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Don't you just love it when someone or something helps you get through your day? Today's Monday Music Mambo is all about helping. The theme is Lend A Helping Hand Day. Here are the questions I asked:

1. What song, artist, or album has helped you through a rough time?

The album Legend by Bob Marley helped me a great deal last fall when I was going through a small social crisis. The soothing sounds and uplifting lyrics helped me to relax and realize that, somehow, everything was going to be all right.

2. Name at least one song with the word "Help" in the title. If you really can't think of anything, a song by a certain British foursome is acceptable.

"With A Little Help From My Friends" by The Beatles is one of the few songs I can think of. Of course, the song "Help!" is another.

3. A really good band has members who help each other play better. Sometimes it's the entire band that clicks, and other times it's a pairing of two people who would not perform the same without each other. Name me a band, pair of people or whatever other combination you like that fits the above description.

Jimi Hendrix and his drummer Mitch Mitchell were one of those explosive combinations of people that make great music together. Jimi needed someone who could stand up to his crazy, improvisational guitar playing without getting lost in the mix. Mitch, too, needed a proper musical format for his hit-everything-within-sight style of drumming. It might have created chaos, but this combination of two out-of-the-box musicians worked very well just for the creativity alone.

As a whole, Jimi's band worked well together because the bass player kept the tune. If the bass wasn't there to hold things together, the music would have been a messy jumble of sounds. I'm not a huge fan of Noel Redding, although he wasn't bad. Billy Cox as a much stronger presence as a bass player for Jimi and Mitch.