A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: jbaent on December 09, 2013, 11:23:24 AM
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I saw this video in youtube where Manu Katch
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Ah yes I saw this video this morning, and I was going to post it here with some comments :)
so here it is :
Manu Katch
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One of many reports about Mark in this vein I'm afraid. Thanks for the translation JF. :thumbsup
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Thank you very very much!!!!
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It looks like the book its only in french :(
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interesting. i just read "perfectionism" from that.
and as i remember, the recording of OES was no walk in the park for anyone...maybe it would be different now?
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Could it be that the 'silent treatment' was deliberate, to see how Katch
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interesting. i just read "perfectionism" from that.
and as i remember, the recording of OES was no walk in the park for anyone...maybe it would be different now?
Perfectionism yes, but as Katch
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Poor Manu Katch
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Its a pitty that two of my favourite drummers met MK when he was in the star attitude, and not now that its far more down on earth...
Manu Katch
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Yes poor Mr Katche.
MK was very strange during OES times I think
Manu is my fave drummer!!! Imagine him live during Calling Elvis. wow.. :lol
He declined the OES Tour
Jeff (RIP) declined the OES tour as well
Danny is away
Pick left
Chad left under mysterious ways
MK seems to have problems with drummers
;D
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MK seems to have a problems with drummers
;D
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no doubt about it
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MK seems to have a problems with drummers
;D
no doubt about it
[/quote]
Was thinking the same last night! They seem to be best described as "disposable," but then he's gone through a lot of other band members in his time too. I think that says a lot.
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Seems fairly clear he could be a bit of a dick back in the day.
Flip side is that he was at his most commercially successful then, and making what many people here consider his best music...
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Seems fairly clear he could be a bit of a dick back in the day.
MK admitted to as much in the "Seven Ages of Rock" documentary when he states that there were times when he was drinking too much and had his personality "smacked around a bit". He alludes to the fact that the extreme pressure of the lifestyle does funny things to even a well-grounded person such as MK.
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Seems fairly clear he could be a bit of a dick back in the day.
Flip side is that he was at his most commercially successful then, and making what many people here consider his best music...
Indeed. Bring back the dick! ;D
To be serious though I don't think people ever really change completely: "It's like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you'll still read Brighton. That's human nature.
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I personally am more familiar with Manu as one of Sting's drummers. He first played on the '...Nothing Like the Sun' album and then on 'The Soul Cages', but repeatedly declined to tour with him. This turned out to be a positive thing given that, for the 1991/92 Soul Cages tour, Sting recruited Vinnie Colaiuta who is, without question or shadow of a doubt, the finest drummer who has ever lived. He continues to play for Sting to this day.
My point is, Manu finally toured with Sting on the Brand New Day tour from 1999 to 2001. And, I have to say, though Manu sounded absolutely brilliant before - particularly on 'The Soul Cages' album and of course on 'Planet of New Orleans' - on the BND tour I felt that his drumming sort of bogged the sound of the band down and held it back. His snare sound just sounded far too dull and his whole style just seemed to lack power for me. He just didn't cut through the mix well enough. So, based on that experience, I'm kind of glad that he declined to tour with Dire Straits and that they went for Chris Whitten in the end! And I think Chris sounded terrific on that tour.
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Imho, Chris Whitten is the worst drummer MK had with him.
Manu Katch
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Manu Katch
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Manu Katch
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Manu Katch
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for me chris whitten was a bad choice as drummer,as said before mk seems to go through a lot of drummers,perhaps there may be an element of ( drummers who may not be suitable to touring) i think on a tour everyone must get on with everyone else,it seems mk shows no mercy when it comes to drummers.
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for me chris whitten was a bad choice as drummer,as said before mk seems to go through a lot of drummers,perhaps there may be an element of ( drummers who may not be suitable to touring) i think on a tour everyone must get on with everyone else,it seems mk shows no mercy when it comes to drummers.
Keyboard players too.
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Going off topic here, but I never quite understood why fans didn't like Chris Whitten. I think he had a great sound to his playing which suited that particular situation. And what about the solos during Calling Elvis and at the end of Money for Nothing? I'm not sure his style would have worked too well in MK's present line-up, but for those big stadium gigs, I think he was perfect. And of course he'd had good experience of playing these large gigs having toured with Paul McCartney.
