Live in London '69 -- who played drums?

[busy doin nothin]

This is probably an easy question, so please excuse my ignorance.  Is it Denny?  I just think the drumming at that show was so full of energy and power -- it really added a dimension the BBs rarely had in their studio drumming (maybe due to production and mixing decisions, I don't know).

[Uncomfortable Seat]

yeah, that was his playing style

[Jardine Power!]

I really enjoy his drumming on that one. Adds a nice touch and a new dimension to tunes like "Aren't You Glad" and "Wake the World."

[busy doin nothin]

I really enjoy his drumming on that one. Adds a nice touch and a new dimension to tunes like "Aren't You Glad" and "Wake the World."

Totally agree on "Aren't You Glad" and "Wake the World."  In my opinion, if the studio version of "Aren't You Glad" had featured drums and horns with the energy of the Live in London version, I think it could have been a hit single.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Most of Wuld Honey, if it were given the whole Motown sound could've been hits. All of those songs are as good as any typical radio-overplayed motown song.

Brian seemed to master any type of songwriting he felt like.

[nosticker]

Unless it's another Badman error, I believe that book lists Mike Kowalski as the drummer for LIL '69.  Have to go check the book. 



Dan

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Is it possible that Mike and Dennis both did some drumming on it?

[Aegir]

The cover art on the British release shows Dennis drumming, but it makes some sense that both he and Kowalski would be playing; two drummers doesn't seem weird at all to me..

[Jon Stebbins]

Kowalski was on the Europe 12/ 68 tour as a percussionist...Dennis did nearly all of the drumming on that tour...and its definitely Dennis playing the drums on "Live in London".

[nosticker]

Thank you Jon!  I went from thinking Dennis played to thinking Mike K. played...now back to Dennis, which is what I had thought all along.



Dan

[Jon Stebbins]

Easiest place to verify this is Vic Kettle's concert footage from that tour, and some of it... if I'm not mistaken from that very show...unfortunately its soundless. But in every snippet of the BB's on stage in the UK and throughout Europe...Dennis is playing the drums.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I wonder if Dennis will ever get his due as a drummer.  It's also amazing to think how long Kowalski has been involved with the band.

[Daniel S.]

Most of Wild Honey, if it were given the whole Motown sound could've been hits.

Brian was still writing great songs at that time and a "Motown sound" is exactly what Wild Honey needed. The minimalist production is probably what killed it on the charts.

[busy doin nothin]

I wonder if Dennis will ever get his due as a drummer.  It's also amazing to think how long Kowalski has been involved with the band.

Assuming that it really was Dennis on the Live in London recording, boy does he ever deserve his due.  The way he played in that concert is fodaing awesome.  He singlehandedly reinterpreted a whole bunch of those songs with the energy of his drumming, which was simply absent from the studio versions (not that I don't love the studio versions too).  The way I hear that concert, it's Denny's drums that really give the band credibility.  The guitars and bass are competent but don't stand out.

[Jon Stebbins]

There are plenty of examples of Dennis Wilson showing he could be a dynamic studio drummer as well..."When I Grow Up To Be A Man" is Dennis. Listen to that and tell me he wasn't good. Dennis got a bum rap as a drummer for several reasons. First and foremost is the fact that most BB's journalists  gave the "Wrecking Crew" too much credit. Yes they played on a lot of great stuff for Brian...but Brian himself, and Carl, Al, David, Bruce...and yes Dennis too...all contributed mightily to the Beach Boys body of work in the studio as musicians. Because the Pet Sounds tracks were almost entirely created by studio players, as were many BB's recordings from the '65 to '67 period...the thought entered the general BB's consiousness that studio people played on ALL the BB's sessions after the first couple of LP's. But this isn't even close to the truth. Actually the BB's themselves played on a great many of the sessions including most everything on the first 5 LP's...much of the All Summer Long LP, BB's Today, and even some on Summer Days. It doesn't help to have Carole Kaye claiming there were session people playing the guitars on Surfin' USA...which is COMPLETELY untrue. But because of people's willingness to swallow the myth... that whole "Wrecking Crew played on all the sessions" thing has certainly skewed people's evaluation of DW as a drummer.

Another problem is Brian insisiting on the minimal drumming sound starting with Smiley Smile and throughout Wild Honey and into Friends. Dennis was ordered in both the studio and the concert setting to barely play...just simple back beat, minimal highhat, snare, and cymbal use. Brian just didn't want loud and busy drums on his material during that "chill out" post Smile period. Many people listen to that stuff and figure that's all Dennis can handle...which isn't true. Go back to '64 and listen to Dance Dance Dance, both studio and live, which gives you a better idea of how Dennis really liked to play the drums.

Finally, Dennis wrecked his hand in '71...prior to that he had become an excellent drummer as Live in London, or the live David Frost broadcast of Wouldn't it Be Nice from '71 clearly show...but he was replaced by a much more technically proficient drummer in Ricky Fataar. When you are constantly compared to Hal Blaine and Ricky Fataar, two incredibly talented drummers, few people would look good. But Dennis had his own thing, and he did it well. His feel was excellent, his power legendary...and he brought an excitement and exhuberance to the material. Listen to Catch a Wave, it really grooves, Little Honda and I Get Around both rock nicely...or Don't Worry Baby, I'm So Young, simple yet dramatic as hell...there are too many classic BB's songs that feature Dennis on drums to not give him his due. He may not have been a Hal Blaine, or a Ricky Fataar, but he gave the BB's something very special as a drummer.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

That was great, Jon.

The wrecking crew myth has definitely gone too far "the other way."  I think in the beginning, they probably were completely under recognized and obviously uncredited, but now it's gone so far that the Beach Boys apparently didn't play on a single record according to some.

I sure would have liked to have witnessed the When I Grow Up session, or the Dance, Dance, Dance session.  The Beach Boys as instrumentalists at their quintessential best.  Dennis and Al add so much to those tracks, as the most "maligned" instrumentalists in the Beach Boys.

[busy doin nothin]

Yeah, fantastic post, Jon.  I was just thinking about how to dispel the "wrecking crew myth" to a friend of mine who is a music fan but not big on the Beach Boys, and who I just made a post-66 Beach Boys compilation for.  I may just copy your post and email it to him.  I used to subscribe to the "myth" myself, out of ignorance, and I really wish David Leaf's two-fer liner notes (my first source of infor on the band as I got into their music in the early 90s) said more about the Boys' own playing on the early albums.

[Jon Stebbins]

Thanks for the positive feeback...and sorry for all the bad spelling. I do think David Leaf's writings perpetuated the Wrecking Crew myth to a degree...although I think it was an innocent thing...this is what people like Hal and Carole were telling him...after other people had been telling them...you played on all the BB's stuff. Well...they did play on some of the greatest BB's tracks no doubt. We figure it works out to about 60/40 BB's in the '63 to '65 period. Also Aeijtzsche...very true that the skew partly came about from the initial unmasking... the fact that the studio cats were not credited on the orig. LP's...a typical thing for the sixties. I hadn't thought about that in a while...but you are so right. Once people became educated to their presence...it went waaaay overboard.

[nosticker]

Awesome, Jon!
I wonder if there's room on this board for a definitive "Denny Played Drums On...." sticky thread.

It would certainly put his playing in perspective with Hal Blaine, Jim Gordon, Earl Palmer, Rikki,  Dennis Dragon, etc. as far as Beach Boys tracks go.



Dan

[Daniel S.]

Dennis does get bashed unfairly but people still mostly like his drumming for sentimental reasons, not because of actual ability. But yes, let's make a list of tracks Dennis played drums on.