Crosby getting into it with Byrds drummer Michael Clarke

[Frank Godiva]

The chirping ends with call Hal.

 

[richardh253]

I bet there are a lot of such chats that end with "let's call Hal."

 

[FloydZKing]

Gary Usher wants a shuffling jazz-WALTZ in a 4/4 tune. Am guessing that's not really what he means. Yikes.

 

[drummer083]

David and Michael loathed one another. They couldn't even bury the hachet when they were inducted into the RRHOF.

 

[jb78]

I'm a fan of Michael Clarke's drumming, though my favorite Byrd's album is The Notorious Byrd Brothers, which is mostly a mix of Jim Gordan and Hal Blaine. RIP Croz!

 

[notINtheband]

Bring almost any other session drummer into this about 1 minute in, and they have something that works.
Clearly the disconnect WAS Ego, and simmering animosity between them.
I’m nobody and I heard 2 or 3 workable grooves in my head that would have likely worked when Michael was arguing back to DC.
Thanks for posting this.
It really makes some of my heroes more human to me, which is a beautiful thing.

 

[DanC]

Such bickering. Tsk, tsk. Not very professional at all. Could Crosby be any more patronizing? And that insulting stuff about Hal B. That's a good way to start a fistfight....

 

[BennyK]

These guys were leading the peace and love stampede back then in the sixties . Spinal Tap be thy name .

 

[Drums]

Wow, that’s sad. Not known as a great drummer, but that was a little harsh and painful to listen to. Thanks for posting.

 

[ThomFloor]

Most of the problem there sounds like a bad attitude by Mike Clarke. You can tell he didn't like the song, didn't want to play on it or worse try to play anything different other than his first try.
I do like his drumming but the best Byrds drumming was Gene Parsons. I really loved the line up with him Clarence, Roger and Skip.

 

[Frank Godiva]

So I have it good authority from an Italian drummer outside of Pittsburgh; that the tune in question is called Dolphin Smile.

The album has both Blane and Jim Gordon, but surprisingly it is actually Clarke that ended up on the album cut.

Dolphins' Smile 22:47

 

[RIDDIM]

I guess the idea of working the tune out before going into the studio was beyond these guys.

 

[Pre ‘72]

This is brilliant.

Such insight into the strain between a great songwriter’s thinking and a decent drummer’s ego trip.

A lot of of lessons to learn here. On both ends.

 

[shuffle]

I always understood MC wasn't much of a drummer when the Byrd's took off.
Not a lot of experience.
I really loved his playing with Firefall more so.

 

[David Hunter]

I always understood MC wasn't much of a drummer when the Byrd's took off.
Not a lot of experience.
I really loved his playing with Firefall more so.

It's true. He was hired more for his resemblance to Rolling Stone Brian Jones than for his musical skills.

 

[bpaluzzi]

This is brilliant.

Such insight into the strain between a great songwriter’s thinking and a decent drummer’s ego trip.

A lot of of lessons to learn here. On both ends.

Definitely a lot to learn on both sides.

I hear a songwriter saying "play it right", while not offering any insight into what the heck he wants the drummer to play. Crosby obviously had something in mind, why doesn't he make even the SLIGHTEST attempt to convey what he's thinking? Simply saying "that's not it" isn't helpful. He says he wants something like "boom chicka boom chicka boom chicka", which is what the drummer was playing, and what he literally JUST got done saying he doesn't want. He doesn't have any idea what he wants, and he's expecting the drummer to read his mind.

Then the producer offers "it's a cross between a shuffle and a jazz waltz", which isn't anywhere in the tri-state area of being helpful.

IMO every single person on that tape is an egotistical prick.

 

[TheElectricCompany]

Definitely a lot to learn on both sides.

I hear a songwriter saying "play it right", while not offering any insight into what the heck he wants the drummer to play. Crosby obviously had something in mind, why doesn't he make even the SLIGHTEST attempt to convey what he's thinking? Simply saying "that's not it" isn't helpful. He says he wants something like "boom chicka boom chicka boom chicka", which is what the drummer was playing, and what he literally JUST got done saying he doesn't want. He doesn't have any idea what he wants, and he's expecting the drummer to read his mind.

Then the producer offers "it's a cross between a shuffle and a jazz waltz", which isn't anywhere in the tri-state area of being helpful.

IMO every single person on that tape is an egotistical prick.

Exactly. If Crosby could at least take a minute to really sing what he hears or offer some other song as an example it would have saved who knows how much time.

Of course, that's no guarantee or success, either. When I was in the studio last year the songwriter told me he wanted a Friend of the Devil-type groove on a track. After I approached his song with both feels used in that song he finally understood they didn't fit his song in the slightest. At that point he was completely stumped. Ended up going with a shuffle, or as I described it to him, "Eight Days A Week."

 

[Squirrel Man]

That made my eye twitch

 

[Frank Godiva]

That made my eye twitch

The lazy one or the good 1?

 

[Frank Godiva]

“the songwriter told me he wanted a Friend of the Devil-type groove on a track”

Boy he could not have picked a worse example imho. FOTD was played well over 300 times by the GD and many more by the Jerry Garcia Band.

It ranges from slow and drudging to all coked up brutally fast in the early 80s and everywhere in between. There are more recorded cover versions of FOTD than of any other Grateful Dead song according to dead disc dot com.


You want it like FOTD? Can you be more specific then throw a stone in the ocean? Throw a dog a bone over here…..