In any case, I do think that all of the drummers MK has worked with over the years have ultimately fitted in neatly with whatever sound he was into at the time, whether it was Pick Withers in the early years or Ian Thomas now. With musicians of this calibre, I feel it's more a case of how well they're style fits in, rather than how good they are.
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I have the feeling that Ian Thomas is the good one.
Mark says once "if you decide to get into this kind of business I suggest you have a good drummer"
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for me chris whitten was a bad choice as drummer,as said before mk seems to go through a lot of drummers,perhaps there may be an element of ( drummers who may not be suitable to touring) i think on a tour everyone must get on with everyone else,it seems mk shows no mercy when it comes to drummers.
Keyboard players too.
Not just keyboard players, poor Bobby Valentino hasn't been seen since John appeared.
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Probably McCusker fits better to the Scotish flavour that MK wants in his music that Bobby Valentino.
Any of our French friends has the Manu Katch
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The OES time was bad days for Mark.
I see that story as Mark being into his thing and Manu being at first just an hired musician to finish some recording work (Jeff wasn't available to do it?).
At least three musicians asked to tour refused (Jeff Porcaro, Manu Katch
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for me chris whitten was a bad choice as drummer,as said before mk seems to go through a lot of drummers,perhaps there may be an element of ( drummers who may not be suitable to touring) i think on a tour everyone must get on with everyone else,it seems mk shows no mercy when it comes to drummers.
Keyboard players too.
Not just keyboard players, poor Bobby Valentino hasn't been seen since John appeared.
...and not forgetting Stuart Duncan.
Mark Knopfler and the conveyer belt of band personnel!
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
Of course it was one of the reason. DS was too limited for what Mark wanted them to play especialy when going toward more country / bluesy stuff.
Both Alan and John have admitted over the years that they were not into Mark's solo stuff taste.
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
I thought it was because the whole thing (the band) was becoming too big and he wanted to scale down. DS were hardly a stable band anyway just Mark, John and the rest were probably hired musicians. Not sure about Alan and Guy.
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
I thought it was because the whole thing (the band) was becoming too big and he wanted to scale down.
Correct, Mark also stated that. There was several reasons for Mark to split the band.
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
I thought it was because the whole thing (the band) was becoming too big and he wanted to scale down. DS were hardly a stable band anyway just Mark, John and the rest were probably hired musicians. Not sure about Alan and Guy.
By "too big" I understood that he meant being too popular - ie not the actual size of the band - or have I got it wrong!
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
I thought it was because the whole thing (the band) was becoming too big and he wanted to scale down. DS were hardly a stable band anyway just Mark, John and the rest were probably hired musicians. Not sure about Alan and Guy.
By "too big" I understood that he meant being too popular - ie not the actual size of the band - or have I got it wrong!
:lol
Their height or size of their bellies? :think
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
I thought it was because the whole thing (the band) was becoming too big and he wanted to scale down. DS were hardly a stable band anyway just Mark, John and the rest were probably hired musicians. Not sure about Alan and Guy.
By "too big" I understood that he meant being too popular - ie not the actual size of the band - or have I got it wrong!
:lol
Their height or size of their bellies? :think
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D . hilarious. You made me laugh !!!
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
Of course it was one of the reason. DS was too limited for what Mark wanted them to play especialy when going toward more country / bluesy stuff.
Both Alan and John have admitted over the years that they were not into Mark's solo stuff taste.
where did John ever say that?
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A couple of observations:
Vince Gill also declined as rhythm guitarist.
Mark makes the same observations about Steely Dan when he recorded a track with them. He said he was put off by their coldness and their lack of any interaction with him.
In his defense, (always) there are uncommunicated and unknown details in any story. In this case, I'm quite sure there are. Rkd in the last post makes this point. Who knows what else was going on in his life. Perhaps a marriage on the rocks---health---. I don't want to speculate further on his personal life.
Oh--and about the drumming: during his special performance in Boothbay, Maine, back in 2006 (I think) he commented that the best drums were no drums at all. :)
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[/quote]
I thought it was because the whole thing (the band) was becoming too big and he wanted to scale down. DS were hardly a stable band anyway just Mark, John and the rest were probably hired musicians. Not sure about Alan and Guy.
[/quote]
I'm sure glad that Guy stuck around!!!!!!!
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
Of course it was one of the reason. DS was too limited for what Mark wanted them to play especialy when going toward more country / bluesy stuff.
