Happy 55th Birthday to the excellent Stone Roses Lead Guitarist, Co-Songwriter and provider of the cover art, John Squire who was born in Altrincham on this day in 1962...
Ragtime composer and pianist, Scott Joplin was born on this day in Northeast Texas in 1868. This is probably his most recognisable piece...
Happy 62nd Birthday to Drummer Clement Burke (aka Elvis Ramone) of Blondie and The Ramones was born on this day in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1955...
Rockabilly Guitarist, Tommy Allsup of The Crickets was born on this day in Owasso, Oklahoma in 1931. He is famous for nearly becoming a tragic footnote in music history when he flipped a coin to win a seat on the plane that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, but he "lost" to Valens. He Co-Wrote this....
From the luckiest man in Rock history to the unluckiest!...The Drummer that got sacked by The Beatles on the cusp of them breaking big, Pete Best is 76 today, having been born in Delhi on this day in 1941...
It has been said that Pete Best could barely carry a beat, but I think that's a bit harsh, especially when you consider Ringo's fairly limited abilities. Starkey's style undoubtedly suited them better though. But let's face it, he was no John Bonham or Mitch Mitchell. Both of which would have detracted from the sound of the Beatles. It has never been what you know, but who you know. And whether or not you're a drummer, good timing.!
While I agree with the overall sentiment, I would suggest that Mitch Mitchell could have hacked it. He's a drummer who, to borrow a sporting term, was quite capable of playing within himself...I've always been a huge fan of his line on "Hey Joe", because it's a series of fills that keep threatening a crescendo, but each time draws back to a subtler beat. Really increases the tension in the song, and speaks to his qualities as a drummer; a lesser one wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to let loose.
Mitch Mitchell was amongst my favourite musicians. And I totally agree with you, but I still think he would have made the Beatles sound a trifle more complicated, because he was capable of doing so. Ringo was comfortable doing what he did, and it showed. He kept a good steady beat and a short drum roll, but he was barely capable of a solo. That suited the Beatles down to the ground. The were the 1960's pop group that pretty much defined the term. It wa only when they went slightly psychedelic that pop group became rock band. And through all this, Ringo's drumming hardly changed a jot.
It is quite interesting picking up on this debate because there is an inherent problem in pop / rock with many drummers not being able to keep a steady tempo and the whole business of using the Fairlight systems in the 1980's was that it obviated the need to use a "live" drummer who could be unreliable. There is a story about Keith Moon wanting to study drums with the great "Philly" Joe Jones who had played with Miles back in the 50s and was resident in Europe in either the 60's or yo0's. I believe that Moon was aware of a need to brush up his technique but when Jones found out how much money he earned with a rock group, he is alleged to have said that he could teach him nothing! Ringo Starr is a bit of a joke as a drummer and if you are wanting someone to simply keep time, you might as well amp up a metronome. I am not too familiar with rock music, but JIm Keltner and Ginger Baker are probably amongst the best. Philly Joe with Hank Mobley:-
Would quite like to have continued the drummer theme, but for now would like to pose a question to my fellow music lovers. Saw Jake Bugg last night. 3 generations went and no-one was disappointed. Holding two fingers up to yesterday with my 21 year old granddaughter was a scream. But my point is, that we were at the Phil, not an arena. The crowd were lively but listened. When he played you could have cut the emotional atmosphere with a knife. So just how much better is it to see an act in a theatre or a club than an arena? The sound last night was spot on, with no echoes (The Liverpool Echo Arena is well named!) and we could actually see young Jake who seemed very relaxed.
Lambo I go to a jazz festival in France each year where the music is performed in an 8000 capacity Roman theatre. The venue is quite special as you have incredible vistas of the river Rhone and the hills in the background. For me, this is the best music venue in the world because I love roman history as much as I love music. I saw Aaron Diehl's trio in the Turner Sims this Friday and the gig was less than 40% full and the atmosphere was lacking. The previous week I have seen a full house lap up Christian Scott's music. I think that the size of venue is a factor but not as much as the percentage of people in attendance. Being in to jazz, I think a small club setting or a small concert hall where you can see what is going on and register the inaction between the musicians is crucial. In large open air festivals I find that not everyone is paying attention and people talking can distract you from the music. This is extremely annoying, On other occasions, there have been groups I have seen who rely on audience interaction and the sets have fallen flat because the audience are too retiring to engage. This is especially the case when I saw the Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans about twenty odd years ago when the musicians were bemused by the lack of interaction. To be honest, I prefer hearing jazz in a small setting. The best gig I have ever been to was hearing Kenny Garrett leasing a quartet with Pat Metheny and Brian Blade performing John Coltrane's music in a small, intimate club in Copenhaven, It was an incredible experience but the music went up a gear when Dave Liebman came down the stairs of the club, was recognised and invited to sit in on soprano and play "Like Sonny." It was amazingly intense but the shear power of the music would not have been as impressive as it was in that small club where all members of the audience were totally engaged.
Meanwhile back at drummers. Lots of very ordinary drummers around in the 60's. You're right, Jimi's band were different league, as were Cream. Mention of the genius who was Bert Jansch reminds me of Terry Cox, a fabulously subtle drummer. John Densmore was a total genius, but there was a lot of very simple toe tapping. One of things I notice now is how much drummers dominate the sound. Dominic Howard of Muse, for example almost seems to orchestrate the band. Matts Helder allows Alex Turner to wander off on a vocal while holding it together. Of course Ringo Starr was a joke, but then people reckon David Beckham was an average football player. Spoke to their financial advisers recently!
