Chris Whitten interview

[Pottel]

I got up this morning, I had a good coffee while listening to "Donkey Town", a very beautiful piece, very melodious, a very beautiful voice from Mark, simply the sound of the guitar and the harmonious voice of Emmilou Harris in the background. And there... I said to myself "but that's the real talent of MK", to write a beautiful melodious song.

...And there was no drums.

I like this song much. It was played once or twice at the very beginning of the MK-EH tour but was quickly dropped from the set, sadly.

A bit of drums by Sir Danny though. 

Aah the 2006 tour. Good times long gone.

was there, brilliant show.
on another note. any new post not discussing Chris Whitten in a normal way will be deleted and the thread locked. focus on the music, not on name calling and being butthurt because someone else does not agree with you. grow up

[Terry01]

Back to topic, either I'm such a noob of a musician or doesn't care about things, but I see absolutely NO PROBLEM in the way Sultans was played in 1992 drums-wise. Just got here after watching Basel 1992 video and it sounds amazing, on par with all other songs. I know a lot of people apparently hate this drumming, but I'm like — what's all the fuss is all about? If nobody told me, I would never even think about it. Some people can even hear drum heads being changed on that tour, please give me your ears...

Hi Pavel, nice to meet you! I´m drummer and i come from Argentina (so sorry for my more or less english)
I tell you my humble and subjective opinion. I don't hate the Chris drumming on SOS during the OES Tour, but i prefer by far the sound on the BIA Tour with Terry. I prefer the 85 period because the sounds of the drums, i think that matches very well, the drumming and the fills that Terry makes. I ever thought that the drums in the OES Tour sounded skinny and inconsistent (Chris  tuned the drums a higher pitch than Terry).

I wait for yout answer to continue the discussion..

PD: You have a great YT Channel!

[quizzaciously]

Back to topic, either I'm such a noob of a musician or doesn't care about things, but I see absolutely NO PROBLEM in the way Sultans was played in 1992 drums-wise. Just got here after watching Basel 1992 video and it sounds amazing, on par with all other songs. I know a lot of people apparently hate this drumming, but I'm like — what's all the fuss is all about? If nobody told me, I would never even think about it. Some people can even hear drum heads being changed on that tour, please give me your ears...

Hi Pavel, nice to meet you! I´m drummer and i come from Argentina (so sorry for my more or less english)
I tell you my humble and subjective opinion. I don't hate the Chris drumming on SOS during the OES Tour, but i prefer by far the sound on the BIA Tour with Terry. I prefer the 85 period because the sounds of the drums, i think that matches very well, the drumming and the fills that Terry makes. I ever thought that the drums in the OES Tour sounded skinny and inconsistent (Chris  tuned the drums a higher pitch than Terry).

I wait for yout answer to continue the discussion..

PD: You have a great YT Channel!

Thank you so much! And hi from Russia, my English is not perfect either, haha! Being a drummer sure helps to hear the difference, and I think drummers tend to comment on OES tour drumming a lot. So it really comes down to preference and style, right?

[Pierre]

Back to topic, either I'm such a noob of a musician or doesn't care about things, but I see absolutely NO PROBLEM in the way Sultans was played in 1992 drums-wise. Just got here after watching Basel 1992 video and it sounds amazing, on par with all other songs. I know a lot of people apparently hate this drumming, but I'm like — what's all the fuss is all about? If nobody told me, I would never even think about it. Some people can even hear drum heads being changed on that tour, please give me your ears...

You know that MK actually said that Chris was the first drummer who was not butchering Sultans and I think "butcher" is the word he used. I'll have to find where I read that. That says something about how he thought former drummers played the song.
If someone has a memory of that quotation...

[Terry01]

Back to topic, either I'm such a noob of a musician or doesn't care about things, but I see absolutely NO PROBLEM in the way Sultans was played in 1992 drums-wise. Just got here after watching Basel 1992 video and it sounds amazing, on par with all other songs. I know a lot of people apparently hate this drumming, but I'm like — what's all the fuss is all about? If nobody told me, I would never even think about it. Some people can even hear drum heads being changed on that tour, please give me your ears...

Hi Pavel, nice to meet you! I´m drummer and i come from Argentina (so sorry for my more or less english)
I tell you my humble and subjective opinion. I don't hate the Chris drumming on SOS during the OES Tour, but i prefer by far the sound on the BIA Tour with Terry. I prefer the 85 period because the sounds of the drums, i think that matches very well, the drumming and the fills that Terry makes. I ever thought that the drums in the OES Tour sounded skinny and inconsistent (Chris  tuned the drums a higher pitch than Terry).

I wait for yout answer to continue the discussion..

PD: You have a great YT Channel!

Thank you so much! And hi from Russia, my English is not perfect either, haha! Being a drummer sure helps to hear the difference, and I think drummers tend to comment on OES tour drumming a lot. So it really comes down to preference and style, right?

Exactly! It´s full a subjective thing.. honestly i don't believe that any can say that Chris it´s a bad drummer, because he worked with world class artist. Sometimes it´s all about styles and "sounds colours", in this case talking about drums. I like more much Terry (i think that Alchemy without Terry, it wasn't Alchemy), but both Chris and Pick are awesome drummers!

Cheers my friend, it´s a pleasure discuse with many DS nerds like me haha
Greetings from Buenos Aires, Enzo.

