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Author Topic: "Can anybody play the drums?"  (Read 21874 times)

J.J. Blair

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"Can anybody play the drums?"
« on: March 21, 2006, 04:57:50 PM »

So, since we touched on this a little while back, I thought I'd bring this up again.  I just got done watching a video of the entire 1973 Who at Cow Palace show.  For those of you who don't know the story, before the show, somebody gave Moon some horse tranquilizers and told him to take half of one.  Being Keith Moon, he decided to take the whole lot.  At about an hour and ten minutes into the set, Keith passes out and disappears from behind the drums, right in the middle of "Won't Get Fooled Again".  The band carries on like nothing is wrong, playing along to the prerecorded synth track.  Roger still twirls his mic, Pete still jumping around, etc.  They break for a minute, get Keith back behind the kit and play "Magic Bus".  Keith proceeds to pass out again.  They finish the song and do "See Me, Feel Me" without Keith.  You can see some roadies arm in the background hitting the gong through the song!  LOL.  After this song, Pete makes an announcement that Keith's not well, and that ask "Can anybody play the drums?  I mean, somebody really good."  

I can't remember who here said they were at the show, but yeah, it ain't quite the Who with the other drummer.  The thing that is amazing though, is the way the band persevered through the situation.  I mean, talk about a morale killer, and these guys had their chin up and just kept rocking hard.  Far all they knew, Keith had just died.  

I was super impressed with how well Keith Played up until he succumbed to the tranqs.  I mean, wow.  It was really a great show up until that point.  

Bands just don't rock this hard anymore.  There are no real rockstars anymore, either.  Not that it was good to live a lifestyle like that, but anybody that tries that shit anymore just seems like a pale imitation of bands like the Who, the Stones and Zeppelin, that wrote the book on that.  

Rock is dead they say.  I knew it for a fact when I was seeing McCartney and the security people made everybody stop using their lighters during "Let It Be".  
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They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

wwittman

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2006, 08:14:13 PM »

The thing is that The Who in particular was ALWAYS that kind of on the edge crapshoot.
They were either transcendantly good or horrifyingly off.

often on the same show.

so powering through an off night, or off moment, was nothing at all new to them.


I think they knew it could all turn on a dime anyway.
If they had given up on a night that wasn't happening, they'd have quit a LOT.

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William Wittman
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minister

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2006, 11:43:01 PM »

IIRC, this SUBSTITUTE was interviewed recently on Fresh Air.  He said his friend told the security guard that his friend could play and they let him up on stage.

irony is, that was his moment and he has been a regular guy ever since.  anonymous.  maybe happy?  not arrested for child porn on his computer?
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tom hambleton C.A.S.
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J.J. Blair

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2006, 12:08:52 AM »

Slightly OT, Pete wasn't arrested for porn on his computer.  That was Gary Glitter.

I hate to sound like an apologist, but the fact that there was not porn on Pete's computer makes his explanation sound entirely credible.  But that's another thread.
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They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2006, 11:05:52 AM »

J.J. Blair wrote on Tue, 21 March 2006 21:08

Slightly OT, Pete wasn't arrested for porn on his computer.  That was Gary Glitter.




http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/history/biography/

Quote:

In January 2003 Pete Townshend was arrested by the Police in connection with their investigations into child pornography on the Internet. Over the previous year or two Townshend had been dealing with the problem of child porn both on his website and in private, talking to the authorities involved. Nonetheless a highly publicised police operation saw him arrested. Four months later no charges were brought against him and the case was dropped. During the investigations Townshend returned to his studio to work on new projects. He remixed Tommy into 5.1 surround sound from the original 8 track tapes and saw it's release in both SACD and DVDA formats meet with critical acclaim (The DVDA release was nominated for two Surround Sound Awards in September 2004).


Just as a clarification.  There were different intentions between Pete researching a problem and being part of the problem as in Glitters case...

Back On Topic...

Who in thier right mind would get up on stage to fill in for a musician? DLR passed out often...

As a kid I would have been on stage in a millisecond.. i fact I used to dream about such instances Smile
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wwittman

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2006, 01:03:54 PM »

are you kidding?

who would pass up a chance to play with The Who???
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William Wittman
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vernier

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2006, 02:31:25 PM »

Ever notice he didn't have a hi-hat ?
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J.J. Blair

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2006, 02:48:33 PM »

Vern, that's not true.  He originally did have one, and then later placed a cymbal where the hat would be, and then wound up putting a hi hat back there again.  But that was just live.  There were hi hats in the studio.
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They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

vernier

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2006, 02:59:28 PM »

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b380/Skydog_/Moonskit.jpg
I figured that was the deal ..seems he didn't need it though.
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J.J. Blair

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #9 on: March 22, 2006, 03:56:45 PM »

That's the cymbal as a hat that I was talking about.  In footage from early Who shows, you can see him using a hi hat.  Off the top of my head, I don't recall hearing hi hat on the late '60s albums, but you hear it on Who's Next and everything there after.  
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studio info

They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

max cooper

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2006, 11:43:40 PM »

I was too young to have seen The Who before 1980, which means the first time I saw them with with Kenny Jones.

Has the band ever mentioned what was behind the choice of Jones to fill the throne?

He certainly had a track record but even then, at fifteen, I was a bit baffled about it.

Is is possible they were aiming in a different direction?  "You Better You Bet" would seem to say that they were.
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I'm infinitely baffled.

vernier

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2006, 12:26:07 AM »

Yep, Kenny Jones was an odd replacement ..maybe they just wanted a change.

He's one of the best ever though, check this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei-L_AuuaxI&search=Faces% 20stay%20with%20me
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J.J. Blair

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2006, 01:58:51 AM »

I have the demo for what became "Athena".  I swear to God, it's a fucking calypso beat on a drum  machine, and the whole song sound like a samba or something.  Very, very, very different from the Keith thing.
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They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

David Ballenger

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #13 on: March 27, 2006, 09:50:20 PM »

[quote title=J.J. Blair wrote on Tue, 21 March 2006 15:57]I can't remember who here said they were at the show, but yeah, it ain't quite the Who with the other drummer.  The thing that is amazing though, is the way the band persevered through the situation.  I mean, talk about a morale killer, and these guys had their chin up and just kept rocking hard.  Far all they knew, Keith had just died.  

I was super impressed with how well Keith Played up until he succumbed to the tranqs.  I mean, wow.  It was really a great show up until that point.  


Yeah, that was me JJ.  I was there.  That was the thing that I remembered that stood out so much is how well he played until he just stopped.  

Apparently their's coordination and then theirs the mind. Laughing
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J.J. Blair

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Re: "Can anybody play the drums?"
« Reply #14 on: March 28, 2006, 12:10:34 AM »

David, a what show you got to see!  They really rocked it for that first hour.  I'm terribly jealous.  I was like four years old at the time.

Somebody told me that they used to be Steve Gadd's "handler" or something like that.  Apparently at the time, Steve was plying himself with mass amounts of alcohol and other fun stuff.  Steve would be FUBAR'd to the point where he could barely walk.  I mean, like literally couldn't walk.  But he'd show up at a session, get behind the kit in that state, and not miss a fucking beat.
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They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham
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