Both Alan and John have admitted over the years that they were not into Mark's solo stuff taste.
where did John ever say that?
Made some time after attending one Mk show in Marseille (April 6 2005).
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Joop de Korte said to me by mail that during the OES sessions, and tour, MK wanted to go 110% proffesional, so they tried many musicians, and he was out of the band as percussionist, as MK wanted "a proffesional percussionist" instead of him, playing percussion for Dire Straits since 1980 behind the curtains...
I guess that MK thought that the right attitude in that case was having an assistant to deal with the proffesional musicians, so thats why he didnt talk to Manu, and probably to the other musicians.
Phil Palmer and Danny Cummings were other two proffesional musicians that played on the record, and apparently got the invitation by MK (probably via the assistant) to tour with DS.
I think that those years were difficult to MK, Joop de Korte also said to me that MK looked very very bored and tired since the very beguining, and everybody was very happy when the tour was over.
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Joop de Korte said to me by mail that during the OES sessions, and tour, MK wanted to go 110% proffesional, so they tried many musicians, and he was out of the band as percussionist, as MK wanted "a proffesional percussionist" instead of him, playing percussion for Dire Straits since 1980 behind the curtains...
I guess that MK thought that the right attitude in that case was having an assistant to deal with the proffesional musicians, so thats why he didnt talk to Manu, and probably to the other musicians.
Phil Palmer and Danny Cummings were other two proffesional musicians that played on the record, and apparently got the invitation by MK (probably via the assistant) to tour with DS.
I think that those years were difficult to MK, Joop de Korte also said to me that MK looked very very bored and tired since the very beguining, and everybody was very happy when the tour was over.
It probably had something to do with the NHB project; he clearly got completely fed up with Dire Straits
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I think that those years were difficult to MK, Joop de Korte also said to me that MK looked very very bored and tired since the very beguining, and everybody was very happy when the tour was over.
I think it's sad to hear things like this. For a man who is supposed to love music one would think playing in front of his adoring fans and being cheered every night wouldn't be something to get bored of. To fill stadiums and get standing ovations every night is the dream of most artists.
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I think that those years were difficult to MK, Joop de Korte also said to me that MK looked very very bored and tired since the very beguining, and everybody was very happy when the tour was over.
I think it's sad to hear things like this. For a man who is supposed to love music one would think playing in front of his adoring fans and being cheered every night wouldn't be something to get bored of. To fill stadiums and get standing ovations every night is the dream of most artists.
From things that MK has said in interviews in recent years, things were not going well with his marriage at that time and he admitted that he was running away, so I don't think he, or anyone, would have been very happy under those circumstances. Maybe he was pre-occupied rather than bored.
The album itself probably reflects how MK felt at that time, indeed Phil Sutcliffe, in his liner notes (1996 remastered version), describes the album as "a dark and subtle ride.......with veiled hints and insinuations".
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
and the paradox is that the band during his solo carreer has been more "static" than during DS days....
almost same musicians since 96 while musicians changed at each tour in the 80ies
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Wasn't the reason MK ended DS and became "solo", to give him the freedom to replace musicians according to the style of the music on the various albums, without being constrained by a static band? :think
and the paradox is that the band during his solo carreer has been more "static" than during DS days....
almost same musicians since 96 while musicians changed at each tour in the 80ies
Indeed. Perhaps he essentially found what he was looking for. :)
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I think that Mark has really already told us over the years about this deal, in bits and pieces, rather than all at once, so we have to put it together to get a clear picture. I think when the band was still new, from some things he has said (for instance, the Making Movies clip), and others have said about him, in order to arrive at his vision of each song, he felt he really had to tell each of the band members what notes to play. Mark admits that he was controlling, and I think this is why. I suspect his trying out professional musicians was in an effort to find ones who could interpret what he wanted without him having to tell them exactly what to play. I think he felt the pressure of trying to keep the band on top, which was pulling him away from other areas of his life, including personal and song writing.
As far as the band getting too big, he has said he didn't recognize people who were working for him on tour, and he wasn't comfortable with that. On top of that, although he of course likes playing his music for his fans, I think the stadiums and attendant people to pull the whole thing off - security, marketing, etc., put him off - just too much of everything. I also don't think he was really in it for the fame and notoriety. He just wanted to make music people appreciated, but to have stadiums full was too much.
