The Jam – But I’m Different Now
Some of you many be aware of how much I think Rick Buckler held The Jam back from being a top-notch band. To me, no Buckler performance best illustrates how off the mark this guy could be. Is there a drummer in the house to explain the point of the drum beat he has chosen for “But I’m Different Now”? I’m not sure that the version supplied by Townswoman Sally C is the released version from Sound Affects, but that is the version that puzzles me. While you’re at it, is there a bandleader in the house to tell me how Weller tolerated all those swishy hi-hits in the middle of his slashing guitar rhythms? I look forward to your responses.

I’m assuming the following Captain Beefheart video features the drumming of John “Drumbo” French.

I love Beefheart and I have no qualms whatsoever with the drumming of John French. He’s perfect for those seminal Magic Band albums, led by Trout Mask Replica. I’m not remembering all the details about the guy’s role in the band, but beside playing drums and guitar in various formations of the Magic Band, I believe he was Beefheart’s envoy to the rest of his band. Isn’t that true? What I’m curious to know is, could the guy drum? Was it French’s chops that made this strange rhythmic magic come together, or was he an idiot savant, paired up with the right songwriter for his unholy skills?

“Electricity” (live excerpt)

Does French play on all of the more normal-sounding Safe as Milk lp? I’m never clear about who’s who on those albums. Here’s a live clip of an excerpt of “Electricity” from that album. This is probably French on drums. He’s obviously following a set pattern on this transitional (ie, to Trout Mask Replica other-worldlyness) number, but he plays with the abandon and lack of finesse I could imagine of myself or any number of other mediocre guitarists excited by the chance to shine behind the drum kit. Does anyone else feel that beginner’s joy in his playing?

By the time Beefheart had returned to mixing in normal-sounding songs (eg, the excellent Clear Spot), wasn’t French out of the band or shifted over to guitar? I used to own that album French did with Richard Thompson, Henry Kaiser, and Fred Frith, but I don’t recall whether his drumming was any less difficult to follow.

Is there a drummer in the house?
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Help me out today, drummers. Townswoman Sally Cinnamon sent me this Mod-era instrumental by The Jay Jays called “The Cruncher”. Pretty cool song with pretty cool drumming and guitar fragments. The drummer is playing what I call aerosol cymbals, a style of cymbal playing most frequently associated with Ringo Starr‘s work on early Beatles records. It has an undeniable appeal on early listens, but you may be aware by now that Mr. Moderator is typically uncomfortable with anything more than quarter notes on the ride cymbal and tight, controlled hi-hats. He could do without all but a handful of well-placed crash cymbals in any song. Check out what the drummer is doing in this song:

The Jay Jays, “The Cruncher”*

Now, please explain to your drum-naive Moderator the value of this style of playing, what cymbal is being smashed repeatedly, and why this style only seems to work in songs recorded from 1961-1965. Thank you.

*Rock Town Hall apologizes profusely for providing a digital version of this song. We do not yet have the technology to run an actual mono mix on a scratchy 45 through a Close-and-Play record player. Along the same lines, we apologize for the fact that some of our Townspeople are well past puberty.

Why, Billy, why?

Why ask why, right? I bought The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s The Inner Mounting Flame a couple of months ago knowing that I’d be getting my money’s worth of guitar wanking from John McLaughlin. But that would be cool, especially after hearing a song on WPRB one night and hearing that scorching tone I’d loved so much over the years from his work with Miles Davis. The more of that tone the merrier.

I also knew I’d be hearing a lot of fusion noodling from his bandmates, including drummer Billy Cobham. I’d long known of Cobham from years of seeing him on 3 out of every 5 covers of my friend Sethro’s subscription to Modern Drummer, but I only knew his legendary fusion drumming in pass, or more like while running away from guys in the ’70s who tried to play me that stuff.

I had little trouble liking this album, and some of the full-band noodling added up to something cool and unintentionally funny, as seen in this clip of the band playing “Noonward Race”. On the following songs, however, Cobham’s ridiculous chopsmanship is a buzzkill to some otherwise fine hot licks from McLaughlin.

“Vital Transformation”
“Awakening”

Is there a drummer in the house? If so, I ask you Why? Why should Cobham be allowed to overplay the way he does? Who but subscribers to Modern Drummer and non-musician fusion fans who you’d never want to be alone with at a party care to hear all those distracting fills, fills that are counter the core rhythm of the song? Can’t they hold an Olympics for drummers who feel the need to express their chops to this degree?