Frankie Miller sessions

When I first started out in the music business I remember talk of a maverick singer/songwriter, a Scotsman who refused to cowtow to the Industry executives and followed his own path. Frankie Miller sang with a voice like a sack of stones. He was the epitome of the British "Blue-eyed Soul" movement.

He co-wrote with many people, including Steve Cropper, Joe Walsh & Clint Black.

19 years ago he suffered a brain hemorrhage while in New York, recording with Joe Walsh. His road to recovery has been a long one, and he is still partially disabled, but his legendary determination & stoicism have continued to fuel his efforts.

I couple of months back I was contacted by David Mackay (producer). He had found a number of Frankie's original demos, mostly on cassette tape, and he'd lifted Frankie's vocal, cleaned them up and added new instrumentation. He asked if I might be interested in playing drums on a couple of tracks. Well I jumped at the chance and, along with bassist (& good friend) Mark Prentice, we tracked two songs for the upcoming album at Manicdrums Productions.

"Sending Me Angels" is a duet which features the incredible talents of Kiki Dee, and "Long Way Home" will ultimately feature Frankie alone on vocals. The energy on this project is quite amazing. Already such artists as Bonnie Tyler, Paul Carrack, Steve Cropper & Joe Walsh have lent their talents to the project, and there's talk of many more. I'm looking forward to hearing the finished product. A voice from two decades ago on new, fresh music tracks....

Music. The universal Communicator

I’ve just returned to my hotel room from playing a gala fundraiser at the Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown Massachusetts. We played 5 songs with a number of the students singing & playing with us, some of whom are not just visually impaired but also suffering extreme learning (& communication) difficulties. The teachers explained that some of the children come to the school in a practically catatonic state. And the one thing that somehow reaches out to these students is music. It is the single most successful thing in getting them out of their shells & into a routine of communicating with the rest of the student body and the world in general.

To say this evening was an intense learning experience for me would be an enormous understatement: I found it both moving and uplifting. I’d like to thank all the staff at Perkins for their hospitality & for taking the time to both make us feel welcome and educate us on the incredible work they do.

Sink or Swim

I am lucky to have been involved in the Music Business during a time of incredible creativity & exponential growth.  I hear people complaining about the business “not being what it was” and to some extent I agree.  But there is more music around now than ever: more people are listening to it, and more people are MAKING it.  It’s a question of how you approach the new business model.  You can sink or swim - it’s your choice. 

True, there are going to be fewer "Music Millionaires" with the current state of the industry.  But people will always want to listen to music, and they will always want to go and see artists perform.  It really IS just a case of re-invention.  

The old model was broken anyway. The artists were not making the bulk of the money: the record labels had become a law unto themselves, and were robbing both sides - the public were having to pay through the nose for sub-standard product and the artists were obliged to hand over a huge proportion of their earnings to "promote" their product (and finance A&R department junkets).  It was only a matter of time before both sides found a way to circumvent the middle man.  

We are now looking at a system based on a Global Village Model: if you are enterprising enough, and have the ability to self-promote, you can actually make a living.  OK, it probably won't be millions, but let's face it, only a few artists really did that with the old model.  We just aspired to be like them.  We're looking at a virtual redistribution of wealth.  Maybe not such a bad thing: if more of us stand a better chance of actually making enough to live on, then how can that be anything but good?

So, you won't have your A&R man "holding your hand" through it all, but surely you can do this......?  Of course you can!  The day of the A&R man is long gone.  The last true great (musical) A&R man was Muff Winwood.  The age of the musically-adept record executive is in the past.  You're on your own, kid.  But it's an exciting prospect.  no?

"Pocket"

Apparently I have big "pocket" - this is the greatest compliment anyone can pay me.  As I have mentioned before, being able to accomplish a complicated rudiment, or flashy fill has never really caught my attention.  I DO practice certain rudiments, and work out new ways to play tom fills, but for me, the feel, the groove is paramount.

When I was in my teens I did try to practice a few incendiary drum fills (possibly to impress the girls), but even then my motivation was more about playing with the rest of the musicians in the band. After all, unless you're always at drum clinics, the people you are going to interact with are not going to be drummers!  While some bands have more than one guitarist (even more than one keyboard player)  MOST bands only have one drummer (The Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd & The Allmans being the exception to that rule)!

So, for a drummer to truly hone his craft, it is imperative that he learn how to play WITH those other musicians.  Listen, watch, feel..... use your intuition, develop your 6th Sense..... unless you simply want to do drum clinics your entire life (and there are quite a few drummers out there doing that).

Dave Weckl once said something that really stuck with me.  He had just been given a glowing introduction onto the stage at the Sabian Bash (during one NAMM show in Anaheim).  Basically, Dom Famularo had introduced him as "the greatest, ever...."

Before getting behind the kit,  Dave walked up to a microphone at the front and said: "Thank you, Dom, but I'd just like to add something: each of us has a unique way of expressing ourselves, and all those ways are equally valid.  We all have something to say. Let's not forget that."

Feel vs Technique

The age-old argument.
I'll start by acknowledging the incredible discipline & skill it takes to practice rudiments endlessly until you've perfected them almost in your sleep.  But, for me, pure technique for no reason leaves me empty, uninspired.

I am, and always will be, a "feel" player.  This doesn't mean I don't have technique, but the majority of my "practice" involves playing with other musicians, first & foremost.  I do warm up before a show, and I do practice rudiments, (although, truth be known, not as much or often as I probably should).

You could call me lazy.  One of my key concepts is to get the message across using the minimum number of strokes.  But I think there are drummers like that throughout Rock Music.  Bonham, for one.....  Nigel Olsson is another.  Even Steve Gadd (whose undeniable technique has been displayed on many occasions) is economical with his approach to a song.

Ringo Starr is, of course, the prime example of someone who was all about the song, and certainly not about showing off.  Were it not for that approach The Beatles would have sounded totally different.

So, I rest my case.  Keep it simple, stupid!