Well, that's my take on it. :)
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He wanted success and got it far more than he expected. But from his own words, fame came with success and Mark did not like to be famous. Once off the stage he wants to remain anonymous.
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He wanted success and got it far more than he expected. But from his own words, fame came with success and Mark did not like to be famous. Once off the stage he wants to remain anonymous.
There's a saying: "you can't have it both ways."
In saying that, I think Mark is pretty much unrecognised these days but that's mainly because he's bald as a coot compared to the big fuzzy haired DS headband days!
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Any of our French fans have the book or access to it? It would be great to read what Manu says exactly about MK...
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Any of our French fans have the book or access to it? It would be great to read what Manu says exactly about MK...
Did any of our French friends got this book? I´m consider to buy it but I'd like to know if the MK part is good enough to worth the buying
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jbaent sent me a scan of the part about OES recording for translating
I tried to do my best, but my english is not very good... (les copains frenchies, si vous voyez des fautes énormes, n'hésitez pas à corriger ! ;D)
Some sentences are ironic and sarcasm. I am not sure if my translation does them justice. Anyway, I hope you will get the main meaning
thanks to Julio for bringing the text :wave
When Mark Knopfler makes jumps !
recording Dire Straits, On every street, Abbey Road studios, London
After having left Waterloo station, not St Pancras yet, I find myself in a cab, on the way to the mythic studios
I meet all musicians, sound engineer, who is a friend, and assistants. Mark Knopfler has not arrived yet. He arrives, says a quick hello to the audience and we start working immediately. There are not much talking between us, except classiques codes used by session musicians in studio.
We spend the day and a big part of the evening recording and re-recording the same song, but it doesn't seem to really satisfy the leader : he kept fixed with his guitar and his microphone, unruffled and concentrated.
Musicians seems to be used to this. When I ask them with my eyes, a soft pout appears on their faces. They seem to say : we are not going to bed yet !
Finally, it's late and Knopfler endly decides to stop for today. We don't really know if he will keep these takes or not
The next day, 9 am, we are again in studio. We think that we are going to start another song. Mark Knoplfer is as much happy as yesterday and decides to strive on the first song which, apparently, doesn't satisfy him. After few hours of work, he chooses finally to save one of the takes. He says " I am glad". Miracle. Break for everybody, then he talks to me, the first time for these 2 days, saying that he recorded a tune "Heavy fuel" with another drummer, but that he had a technical problem on this tune, and that he wants to record the whole drum part again.
Of course, with much fineness, he plays to me the drum part played by the other drummer and asks me to try ! immediately. I feel uncomfortable, knowing that this tune is rather heavy rock and that it's not my style at all, and moreover, what I just listened is very good.
Well, I start playing, thinking that this guy is unpleasant anyway, and whatever I do, he will never be glad.
So, I decide to play in total liberty and to be the most original. To be fair, I don't respect the spirit of the tune.
I play without hindering, without "fence", what comes to mind.
At this moment, looking at the control room where are all band members and sound engineer with his assistant, I see Knopfler making jumps, with a big smile on his face, arms up. He stoppes the recording and talks to me via monitor and he says that what I do is awesome, and that it's exactly what he wanted. He is delighted by my performance.
So I start again where we stopped and record this tune which lasts almost 7 minutes.
Then I go to the control room to listen to the take, he is still super happy, don't stop congratulating me, offers me to go to the pub to celebrate this, and even if I don't drink beer, no problem, we are chatting with a coca. And then, he asks me directly if I go on tour, if I have a family, etc. Surprise
Next day or the day after, after gone back to France, my manager send me a message from Mark Knopfler's manager, asking me if I would accept to be the drummer of his next tour which will lasts about 2 years.
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Thanks for this. Interesting stuff to hear that Manu could have been the drummer for the OES tour. I really like the drumming on the album. Think he played on PONO too.
Once more sounding like fun working for Mr K. ::)
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What a great read. Once again it shows how a perfection MK is. Probably the reason why he has sold million records!
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What a great read. Once again it shows how a perfection MK is. Probably the reason why he has sold million records!
Yes. He has his vision and tries to get it.
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What a great read. Once again it shows how a perfection MK is. Probably the reason why he has sold million records!
Yes. He has his vision and tries to get it.
I’m secretly jealous of that. That’s what I love about the best musicians on this planet. They all do that I think. Different ways to achieve the goal but they’re all visionaries.
