Dylan's David Kemper: Bar Band Drummer or One of America's Best?

[charlie's_good_tonight]

Just an anecdote to share. From the latest issue of MOJO, a feature about Bob Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" sessions. Dylan's then-drummer David Kemper had to leave the sessions due to a prior commitment (an art opening in LA, according to the article), which gave producer Daniel Lanois a pretext to bring in Brian Blade and Jim Keltner to finish the record. This despite Kemper having put down early demos of material at Lanois' LA studio before everyone decamped to Miami to record the eventual album.

Kemper, Lanois said, made Bob's band "sound like a bar band." Ouch.

Pivot to an interview with Kemper in Rolling Stone from last September. Kemper says Charlie Watts took him aside after a run of Dylan shows opening for the Stones and told him: "You’re a real drummer. Where you put the two and the four is perfect. It’s not late, and it’s never early. None of your bars ever slow down, and I just love how you interact with the other musicians. You’re not a jazz drummer, but you’re an American drummer, one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Dismissed by Lanois, loved by Charlie (assuming we believe Kemper's story). Just goes to show.

**Dylan recently released another installment of his Bootleg Series, this one a bunch of alternates and outtakes from the Time Out Of Mind sessions, including early demos. Great feels abound — Latin, shuffles, ballads, even some funk. Dylan also added a remixed version of the original album, apparently never satisfied with Lanois' heavy textures and treatment on the original, and a source of much tension during the sessions. The article also never clarifies if Kemper returned later for additional recording.**

 

[T-2]

I'd go with Charlie for the win. David Kemper is a great drummer, period. 11 years in the Jerry Garcia Band, most all of those concerts documented, he sounded great on all of them. I have the highest respect for David Kemper's musicianship.

 

[groovemastergreg]

I just read that Kemper quote last week and was looking for it. Thanks!

 

[groovemastergreg]

Agree with T2. I really enjoyed his time with the Jerry Garcia Band, and there's plenty of good JGB vids on YouTube, some with Kemper's predecessor Ron Tutt! I would say that for those looking for Kemper videos, look for the JCB vids that have Marvin Seals playing keyboards. Not sure about timelines of all the personnel but Tutt was in the 70's and early 80;s then Kemper.

Kemper with JCB

Tutt with JCB-the drumming is awesome and filled with treats.

 

[T-2]

Tutt was '75 till late-summer '77, then a short tour in '81 (also in Legion of Mary). Greatest version of JGB ever, I think: Ron Tutt, Jerry, John Kahn, Keith and Donna Godchaux.

David was '83 till '94.

 

[drummer083]

I thought Kemper did a great job with the Average White Band prior to Steve Ferrone joining.

 

[charlie's_good_tonight]

Didn't actually put it together until now that Kemper is on that JGB double-live album I've listened to since mid-90s!

 

[owr]

That album is burned deep in my brain. I still have the original cds we actually listened to endlessly in 93 or so. One went missing and the other is scratched to heck, but its in the rack.

Didn't actually put it together until now that Kemper is on that JGB double-live album I've listened to since mid-90s!

 

[bpaluzzi]

I thought Kemper did a great job with the Average White Band prior to Steve Ferrone joining.

Robbie McIntosh was the AWB drummer before Steve Ferrone.

Kemper was in the Jerry Garcia Band before Dylan's band.

 

[Whitten]

I never trust single quotes. No one probably knows what went on here.
I certainly wouldn't leave an album tracking session with Dylan to attend an art opening. I've worked with producers who have been working to remove me (in favour of someone like Keltner) from day one. I have replaced drummers on records that the producer deemed was 'not good enough'. Dylan has a say right? He could have suggested having a couple of days break while Kemper wasn't available. He could have simply refused Lanois' suggestion to bring in two freelance studio drummers.
At the end of the day, you don't leave a gaping hole in your main gig, because someone will always fill it and may take the gig away from you.

 

[charlie's_good_tonight]

I never trust single quotes. No one probably knows what went on here.
I certainly wouldn't leave an album tracking session with Dylan to attend an art opening. I've worked with producers who have been working to remove me (in favour of someone like Keltner) from day one. I have replaced drummers on records that the producer deemed was 'not good enough'. Dylan has a say right? He could have suggested having a couple of days break while Kemper wasn't available. He could have simply refused Lanois' suggestion to bring in two freelance studio drummers.
At the end of the day, you don't leave a gaping hole in your main gig, because someone will always fill it and may take the gig away from you.

It's good to hear yr perspective from inside the machine, Whitten.

Dylan's authority in the matter is curiously absent from the reporting. It sounds like he was willing to cede the personnel decisions to Lanois, which may have also contributed to a lot of the tension. Lanois wanted a spooky re-boot of the blues, Dylan wanted a more traditional approach, wanted to actually be more of a modern-day Lightning Hopkins or Howlin Wolf.

