Pick Withers.

[Pottel]

you went to the NHB in 99? then we must have "seen" each other 

[xxFordiexx]

We didnt have a Pick problem with Danny last night,he came out after the gig & said that he had to meet a few friends but had no problems signing autographs & posing for pics when he came back - John McCusker was exactly the same - nice guys.

I got Guy and Danny to sign my Brothers In Arms album nearly 2 years ago and had a nice chat with Guy too!

He was a gent and enjoyed talking about a lot of things including DS.

Oh and he shared his cheese and onion crisps with me too lol! ( is that sad or what? ) 

Anyway my point was that he did not mind talking about it.

Guy - 
Danny - 

erm Pick - 

[Jackal]

Probably more of you who've seen this, but thought I'd post it anyway. Pick on drums. I like it a lot (sweet vocalist). A bit rough sound quality, so his drumming probably sounds harder than it is:

 

 

 

[Fletch]

Isn't there a thread where Picks wife drops in? Or was that a hoax?

AMIT is loaded with celebrities!!!

[Love Expresso]

You mean apart from Dusty Valentino and Pottel? And Superval of course?   

LE

[Pottel]

Isn't there a thread where Picks wife drops in? Or was that a hoax?

AMIT is loaded with celebrities!!!

whaaaaattt? Naaah, really?
Jack Sonni seems to be a semi-regular now :-)

[vgonis]

Bringing back to life an old thread, and a nice one!
Might as well chip in with a bit of info that I didn't see anywhere in the posts,  that Pick used to play with Dando Shaft back in the early 70ies. They have become a bit cult ish, their LPs reissued and all...
And Dusty I agree I think that PW was the best drummer of them all and only Phil Collins was better (see him at The princess trust concerts)...
Terry Williams was too load for me, but suitable for Alchemy.
Chris Whiten was too much for my ears. He created a hollow sound that stood out, above all other instruments and it was annoying. MK must have picked him up from Paul McCartney, after the Knebworth gig. And he might have been OK for Macca's music but not for DS. 

[xxFordiexx]

Bringing back to life an old thread, and a nice one!
Might as well chip in with a bit of info that I didn't see anywhere in the posts,  that Pick used to play with Dando Shaft back in the early 70ies. They have become a bit cult ish, their LPs reissued and all...
And Dusty I agree I think that PW was the best drummer of them all and only Phil Collins was better (see him at The princess trust concerts)...
Terry Williams was too load for me, but suitable for Alchemy.
Chris Whiten was too much for my ears. He created a hollow sound that stood out, above all other instruments and it was annoying. MK must have picked him up from Paul McCartney, after the Knebworth gig. And he might have been OK for Macca's music but not for DS. 

Horses for courses really. Terry Williams for me will always be my favourite drummer for DS, he is incredible.

I really loved Chris Whitten too, loved his incredible fills in songs like Sultans... not as awesome as Terry's fills though

[Jackal]

Horses for courses really. Terry Williams for me will always be my favourite drummer for DS, he is incredible.

I really loved Chris Whitten too, loved his incredible fills in songs like Sultans... not as awesome as Terry's fills though

Just echoing Jack Sonni's words from another thread, my emphases:

Had the first rehearsal with Pick today...and I'm still buzzing from the experience!! THIS is why I do this from time to time. Pick is a great musician and while I love Terry Williams as a mate & he was a great drummer, it was absolutely fantastic to play the songs from the early albums with Pick today. His feel is so incredible and I found myself smiling from ear to ear..thinking YES THIS is how these songs are supposed to feel & be played. While the band played it's ass off on the BIA tour, so much of the subtlety got pounded out of them as DS got to stadium gigs. Today was w/out Phil & Mel but we ran through "Sultans" (was sublime - all the amazing little accents were there at last!!), "Expresso Love" "Six Blade Knife" "Wild West End" (sorry I did get to play a solo at the end!!) & "Tunnel of Love".

So I guess you're right, horses for courses, and it's mostly down to preferences. If you like the stadium stuff, Terry is your drummer, if you like small-gigs stuff, Pick is your drummer.

[xxFordiexx]

Horses for courses really. Terry Williams for me will always be my favourite drummer for DS, he is incredible.

I really loved Chris Whitten too, loved his incredible fills in songs like Sultans... not as awesome as Terry's fills though

Just echoing Jack Sonni's words from another thread, my emphases:

Had the first rehearsal with Pick today...and I'm still buzzing from the experience!! THIS is why I do this from time to time. Pick is a great musician and while I love Terry Williams as a mate & he was a great drummer, it was absolutely fantastic to play the songs from the early albums with Pick today. His feel is so incredible and I found myself smiling from ear to ear..thinking YES THIS is how these songs are supposed to feel & be played. While the band played it's ass off on the BIA tour, so much of the subtlety got pounded out of them as DS got to stadium gigs. Today was w/out Phil & Mel but we ran through "Sultans" (was sublime - all the amazing little accents were there at last!!), "Expresso Love" "Six Blade Knife" "Wild West End" (sorry I did get to play a solo at the end!!) & "Tunnel of Love".

So I guess you're right, horses for courses, and it's mostly down to preferences. If you like the stadium stuff, Terry is your drummer, if you like small-gigs stuff, Pick is your drummer.

I totally agree.... to be honest I love them all. It's nice to see Pick enjoys playing the old Straits stuff again

[pedro803]

I love Pick Withers playing, I think that as MK gained more access to other resources, it diminished his reliance on Pick -- i.e. Pick's role diminished as they were able to add keyboards etc. etc. -- I love MK as much as anybody but it is my humble opinion that the real dire straits died, not when David left but when the other David aka Pick Withers left.  He just added so much feel even when he was playing straight forward stuff.

Anyways after reading through this thread I have been looking for more material on him, and I found that while his first band "the primitives" is usually given short shrift -- there are clips of them on youtube.  For Example:



and



and



apparently this guy Mal was hot in Italy, also the full album "Spring" is on youtube, kind of reminds me of Emerson Lake & Palmer, Pick sounds good on it -- although apparently his name was sometimes spelled Pique



and this link says the guys in "the primitives" got his name Pick or Pique from some Charles Dickens

http://www.theprimitives.com/maladjusted/cdprimitives.htm

[vgonis]

He also did a great work with Dando shaft




But it is my understanding that he chose to leave DS because he was tired of touring.

[Finnishdude]

I didn't find this video posted already, so here it is.

As far as I know, there is Pick Withers playing the drums, in Pauline Black's jazz trio.
 

Reference: http://alumni.coventry.ac.uk/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1388

[jbaent]

is there any video of Pick playing with Jack Sonni etc etc with that Italian tribute band?