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thank you both for your efforts, JF and jbaent, i had a fun reading it.
Must be quite exciting having all those songs "inside your bones" only waiting for A right artist to performe the sound the way is meant to be - hence those jumps of joy when you finally have it!
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I’m secretly jealous of that. That’s what I love about the best musicians on this planet. They all do that I think. Different ways to achieve the goal but they’re all visionaries.
Must be quite exciting having all those songs "inside your bones" only waiting for A right artist to performe the sound the way is meant to be - hence those jumps of joy when you finally have it!
Thanks for sharing this, yeah. Honestly, I don't know any other way to get things done. If you have a clear picture in your head of how you want something to be, you will try to realize that and you will be upset if you would fail. That sounds to me more straightforward than "let's do it anyhow and hope that it will succeed".
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Thanks guys, I enjoyed that. So... Chris was third choice for the tour?!
Phil second choice also.
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Thanks guys, I enjoyed that. So... Chris was third choice for the tour?!
Phil second choice also.
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Maybe Chris was even fourth or fifth choice, we don't know if the tried to get someone else before.
OES tour would had been far better with Porcaro or Katché on drums. Whitten drumming was in my opinion, terrible and ruined most of the DS songs to me.
Phil at least played in the OES record and played with DS at Knebworth, and with Alan Clark (then DS musical director) while they were at Clapton's band.
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Thanks guys, I enjoyed that. So... Chris was third choice for the tour?!
Phil second choice also.
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Maybe Chris was even fourth or fifth choice, we don't know if the tried to get someone else before.
OES tour would had been far better with Porcaro or Katché on drums. Whitten drumming was in my opinion, terrible and ruined most of the DS songs to me.
Phil at least played in the OES record and played with DS at Knebworth, and with Alan Clark (then DS musical director) while they were at Clapton's band.
I wouldn't say his drumming was terrible, but certainly not at the level of the other drummers in Dire Straits.
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Thanks guys, I enjoyed that. So... Chris was third choice for the tour?!
Phil second choice also.
Sent from my Tab2A7-20F using Tapatalk
Maybe Chris was even fourth or fifth choice, we don't know if the tried to get someone else before.
OES tour would had been far better with Porcaro or Katché on drums. Whitten drumming was in my opinion, terrible and ruined most of the DS songs to me.
Phil at least played in the OES record and played with DS at Knebworth, and with Alan Clark (then DS musical director) while they were at Clapton's band.
I wouldn't say his drumming was terrible, but certainly not at the level of the other drummers in Dire Straits.
I actually have to say I like his drumming on Heavy Fuel, e.g. the Woburn Abbey version. Sounds great to me. He ain’t a bad drummer for sure. But I think he misses that groovy thing a drummer like Chad or Pick have. It suits MK’s playing more. It wraps around the guitar not the other way around.
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I actually have to say I like his drumming on Heavy Fuel, e.g. the Woburn Abbey version. Sounds great to me. He ain’t a bad drummer for sure. But I think he misses that groovy thing a drummer like Chad or Pick have. It suits MK’s playing more. It wraps around the guitar not the other way around.
I love this forum, because people always tell things better than me. Drumming wrapping around the guitar is an insane thought, hola! :clap
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All the drummers that played live with DS and MK they all had their own style but all of them did things that fit very well with the songs, except Chris Whitten, in my opinion, of course.
Everything Whitten does in any song, including Heavy Fuel, which is one of the only ones he does quite well, are fulls of strange fillings, crash, hihats, tombs etc that sound in strange places, where nobody except he played them. Sultans Of Swing, for example, it's a total disaster to my ears, what he does doesn´t fill well with the song nor with anything that previous drummers had played, and think that Terry Williams played a quite fast and killer Sultans, but in the end everything he did filled well with the song.
I don't know why but, the more I listen to OES tour recordings, the more I dislike them because of Chris Whitten drumming.
All the rest, Pick Withers was very rythmic and subtle, Terry Williams very rocker and dynamic, Chad Cromwell a mix between them, Danny Cummings a great feeling playing along the song and Ian Thomas, very sensitive and very fitting with anything he does, but... Whitten... I cannot find anything good to say about his drumming, and I´m very sorry, as he's a good drummer, but with DS, anything he did sounded inappropiate to me.
Please, take note of the use of "to me" in anything I wrote.
Manu Katche would had been just perfect, and Jeff Porcaro, a dream...
