>
>
>I agree with all of this, with the caveat that there are times when
>"overplaying" provides exactly the embellishment a song needs to put it
>over.  Naturally, the all-time champion example is Blondie's "Dreaming,"
>which wouldn't be half as much fun if Clem Burke hadn't been told he was
>getting paid by the pad hit, but I'm also reminded of some of Terry
>Chambers' work in '79-'82 XTC ("Travels in Nihilon," for example, or the
>bridge in "Senses Working Overtime") and Pete Thomas' utterly remarkable
>cymbal work on Elvis Costello's "Beyond Belief."  There's a difference
>between that kind of overplaying and the overplaying of, say, Billy Cobham
>in the '70s, when it's all about the paradiddles.


yep. totally agree. a good drummer knows what is needed to push the song
to the next level.

>
>On the other hand, I'm also on record as saying that Meg White is the
>perfect drummer for the White Stripes in the same way that Bobby Gillespie
>was the perfect drummer in the early days of the Jesus and Mary Chain:
>technical competence is so clearly beside the point that a "good" drummer
>would just be distracting.
>
>S

yep. i was trying to figure out how to express this.
The limited drummer who uses that to advantage and plays within that strength
is hard to beat (no pun intended) as raw will always cut through (ie 
Mo Tucker...
i can't imagine the early VU records any other way....)... or there's some
early Lightin' Hopkins where his drummer is playing some stripped down
kit in a chicken shack or something - it's riveting!

for many bands - the drummer is the main cog of their sound.... Jack White
could play with a better drummer but it would be Jack White with a 
better drummer,
it wouldn't be The White Stripes....



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