Michael Clarke - Drummer

[clive gash]

What feel! Driving the group forward, those rolls. Have the Draft Morning sessions muddied how he's perceived? The lucky one? The chancer? The face?

Love the backward fills on this.



Listen to Eight Miles High again, Jesus.

[Matt Wilson]

Never particularly thought of him as a good drummer, to be honest...

[pcqgod]

It's "Clarke" I'm pretty sure. Not a technically great drummer, but like Ringo he put a lot of thought into his parts and made his drumming part of the song.

[clive gash]

Doh!

[zoomboogity]

His stage name was Clarke. His real name was Michael James Dick. The Ringo comparison is apt - McGuinn once said that it could take him forever to figure out what to do with a song, but once he had it, it was cooler than what anyone else would have done. He was no virtuoso, and he wasn't even always in time, but he had a great feel. His playing on Gene Clark's solo efforts shows that he did get less loose/stumbly over time, starting with the Gosdin Brothers album.

Speaking of stumbling, I love this one, the way he just stops near the end, the other guys keep playing, and he comes back in, but on the wrong beat! The other guys just roll with it until their "four" beat is on his "one" - instead of trying to catch up with him, they just twist the beat around into something else as it fades.



By his own admission, "I started drinking alcohol when I was 14 years old and until two weeks before I died, I could hardly remember ever being sober again." So by the time he was in The Byrds, this had been going on for five years already. Drumming and drunkenness don't go together very well. He did some good playing, considering. And he was a talented visual artist too. So he may been lucky (at first), but definitely not a chancer.

[Matt Wilson]

"Two weeks before I died?"

[zoomboogity]

He wrote that up for his girlfriend to release it once he died, so he probably left that bit open for her to fill in. Sort of like the Yul Brynner anti-smoking ads.

[Charlie O.]

The Ringo comparison is apt - McGuinn once said that it could take him forever to figure out what to do with a song, but once he had it, it was cooler than what anyone else would have done. He was no virtuoso, and he wasn't even always in time, but he had a great feel.

Pretty much what I was gonna say. Even Crosby had some nice things to say about his drumming, years after the fact.

And yeah, his drumming did get less stumbly later, but less characterful too. He was in Firefall, ffs.

[bobzilla77]

His stage name was Clarke. His real name was Michael James Dick.

So why wasn't his stage name Mike Cock?

[Charlie O.]

Or Dick Clarke?

[zoomboogity]

Or Jim Dick. But their manager's name was Jim Dickson, which might have led to a lot of confusion, unless they'd just traded.

[Quaco]

I've never not liked something MC was doing, and occasionally, it's really brilliant. The feel of 'Eight Miles High' isn't something any drummer can do, it takes a certain touch. The hypnotic work on 'I Come and Stand at Every Door' is just perfect.

[northernsky]

Have the Draft Morning sessions muddied how he's perceived?

"Dolphin's Smile", wasn't it? At least, that's the Crosby-carping included in on the reissue.
Cros wasn't around for the "Draft Morning" recording was he? Which, seeing as he wrote most of it, was something he never got over.
Nor did he get over Clarke, years later snarking that "at least Buffalo Springfield had a drummer who could keep time".

[Rayge]

What feel! Driving the group forward, those rolls. Have the Draft Morning sessions muddied how he's perceived? The lucky one? The chancer? The face?

Up to this point I genuinely did not believe that he actually played on any of the records, although I'll take your word for it .
I always thought he was there for the fringe, and that gormless slack-jawed look.
But who listens to the Byrds and notices the drums, anyway?

[Rayge]

What feel! Driving the group forward, those rolls. Have the Draft Morning sessions muddied how he's perceived? The lucky one? The chancer? The face?

Up to this point I genuinely did not believe that he actually played on any of the records, although I'll take your word for it .
I always thought he was there for the fringe, and that gormless slack-jawed look.
But who listens to the Byrds and notices the drums, anyway?

That last sentence sounbds more flip than intended. I only tend to notice drummers if they intrude on the mood of a song to its detriment or they're Hal Blaine (or Gene Krupa). Part of being so utterly non-musical is that I have no idea if someone is out of time, or off the beat, or paradiddling on their tom tom, which is actually an enhancement to enjoyment at times.

[zoomboogity]

Well, he didn't play on Mr. Tambourine Man (the song), or its b-side I Knew I'd Want You, those were Hal Blaine. Half the drum parts on The Notorious Byrd Brothers are Hal Blaine or Jim Gordon. Otherwise, it's all Clarke. And yes, his drumming style wasn't about being noticed - only when you noticed something was "wrong," otherwise it fit in just fine. A lot of people feel that way about the bass - when it's wrong, everything is thrown off.

[clive gash]

Have the Draft Morning sessions muddied how he's perceived?

"Dolphin's Smile", wasn't it? At least, that's the Crosby-carping included in on the reissue.
Cros wasn't around for the "Draft Morning" recording was he? Which, seeing as he wrote most of it, was something he never got over.
Nor did he get over Clarke, years later snarking that "at least Buffalo Springfield had a drummer who could keep time".

Of course.

[clive gash]

What feel! Driving the group forward, those rolls. Have the Draft Morning sessions muddied how he's perceived? The lucky one? The chancer? The face?

Up to this point I genuinely did not believe that he actually played on any of the records, although I'll take your word for it .
I always thought he was there for the fringe, and that gormless slack-jawed look.
But who listens to the Byrds and notices the drums, anyway?

That last sentence sounbds more flip than intended. I only tend to notice drummers if they intrude on the mood of a song to its detriment or they're Hal Blaine (or Gene Krupa). Part of being so utterly non-musical is that I have no idea if someone is out of time, or off the beat, or paradiddling on their tom tom, which is actually an enhancement to enjoyment at times.

He hasn't got a technique that's easy to explain, or perhaps hear. Apparently he liked Elvin Jones and he sometimes does curl these loose, not-going-to-work-oh-it-has, rolls out that connect beautifully.

[Charlie O.]

I've never not liked something MC was doing, and occasionally, it's really brilliant. The feel of 'Eight Miles High' isn't something any drummer can do, it takes a certain touch. The hypnotic work on 'I Come and Stand at Every Door' is just perfect.

Yes! - and

these loose, not-going-to-work-oh-it-has, rolls

is wonderfully put.

And like any good drummer, he knows how to stay out of the way. Something like his part on "So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star" - in theory, it's simple enough that "anyone could play it" but a lot of drummers would find a way to clutter it up; Clarke just puts his head down and grooves, embellishing only where it helps.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

I honestly didn't realize he played on more than half the records.