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All the drummers that played live with DS and MK they all had their own style but all of them did things that fit very well with the songs, except Chris Whitten, in my opinion, of course.
Everything Whitten does in any song, including Heavy Fuel, which is one of the only ones he does quite well, are fulls of strange fillings, crash, hihats, tombs etc that sound in strange places, where nobody except he played them. Sultans Of Swing, for example, it's a total disaster to my ears, what he does doesn´t fill well with the song nor with anything that previous drummers had played, and think that Terry Williams played a quite fast and killer Sultans, but in the end everything he did filled well with the song.
I don't know why but, the more I listen to OES tour recordings, the more I dislike them because of Chris Whitten drumming.
All the rest, Pick Withers was very rythmic and subtle, Terry Williams very rocker and dynamic, Chad Cromwell a mix between them, Danny Cummings a great feeling playing along the song and Ian Thomas, very sensitive and very fitting with anything he does, but... Whitten... I cannot find anything good to say about his drumming, and I´m very sorry, as he's a good drummer, but with DS, anything he did sounded inappropiate to me.
Please, take note of the use of "to me" in anything I wrote.
Manu Katche would had been just perfect, and Jeff Porcaro, a dream...
I remember reading an interview maybe even here on AMIT, about a band musician from DS in the late years, he said something like "if you would accidentally play the wrong note, you would instantly see this angry stare from Mark" or something. I mean, drummer can't literally play "whatever he wants", it all must go through MK's filter before going on stage back then. So I highly doubt that after 3 months of rehearsal Chris Whitten really would play something that wasn't approved by Mr. Sausage :lol
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That makes it even more misterious to me
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I remember reading an interview maybe even here on AMIT, about a band musician from DS in the late years, he said something like "if you would accidentally play the wrong note, you would instantly see this angry stare from Mark" or something. I mean, drummer can't literally play "whatever he wants", it all must go through MK's filter before going on stage back then. So I highly doubt that after 3 months of rehearsal Chris Whitten really would play something that wasn't approved by Mr. Sausage :lol
You can't sum up the definition of good or bad to play wrong note or note.
You also have to take in account that Mark has to face refusal from others drummer and find someone that fit the wage he was offering. Dire Straits is known as being not the best paying band and at that time Mark with John and Ed were the financial bosses.
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All the drummers that played live with DS and MK they all had their own style but all of them did things that fit very well with the songs, except Chris Whitten, in my opinion, of course.
Everything Whitten does in any song, including Heavy Fuel, which is one of the only ones he does quite well, are fulls of strange fillings, crash, hihats, tombs etc that sound in strange places, where nobody except he played them. Sultans Of Swing, for example, it's a total disaster to my ears, what he does doesn´t fill well with the song nor with anything that previous drummers had played, and think that Terry Williams played a quite fast and killer Sultans, but in the end everything he did filled well with the song.
I don't know why but, the more I listen to OES tour recordings, the more I dislike them because of Chris Whitten drumming.
All the rest, Pick Withers was very rythmic and subtle, Terry Williams very rocker and dynamic, Chad Cromwell a mix between them, Danny Cummings a great feeling playing along the song and Ian Thomas, very sensitive and very fitting with anything he does, but... Whitten... I cannot find anything good to say about his drumming, and I´m very sorry, as he's a good drummer, but with DS, anything he did sounded inappropiate to me.
Please, take note of the use of "to me" in anything I wrote.
Manu Katche would had been just perfect, and Jeff Porcaro, a dream...
I remember reading an interview maybe even here on AMIT, about a band musician from DS in the late years, he said something like "if you would accidentally play the wrong note, you would instantly see this angry stare from Mark" or something. I mean, drummer can't literally play "whatever he wants", it all must go through MK's filter before going on stage back then. So I highly doubt that after 3 months of rehearsal Chris Whitten really would play something that wasn't approved by Mr. Sausage :lol
Certainly. Absolutely everything was very tightly rehearsed on that tour. There wasn't a note out of place. It made for arguably the tightest arena show I've ever heard; and the sound was sublime. However, it didn't have that spontaneous,'organic' feel that so many great rock shows have.
