The Jimi Hendrix Experience Animals bassist, Chas Chandler, formed a backing band with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. Mitchell was a seasoned London drummer formerly with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. Hendrix chose Redding because of his attitude towards music and his hairstyle. Redding had been a guitar player until that time, but played bass in the band. The name "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" was coined by their business manager Michael Jeffery. The first official appearance of "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" (invited by French singer Johnny Hallyday) was at the "Novelty" in Évreux, France, on October 13, 1966. Six days later
Angel (Jimi Hendrix song) of material recorded during this period, "Angel" was produced by Hendrix and engineered by Eddie Kramer. Jimi Hendrix wrote "Angel" in reference to a dream he had about his mother, Lucille Hendrix née Jeter, when he was a child; speaking in a December 1967 interview conducted by Meatball Fulton, Hendrix explained the inspiration behind the song by describing the dream as follows: Writing for the biography "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy", Hendrix historians Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek have compared "Angel" – which they describe as "arguably Jimi's finest ballad" – with fellow "The Cry of Love" track "Night Bird Flying",