drummers

[zeusjazmin]

hello everyone,this is my first post,just looking to see what everyones opinions are regarding mk drummers.
he has used an awful lot in his career,if i remember correctly it was either mark or chris whitten who said "drummers have been slaughtering sultans for years".

[Jules]

Chris Whitten said that MK said that...

Chris Whitten, that literally killed SOS.

[Love Expresso]

No I would not agree. I think he did a good job especially during the first part of the tour in 1991... loved the way he got the slow part started...

Drummers - always good to discuss! I think we did not for at least a week!! 


Welcome zeusjazmin, don't care about what I say here! How comes I feel very familiar with your nick name? Did you post on MKNews, too?? Nice to see you here! 

LE

[Jules]

LE I totally disagree...

Drummers are one of the main things to me when listening to MK music in all his periods, and Chris Whitten, I had bad memories about his playing with Dire Straits, and not long ago I watched the Basel dvd and when they were playing SOS; I had to stop it...

Horrible, nonsense playing, like he was playing a totally different song... I dislike him now more than ever... A good proffesional drummer that playing with DS was the worst of all DS drummers, imho.

[Love Expresso]

Oh, I know your opinion about Chris Whitten, jbaent!!    But I can't help it...

Next thing I can't help is that I think that the best drummer in the history of DS was Pick Withers (obviously), but the best one in Mark's solo career was Chad Cromwell...

AND after that ExtendedancEPlay thread, I suddently felt the urge to listen to Two Young Lovers again, but the Alchemy version, and that drummer was good, too!

I think, Ian Thomas first of all has to play Sultans before I really judge him... but then again, who am I, I have no idea about drumming, I don't even have any sense of rhythm, but I'm a good talker...

LE

[Jules]

Now its where we agree, LE...

Pick Withers was high quality, and responsible of part of the early Dire Straits sound.

Chad Cromwell is the best drummer that MK ever had, although playing live sometimes was a little heavy drumming.

Terry Williams was not the more technical one but he had a great feeling, very powerful playing, maybe sometimes too much, but really great for live concerts.

Ian Thomas... I always have second thoughts about him. I know how good he is as I saw him playing beautifully with other artists, but with MK... I dont know what happens to me with him when he

[zeusjazmin]

yep i also post on mk news.
i dont want anyone thinking i have joined up just to post negative comments,i am 99% happy with all ds/mk related stuff,however being a drummer myself i like a good discussion
regarding chris whitten,a good drummer but....not in ds,for me he never really got the feel of the songs,quite robotic if you see what i mean.
terry williams really had a feel for the songs that the straits were doing then,a great rock n roll drummer who really beefed the songs up.
great as terry is he just wouldnt be suited to any of mk stuff now,which starts the danny cummings/ian thomas debate .
mk wanted a new drummer and hired ian,thats mk choice,ian is one of the most in demand drummers in the world,much as i was very happy with danny im forward to seeing ian do sultans.

[Jules]

Obviously kiddin' about Chris Whitten. I like his work with Paul McCartney, but as Zeusjazmin said, with DS it looks like he never felt the songs and played so strange and weird...

[zeusjazmin]

Now its where we agree, LE...

Pick Withers was high quality, and responsible of part of the early Dire Straits sound.

Chad Cromwell is the best drummer that MK ever had, although playing live sometimes was a little heavy drumming.

Terry Williams was not the more technical one but he had a great feeling, very powerful playing, maybe sometimes too much, but really great for live concerts.

Ian Thomas... I always have second thoughts about him. I know how good he is as I saw him playing beautifully with other artists, but with MK... I dont know what happens to me with him when he

[dmg]

I'm by no means expert but I never liked Chads style.  If you listen to any (or most) of the bootlegs from the STP tour e.g. during the louder parts he hits his symbols far too often and creates a terrible ringing sound all over the top of Marks solo's in Sultans and TR.  Try the Lucca soundboard for his symbol ruining Marks soloing at it's worst.

[Jules]

I fear Ian Thomas playing Sultans...

I tested his playing with Why aye man and Speedway, both tracks where Chad Cromwell and Danny Cummings played their best.

Ian played them well, but very standard, heartless versions of it. But in other tracks where I didnt expected anything special, he did some things that I really liked, little bits that are technical.

Mixed feelings.

There are some threads where we talk specifically about Ian Thomas, just use the search box. 

[Jules]

I'm by no means expert but I never liked Chads style.  If you listen to any (or most) of the bootlegs from the STP tour e.g. during the louder parts he hits his symbols far too often and creates a terrible ringing sound all over the top of Marks solo's in Sultans and TR.  Try the Lucca soundboard for his symbol ruining Marks soloing at it's worst.

Yes, Chad specially ruined SOS with that hard and heavy drumming, but played very well other tracks. His playing at the end of Speedway was powerful, and his MFN intro as well...

[dmg]

I'm by no means expert but I never liked Chads style.  If you listen to any (or most) of the bootlegs from the STP tour e.g. during the louder parts he hits his symbols far too often and creates a terrible ringing sound all over the top of Marks solo's in Sultans and TR.  Try the Lucca soundboard for his symbol ruining Marks soloing at it's worst.

Yes, Chad specially ruined SOS with that hard and heavy drumming, but played very well other tracks. His playing at the end of Speedway was powerful, and his MFN intro as well...

Yes, Speedway from 2001 was VERY powerful due in part to Chad.

[nababo]

Pick Withers was high quality, and responsible of part of the early Dire Straits sound.

Chad Cromwell is the best drummer that MK ever had, although playing live sometimes was a little heavy drumming.

For me (and almost 100% of DS fans), Pick is the best drummer. In MK's solo career, I like Danny Cummings the most.

[Love Expresso]

It probably has to do with Mark's wishes, but I really think Chad did a lot more stunning things on the album than Danny... The only really great drumming I remember from Danny is on "We Can Get Wild", and that is still very subtle... whereas the complete STP album sounds like a "job application" for Chad. Or just take "Don't You Get It", that song really is a dialogue between Mark's guitar and the drums -aweseome..

LE