Pick Withers.

[Best Brown Baggies]

On Friday night, i went to see 'The Gary Fletcher Blues Band' featuring Pick Withers on drums in my home town of Norwich.
They were very good. A mix of blues, acoustic, rock, in the style of MK/JJ.Cale.
I sat right on the front row, so a great view of Pick.
The venue holds about 250 people, but there were probably only about 60-70 people there.
In saying that though, the crowd made alot of noise, and everyone had a great time.
The main singer talked alot between songs, and Pick kept telling jokes about the local football team 'Norwich City' who are having a hard time at the moment in league one.
Towards the end, the main singer played a couple of acoustic songs on his own, which prompted something which i wasn't expecting.
Because there were a few empty seats at the front, Pick and the 2 other musicians jumped off the stage and came and sat next to me. :oSo there i was, for 2 songs, the one and only PW sitting next to BBB.
After the gig, the lead singer was signing copies of his cd. I had bought along with me the 1st 2 DS album covers, so i asked if Pick might be able to come out and sign them. 2 minutes later he came out.
I must admit though, for some reason i thought that if he came out i may be able to have a quick chat, because there was no one else waiting to see him. But how wrong i was. He was very abrupt, and i got the feeling that he thought of me as a bit of a nuisance.
He signed my album covers, which was great, but i made the fatal mistake of saying that i was going to see Mark in London next week. He dodged the comment completely and walked off.
Ok, of course i was very appreciative of him signing my albums, but thought he could have made a bit more of an effort, which leads me to the question. How did Mark and Pick leave things when Pick left after the LOG album?
It feels like he'd rather talk of anything but MK, which is fair enough i suppose, but on ALL the promo leaflets etc.... promoting THIS gig, he was billed as 'THE DRUMMER FROM DIRE STRAITS' So surely he should expect a question or two relating to this.

Well worth a trip to see this band though if they are in your area.

Cheers   BBB

[superval99]

Oh well, BBB - you win some.......!          Glad you had a good time though!   

[Rollergirl]

About Pick's reaction, well, I don't know, it seems like he doesn't want to be reminded of his days with DS, but then on the other hand he doesn't mind using it to advertise his current band (although it might not be his idea and it didn't attract huge crowds anyway).
Glad you enjoyed the gig though! Any pics (of Pick  ) ?

[Best Brown Baggies]

Pics of Pick?
No i forgot my bloody camera.!

Cheers   BBB

[dustyvalentino]

I'll bet he's happy enough to take the royalties from DS though. 

He sounds like a bit of an arse. Still the best drummer DS ever had though.

[Love Expresso]

Interesting how many "long-time-fellows" or temporarily companions rarely put in a good word for Mark Knopfler, f.e. Phil Palmer, David Knopfler, now Pick Withers, Ed Bicknell, Willy de Ville and so on.

Nevertheless, the more I read stuff like this, the more I can appreciate what Guy Fletcher does for the fans. MK did sign a lot of items with his autograph I am sure, and Pick Withers is obviously not so very much booked out these days that he couldn

[Best Brown Baggies]

Interesting how many "long-time-fellows" or temporarily companions rarely put in a good word for Mark Knopfler, f.e. Phil Palmer, David Knopfler, now Pick Withers, Ed Bicknell, Willy de Ville and so on.

Nevertheless, the more I read stuff like this, the more I can appreciate what Guy Fletcher does for the fans. MK did sign a lot of items with his autograph I am sure, and Pick Withers is obviously not so very much booked out these days that he couldn

[dustyvalentino]

Interesting to know how much Pick (and the rest of the band for that matter) still get from royalties from their DS days?

Cheers   BBB

Their answer would probably be "not as much as we should" - I remember DK being pissed off a while back because the DS albums went to "Mid Price" and his royalty was halved.

[boboDS]

One would think that people get over these kind of things over time...
MK must have been a bit of an arse sometimes I guess, when former member(s) act like this 30 years later.

Still the best drummer DS ever had though.

dusty I can't agree with you on this one Imho the best was Terry Williams.

[Pottel]

funny, just today i read a cd review on a Bert Jansch cd and there they mentioned a certain Pick Withers playing on an album of is.
anyone know the real store (if there is any) behind pick leaving??

[xxFordiexx]

Interesting how many "long-time-fellows" or temporarily companions rarely put in a good word for Mark Knopfler, f.e. Phil Palmer, David Knopfler, now Pick Withers, Ed Bicknell, Willy de Ville and so on.

That what happens when people are jealous of Marks tallent 

No, seriously why on earth would Ed Bicknell have anything bad to say about Mark? Not only did he manage DS and MK for years he was also the drummer for The Notting Hillbillies too.

Oh and why I'm at it Phil Palmer can go and kiss my butt! I mean really, he goes on tour with one of the biggest bands for a couple of years and has the cheek to call Knopfler an ogre!!! If I spent 2 years day in day out with the same people (barring family members)  it would pee me off no end, what cheek has he got too?

As far as Pick goes perhaps he should not of gone off to live his Jazz drumming dream and stayed with the Straits..... he might not be so bitter now!!!!!!!!

[JeroenvG]

funny, just today i read a cd review on a Bert Jansch cd and there they mentioned a certain Pick Withers playing on an album of is.
anyone know the real store (if there is any) behind pick leaving??

A Rare Conundrum was the album from Bert Jansch that Pick used to play with. The year was 1977 and a year later Pick went to play with DS.

From wikipedia I read that Withers left the band (DS) to spend more time with his family and to pursue jazz music. He reportedly told an interviewer that he had succumbed to a growing feeling that there was nothing left in the music for him, that he was in danger of "becoming a rock drummer."

[Al]

Glad you had a great time! As for Pick's reaction-maybe he had indigestion or the chair wasn't comfortable... who knows. What surprises me, when MK comments on his bandmates (if at all), he sais good things. Even about David he only said "oh, you know, he didn't like touring". While Ed & Dave tore him to pieces in the "Brothers in arms" documentary. Why not ask John, or Pick himself (who reportedly was not a fan of Dave's). And Ed seems to say whatever brings him a TV spot at any given time.

[Fletch]

He`s only a drummer, you have to be understanding. Always ask, "that last song was great, what key is it in....?" 

[Mossguitar]

Still the best drummer DS ever had though.

dusty I can't agree with you on this one Imho the best was Terry Williams.

Sorry, bobo, but Dusty is right