[quizzaciously]

Back to topic, either I'm such a noob of a musician or doesn't care about things, but I see absolutely NO PROBLEM in the way Sultans was played in 1992 drums-wise. Just got here after watching Basel 1992 video and it sounds amazing, on par with all other songs. I know a lot of people apparently hate this drumming, but I'm like — what's all the fuss is all about? If nobody told me, I would never even think about it. Some people can even hear drum heads being changed on that tour, please give me your ears...

You know that MK actually said that Chris was the first drummer who was not butchering Sultans and I think "butcher" is the word he used. I'll have to find where I read that. That says something about how he thought former drummers played the song.
If someone has a memory of that quotation...

Wow, that's a great quote. I might be biased because On The Night DVD came into my life when I was a kid learning how to play the guitar, but I absolutely loved everything on this DVD including drumming by Chris. I even played some air drums if you know what I mean, I even like the way he looked behind the drumkit. He had this extremely "professional" look, I can't explain it. So if anything, his drumming was a highlight for me, actually.

[Klaus74]

To my opinion every DS-drummer has his own special role and acceptance in the music-history of Dire Straits. I love all of them, and i accept and respect all of them.
Every drummer is a class of his own, and that made them special to me, as professional musicians on the one hand, and as individual characters on the other hand.
Remarkable is the really smooth more jazzy-flavoured drumming by Pick on the early tracks. Than the more powerful rock-driven drumming by Terry, followed up by Chris Whittens very adäquate drumming.
But i also don´t forget Chad or Ianto. Every single musician played or is still playing an important role in the whole DS and MK-cosmos, and that is all i have to say in that case. 

[Pierre]

I do love Chad's drumming too. His drumming his great. Especially seeing his hi-hat seemingly moving on its own in the Cannibals intro while he was drumming away in the tom toms on a different rhythm had an powerful effect on me. I rate his overall drumming the highest among MK's drummers
As for Chris, I don't know if the relation he had with Mark shows in the On the night video but I noticed his professional look and that was one thing I found slightly off but that was after a while.
The only thing bothering me in Sultans was the tempo: way too fast. And it's the only song where I had a feeling MK was playing too many notes and it lacked Alchemy's energy and feeling. (I did discover Sultans 92' version much later in a Basel bootleg)

[Pierre]

better with a video



and what a version that is!

[dustyvalentino]

Chad is a great drummer. Seems fairly clear Chris was hamstrung by being told what to do.

For what it’s worth though the OES album and tour was what made me fall in love with DS, and music as a whole actually. Basel 92 was a big thing, but even at the age of 14 I could tell On the Night was crap.

[hunter]

Chad is a great drummer. Seems fairly clear Chris was hamstrung by being told what to do.

Totally. It's becoming increasingly clear that Mark has been a total control freak, and the fact that he was feeling miserable at the time, for professional and private reasons, certainly didn't help. So in light of that, Chris' hard-hitting style, bright sound, and the lack of dynamics are ultimately Mark's responsibility. If he hadn't approved that way of playing, I'm sure Chris would have approached things differently.

[SamGolden]

Hello
I simply ask a question: is it "easier" for a drummer like Chad Cromwell or Pick Withers, Terry Willians or even DC... in concert knowing that he participated in the album and therefore to know the requirements of MK OR like Chris Whitten to land on the tour thus resuming songs created by other drummers? And this by forgetting the tastes of each for such or such drummer... PickW (albums), TerryW (albums, soundtracks), Chad (albums),...

I ask the question and I don't have the answer, but can it play?

[NicoMK]

I do love Chad's drumming too. His drumming his great. Especially seeing his hi-hat seemingly moving on its own in the Cannibals intro while he was drumming away in the tom toms on a different rhythm had an powerful effect on me. I rate his overall drumming the highest among MK's drummers

Chad was cool in 1996 but in 2001 I found his playing just OK, at best.

[NicoMK]

You know that MK actually said that Chris was the first drummer who was not butchering Sultans and I think "butcher" is the word he used. I'll have to find where I read that. That says something about how he thought former drummers played the song.
If someone has a memory of that quotation...

I perfectly remember this, you're right. Where? I couldn't possibly say, it's probably taken from an interview in 1991 or early 1992, I'd say. Later, Mark was just too bored to talk in interviews. 

[NicoMK]

Hello
I simply ask a question: is it "easier" for a drummer like Chad Cromwell or Pick Withers, Terry Willians or even DC... in concert knowing that he participated in the album and therefore to know the requirements of MK OR like Chris Whitten to land on the tour thus resuming songs created by other drummers? And this by forgetting the tastes of each for such or such drummer... PickW (albums), TerryW (albums, soundtracks), Chad (albums),...

I ask the question and I don't have the answer, but can it play?

It would be a question for Chris or for any professional drummer but, as I see things, it doesn't really matter whether a musician has actually played or not on a record prior playing the songs live. First because recording in a studio is a complete different process than playing live. Beside this, each venue is different. Then, because a pro musician should able to take over any other fella, of course with his / her own style, as good as it gets.

It happened with MK so many times. For instance, Sultans was recorded by Pick and then played live by himself, Terry, Chris, Chad, Danny and Ian. Speedway at Nazareth was recorded by Guy and Jim and was played live by themselves, Geraint and Matt too etc.

The best example of a musician having to replace one another is of course Danny who had to take over Chad on an extreme short notice in 2005. How Danny coped with it who knows  … ? but I bet that Mark sent Danny a recording of the show when he -- Danny -- may have played over it until late at night to learn all songs and be ready on D. Day. A sign of greatness.