No Beethoven: An Autobiography & Chronicle of Weather Report by Peter Erskine

Author:Peter Erskine [Erskine, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alfred Music
Published: 2013-08-02T07:00:00+00:00

45. Plays Well With Others

I got called to work on the first American Songbook album of ballads for Rod Stewart. I show up and the producer Richard Perry asks me if I have a wooden bass drum beater. I said, “Yes, but we’re playing standards, right? I wasn’t planning on using it.” He said, “I’d like you to use it,” so I put the wooden beater on my pedal. We were running down the ballad “These Foolish Things” before Rod arrived. I was playing a typical smooth, legato brush feel, and the producer stops the band and says, “What’s with the zzzz, zzzz (mimics brush sound) thing? Break it up more. Go zzzz, zu zzzz, zu (sings long sound on beat 1 followed by short sound on beat 2).” I played it and he said, “Yeah, that’s it. Now add the bass drum when you stop the brush (i.e., on beats 2 and 4).” I said, “You mean like this?” and by this time everyone in the band is looking at me kind of weird. He said, “Yeah, that’s great.” So now I’m playing this beat like an idiot. Rod Stewart shows up and we start running the song with him. He soon stops and says, “Just a sec’ lads.” He goes into the control room, and I can see him saying to the producer, “What the fuck’s the drummer doing?” Then the producer is in my headphones saying, “Uhhhh, just go back to what you were originally doing.”

There were a couple of times during my tenure with Weather Report when I truly just wanted to pack it in and go home; it’s easy to get tired of the touring, the rigors of traveling, and working and eating and socializing with the same people, day and night after day and night — especially tough when your efforts are being criticized or (from your point of view) not being appreciated. But I would always remember two things: (1) these people knew more about this music than I did, and (2) plenty of musicians come and go; the ones who “stay” are the ones who stick around. I wanted to be sure I was one of those people, because I was (and am) still learning, and being in Weather Report was the best possible educational opportunity that I could hope for. Besides, a day or two would go by after a rough gig, and all would be well again or even better.

Life lessons. The next generation is always ’round the bend. Passing along the knowledge and the tradition…

Mr. Peart and a few other well-known rock guys. Why do they choose to study with me? Some want to learn a little more about jazz, others come just because they’re curious or having some issues, oftentimes dealing with self-confidence, or they just feel in a rut. So a lot of my drum lessons are more like counseling than mechanical sessions. Sometimes I’ve got to be like one of those characters in a martial arts movie: I’ve got to hit the student in the head a couple of times, metaphorically.

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