Noel has been playing guitar with various groups since he left school five years ago. Noel formed Ħ°The Loving KindĦħin October 1965. Unhappily at the group's lack of recording success, and being not a little bit ambitious, Noel went his own way and attended an audition Jimi was holding in October 1966. He was persuaded to change from guitar to bass guitar, which he managed to do very successfully, making a strong contribution to the driving rhythm behind Jimi's extraordinary lead guitar.