Kenney Jones - A most underrated drummer
HuntMan
pedestrian behind the kit - with most of this opinion based entirely upon
his work with The Who. While I'll fully admit that his work with The Who
was workmanlike (at best), it should be considered that this might have
been a group decision for him to be "4/4 - nothing more". Why, all I seem
to remember from post-Keith Moon interviews back then was how much more
FREEDOM Townshend & Entwistle now felt they had. The songs themselves were
also less than sizzling. I'll betcha Moonie himself would've had trouble
breathing fire into some of them.
But I'll STILL rank Kenney right up there near the top in my list of faves.
Anyone familiar with his Small Faces work simply MUST acknowledge his
creativity, patricularly in the '60s rock drumming context (Little Tin
Soldier, anyone?).
Then we come to the '70s... Faces & Rod Stewart solo LPs - GREAT drumming!
Take the little solos in "Stay with Me" or "I'm Losing You" - thunderous!!
His tuning was impeccable; his drums always sounded great. He was one of
those guys who you could always recognize within a few bars - a very
distinctive drum sound.
I'll concede he was an ill fit for The Who, but at the time, it seemed to
make sense: "Mod drummer + tons of experience = Keith Moon replacement".
Hindsight's always 20/20...
My son & I were in the car with Abbey Road playing the other day - he asked
what The Beatles would've sounded like with "that crazy guy" on drums. I
tried to explain that styles make groups, & it just wouldn't have fit
having Keith play drums in The Beatles - it would've been a mess. They
needed subtlety to achieve their complexity, & Keith was definitely NOT
about subtlety (could you imagine Abbey Rd with Keith - OK, Polythene Pam
would've been cool <grin>). Consequently, Ringo would've been a poor fit in
The Who, but that's not to denegrate his skills, either.
All in all, I wish Kenney Jones would never have joined The Who - then he'd
probably already have assumed his position among rock's elite drummers.
Maybe some day...
--
-HuntMan
Svante Börjesson
It's easy to say in hindsight that they shouldn't have made *anyone* a
permanent member of the Who like they did with Kenney. They could have used
him as session drummer and maybe even a live drummer, but still be free to
try other drummers depending on what material they were doing.
Rabbit Bundrick is pretty much regarded a permanent member of the group now
and for the last decade, but he has never been given any official induction
of the Who like they did with Kenney.
Still, look at the drummers the Who/Pete/Roger have used since Keith died:
Kenney Jones, Simon Philips, Clem Burke, Zak Starkey, Mark Brzecki. What a
line-up!
My opinions:
Best Keith Moon moment: All of "Who's Next"
Best Kenney Jones moment: "Live at Essen 1981"
Most interesting Who-drummer excepting Keith: Simon Philips
Regards
Svante
"HuntMan" <HuntMa...@newsfeeds.net> skrev i meddelandet
news:Xns93C6988D...@68.1.17.6...
MILLERJD999
powerless best describe his style with The Who. Obviously everyone most have
been doing drugs because I can't imagine a worst fit for the band. JD
Todd Farlow
"HuntMan" <HuntMa...@newsfeeds.net> wrote in message
news:Xns93C6988D...@68.1.17.6...
London Calling
maybe not equal too, but very similar to Moon in many ways.A lot of
that early playing of his was rather explosive and thunderous. If he'd
joined The Who in 1965 he probably woulda fit in rather well.
I never have been able to fully understand how Kenney's drumming
became so boring and metronomic later on. You can partially blame it
on lack of particularly inspirational material to work with, but that
can't totally explain why Kenney basically became a human drum machine
when in the studio with The Who. He wasn't playing in that staid a
manner when he went live with band.
JimZez5
>Take the little solos in "Stay with Me" or "I'm Losing You" - thunderous!!
I don't know why people always get this wrong.Kenney Jones did not play on"
I'm Losing You",Mickey Waller did.
Nil
news:20030728213813...@mb-m14.aol.com:
> I don't know why people always get this wrong.Kenney Jones did
> not play on" I'm Losing You",Mickey Waller did.
Thank you - I was sure that was Waller, not Jones, but I find that my
"Every Picture Tells a Story" LP is missing the credits. Who is the
plays on the title song and Maggie May? That's some excellent drumming,
too.
JimZez5
>Kenney Jones, Simon Philips, Clem Burke, Zak Starkey, Mark Brzecki. What a
>line-up!
KEITH MOON IS THE ONLY DRUMMER
FOR THE WHO!
Neil Peart's first drum hero.
Entwistle-"When Keith joined is when we started developing what was really The
Who style".
Peter Rudge(who manager)-As Moon went,The Who went."
Pete T."-We really were in Keith's Hands."
JimZez5
>plays on the title song and Maggie May? That's some excellent drumming,
>too.
tell its him. Plus he's a better drummer then Jones.And it comes full circle in
a way because after Beck did that session with Moon(Beck's Bolero)he tried to
find another drummer with Moon's style(including Waller) but of course
couldn't.
HuntMan
Shit, you're right! Can't believe I let that one go when I hit "send". It
was indeed Mickie Waller on Every Picture LP. He's another one of my faves.
Guess I just got blinded when I climbed on my soap-box.
However, K Jones did indeed lay down some tasty tracks on Gasoline Alley &
Never A Dull Moment (along w/ Mick Waller, of course). Boy, I really
dropped the ball on that one!
Sorry Mickie.
