I try not to think about it. I find it all a bit surreal. I mean I'm just one more bass player." -
But we all know that it is not so
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