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I remember reading an interview maybe even here on AMIT, about a band musician from DS in the late years, he said something like "if you would accidentally play the wrong note, you would instantly see this angry stare from Mark" or something. I mean, drummer can't literally play "whatever he wants", it all must go through MK's filter before going on stage back then. So I highly doubt that after 3 months of rehearsal Chris Whitten really would play something that wasn't approved by Mr. Sausage :lol
You can't sum up the definition of good or bad to play wrong note or note.
You also have to take in account that Mark has to face refusal from others drummer and find someone that fit the wage he was offering. Dire Straits is known as being not the best paying band and at that time Mark with John and Ed were the financial bosses.
Interesting that Whitten had just finished a highly successful world tour with Paul McCartney who was known for paying his touring musicians the bare minimum required by the union.
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About Whitten , i read a similar interview here in Portugal. I still have the magazine. He said that Mark told him "he was the only drummer who didn`t have ruined Sultans,all the others did it. And also that when Mark plays a note in the guitar he must play the right note on the drums at the same time. When fans go see and listen Sultans it´s like people when they go to see Shakespeare, you got to do it right, it´s not maybe or not maybe, it´s to be our not to be, it´s Sultans.
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Certainly. Absolutely everything was very tightly rehearsed on that tour. There wasn't a note out of place. It made for arguably the tightest arena show I've ever heard; and the sound was sublime. However, it didn't have that spontaneous,'organic' feel that so many great rock shows have.
Got that same feeling.
It was the very first time that I was attending Dire Straits.
It was somewhat surreal at first, I had listened to them so many times and at last I was in same room with my guitar hero.
But toward Romeo or Heavy Fuel I was thinking "well they are doing the usual job".
I saw them one more time a month later in Belgium and it sounded a bit more lively, I remember a fab Sultan.
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Certainly. Absolutely everything was very tightly rehearsed on that tour. There wasn't a note out of place. It made for arguably the tightest arena show I've ever heard; and the sound was sublime. However, it didn't have that spontaneous,'organic' feel that so many great rock shows have.
Got that same feeling.
It was the very first time that I was attending Dire Straits.
It was somewhat surreal at first, I had listened to them so many times and at last I was in same room with my guitar hero.
But toward Romeo or Heavy Fuel I was thinking "well they are doing the usual job".
I saw them one more time a month later in Belgium and it sounded a bit more lively, I remember a fab Sultan.
excatly the same for me, but saw them only once
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Certainly. Absolutely everything was very tightly rehearsed on that tour. There wasn't a note out of place. It made for arguably the tightest arena show I've ever heard; and the sound was sublime. However, it didn't have that spontaneous,'organic' feel that so many great rock shows have.
Got that same feeling.
It was the very first time that I was attending Dire Straits.
It was somewhat surreal at first, I had listened to them so many times and at last I was in same room with my guitar hero.
But toward Romeo or Heavy Fuel I was thinking "well they are doing the usual job".
I saw them one more time a month later in Belgium and it sounded a bit more lively, I remember a fab Sultan.
you were also on the holy grounds in Werchter on 1992.05.27?
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Certainly. Absolutely everything was very tightly rehearsed on that tour. There wasn't a note out of place. It made for arguably the tightest arena show I've ever heard; and the sound was sublime. However, it didn't have that spontaneous,'organic' feel that so many great rock shows have.
Got that same feeling.
It was the very first time that I was attending Dire Straits.
It was somewhat surreal at first, I had listened to them so many times and at last I was in same room with my guitar hero.
But toward Romeo or Heavy Fuel I was thinking "well they are doing the usual job".
I saw them one more time a month later in Belgium and it sounded a bit more lively, I remember a fab Sultan.
you were also on the holy grounds in Werchter on 1992.05.27?
Second row in front of John.
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Certainly. Absolutely everything was very tightly rehearsed on that tour. There wasn't a note out of place. It made for arguably the tightest arena show I've ever heard; and the sound was sublime. However, it didn't have that spontaneous,'organic' feel that so many great rock shows have.
Got that same feeling.
It was the very first time that I was attending Dire Straits.
It was somewhat surreal at first, I had listened to them so many times and at last I was in same room with my guitar hero.
But toward Romeo or Heavy Fuel I was thinking "well they are doing the usual job".
I saw them one more time a month later in Belgium and it sounded a bit more lively, I remember a fab Sultan.
you were also on the holy grounds in Werchter on 1992.05.27?
Second row in front of John.
John only managed to get himself a third row seat? :lol
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Hahaha! ;D ;D Nice one DMG! :clap