Also curious why Dylan didn't lobby for his drummer. Apparently Kemper informed Dylan's management about the art opening before they started tracking, but maybe it was a sticking point. That said, and maybe you can speak to this a bit, hasn't there always been a perception that certain guys are just "road drummers" that can't quite do it in the studio? And it's hard to shake that label once you're branded with it?

 

[charlie's_good_tonight]

That version of "Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)" is haunting...

That album is burned deep in my brain. I still have the original cds we actually listened to endlessly in 93 or so. One went missing and the other is scratched to heck, but its in the rack.

 

[Squirrel Man]

@charlie's_good_tonight - isn't Charlie good most nights?

 

[charlie's_good_tonight]

@charlie's_good_tonight - isn't Charlie good most nights?

Only when Mick says so

 

[JTBates]

love David Kemper!! Dylan & Jerry Band have been a huge influence on me since I was a kid.
I love Lanois and his productions but it’s important to remember these people are just people and they can be wrong about things just as much as they might be right.
Check the mark Howard book for more insight on some of the peaks and valleys of what comes out of Lanois mouth.

Anyhow kemper is so grounded and has such a huge pocket. Adore him. And I do believe that’s him on a loop on “Dirt Road Blues” on Time Out of Mind.

 

[Whitten]

That said, and maybe you can speak to this a bit, hasn't there always been a perception that certain guys are just "road drummers" that can't quite do it in the studio? And it's hard to shake that label once you're branded with it?

Yes, that point is true.
Also, when I was doing McCartney it was a 24/7 commitment. If he had some studio time booked and you said you'd already booked something else....it just didn't fly. I only ever promised to do anything else when I knew (and it was confirmed) Paul would be away on holiday.
Maybe Dylan was happy to replace Kemper and chose to let Lanois take the rap.

 

[Whitten]

I love Lanois and his productions but it’s important to remember these people are just people and they can be wrong about things just as much as they might be right.

If he's just hired to make the best album, then he might not be 'wrong'.
I replaced a lot of band drummers back in the day. Arguably it made a better album, but very often the band never recovered from the trauma.

 

[BlackPearl]

It has been a long time since I read Dylan's Chronicles autobiography, but I seem to recall it ends with the recording of Oh Mercy with Lanois, and that there were similar tensions. I would have thought Dylan knew what he was getting when he chose Lanois for Time Out of Mind. Personally, I love both albums, they are among my favorites of his, but I can see it would be a problem if Dylan was looking for a "rootsier" sound.

Lanois certainly imparts his own sound on the albums he produces. I always think of three of the albums he did in the late eighties - Oh Mercy, the Neville Brothers' Yellow Moon, and his own Acadie - as being a trilogy of great, very similar sounding, albums. I believe at least one drum track originally recorded for Yellow Moon was even recycled to use on Acadie.

 

[charlie's_good_tonight]

love David Kemper!! Dylan & Jerry Band have been a huge influence on me since I was a kid.
I love Lanois and his productions but it’s important to remember these people are just people and they can be wrong about things just as much as they might be right.
Check the mark Howard book for more insight on some of the peaks and valleys of what comes out of Lanois mouth.

Anyhow kemper is so grounded and has such a huge pocket. Adore him. And I do believe that’s him on a loop on “Dirt Road Blues” on Time Out of Mind.

Added a new book to my list, thanks JTB. From the article, also sounds like Kemper is on "Cold Irons Bound," one of the grooviest tracks on that record. Story goes that he was kinda warming up with that Afro-Cuban shuffle, Bob walked in and told him to keep it going, started writing lyrics and they tracked it right then.

 

[charlie's_good_tonight]

It has been a long time since I read Dylan's Chronicles autobiography, but I seem to recall it ends with the recording of Oh Mercy with Lanois, and that there were similar tensions. I would have thought Dylan knew what he was getting when he chose Lanois for Time Out of Mind. Personally, I love both albums, they are among my favorites of his, but I can see it would be a problem if Dylan was looking for a "rootsier" sound.

Lanois certainly imparts his own sound on the albums he produces. I always think of three of the albums he did in the late eighties - Oh Mercy, the Neville Brothers' Yellow Moon, and his own Acadie - as being a trilogy of great, very similar sounding, albums. I believe at least one drum track originally recorded for Yellow Moon was even recycled to use on Acadie.

Yes, I remember that part of his book, too. Guess they both fed off the tension? Hard to argue with the results; agreed, I love both albums as well. One thing that sounds clear is that Dylan is impatient in the studio. Wants to get it down in a couple of takes and move on. Maybe come back to it again later with different feels, key changes. And Lanois is such a tinkerer that I can see where they'd have some inevitable clashes.