--
-HuntMan
RJK
> pedestrian behind the kit - with most of this opinion based entirely upon
> his work with The Who. While I'll fully admit that his work with The Who
> was workmanlike (at best), it should be considered that this might have
> been a group decision for him to be "4/4 - nothing more".
I doubt that Kenny Jones ever had a say in what time signature the
Who's songs were in. That's no excuse for his boring drumming.
HuntMan
> Sorry Mickie.
Er, actually that's Micky... Slippery ball.
--
-HuntMan
Kantou
"HuntMan" <HuntMa...@newsfeeds.net> wrote in message
news:Xns93C6E7B9...@68.1.17.6...
JimZez5
Charlie Watts"I'll tell you want Keith Moon is-Keith Moon is what legends are
made of."
TJ
Dance'(Cheers Brian!!) Is there anything else he played on???
As far as I'm concerned Clem is second only to Keith and I'd always wanted
to hear him play with The Who......
Although I'm a fanatical Who fan (nearly 20 years, 150ish albums etc etc) I
have no solo stuff at all!! so I'm open to suggestions as to where to start!
TJ
"Svante Börjesson" <svante.b...@comhem.se> wrote in message
news:G8gVa.22029$dP1....@newsc.telia.net...
Beefeater
Albert Hall (I think that was the venue), but pity about his silly facial
expressions, nervous I guess. He was ignored by the band for some reason.
"HuntMan" <HuntMa...@newsfeeds.net> wrote in message
news:Xns93C6988D...@68.1.17.6...
Tim Westcott
<HuntMa...@newsfeeds.net> writes
>Poor Kenney Jones - he takes a lotta heat for being considered rather
>pedestrian behind the kit - with most of this opinion based entirely upon
>his work with The Who. While I'll fully admit that his work with The Who
>was workmanlike (at best), it should be considered that this might have
>been a group decision for him to be "4/4 - nothing more". Why, all I seem
>to remember from post-Keith Moon interviews back then was how much more
>FREEDOM Townshend & Entwistle now felt they had. The songs themselves were
>also less than sizzling. I'll betcha Moonie himself would've had trouble
>breathing fire into some of them.
Kenney does get a bit of an unfair slamming. Pete had wanted to change
things about a bit for sometime and until Keith's demise it was seen as
heresy to tamper with the tried and trusted guitar, bass, drums and
vocal live line up. Keith's death gave the band new impetus and an
opportunity to add keyboards and horns (for the '79 tour). Pete talked a
lot at that time about the freedom Kenney gave him and John, knowing
they now had a timekeeper on stage. In hindsight, yeah it would have
been great to have a Zak Starkey to fill Keith's seat but let's face it,
anyone evenly remotely similar to Keith in style would have failed
simply because it was not Keith.
Kenney can't be blamed for the deficiencies in the two subsequent studio
albums - that's the material, although I have to say I actually like
Face Dances. Live, Kenney was much more expressive, and I still rate the
'79 tour as the best post-Moon tour. Pete was on fire, Roger's voice was
as sharp as ever and he looked great with short hair, while John's voice
was also in fine fettle meaning the backing vocals were still pretty
hot. With Keith the band would have struggled to tackle a lot of the
material on Who Are You on stage - in his state it would have been a
mess - but with Kenney and Rabbit songs like Sister Disco and Music Must
Change came alive and sounded bloody good live.
--
Tim Westcott
(remove NOSPAM from address when emailing)
Jeff
It would seem that Keith was Pete's muse, if the not the whole band's muse.
Certainly, any other drummer would be missing this quality.
Jeff.
"JimZez5" <jim...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030728215734...@mb-m14.aol.com...
Svante Börjesson
Clem Burke plays on "Nightschool" which is on the "White City" video as an
extra. The song sounds a bit like "punky disco" which I guess is what
Blondie did lots of.
He's also listed on the LP sleeve of "White City". Not sure what he plays
on. Might be mostly demos. Burke is obviously a big Keith Moon and Who fan.
- S
"TJ" <th...@planetnexus.co.uk> skrev i meddelandet
news:bg5bua$9ui$1...@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
JimZez5
>I guess I've always given Keith credit for something more than his drumming.
>It would seem that Keith was Pete's muse, if the not the whole band's muse.
>Certainly, any other drummer would be missing this quality.
Pete Rudge(Who manager)"When you saw Townshend flagging onstage,and he'd
lookover at Keith,and Moon would energize
him.He transcended the role of drummer.You could see him physically and
emotionally pick the band up on any given night".
DO...@webtv.net
"feel" of his work.
The comment about "facial expressions"?
How about Moonie? His face was contorted MOST of the time. LOL.
Also...how did Zak become such a great fit with The Who?
Was he a big fan as a kid?
DDJ
always seemed to energize the crowd with his antics as well. While it was
obviously a combination of the energy from all of the band that really drove
the concert, Keith always seemed to stand out.
"JimZez5" <jim...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030729110702...@mb-m22.aol.com...
Jeff
Hall DVD: Mouth open and contorted face. Shades of Keith.
Jeff.
<DO...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:4683-3F2...@storefull-2136.public.lawson.webtv.net...
John A. Weeks III
<DO...@webtv.net> wrote:
> Also...how did Zak become such a great fit with The Who?
> Was he a big fan as a kid?
Keith Moon and Ringo were close drinking buddies. Moonie
ended up being Zak's defacto uncle, and got Zak started by
buying him his first drum kit. Zak learned drumming by listening
to Who tapes on headphones while practicing on his drum kit.
-john-
--
====================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 jo...@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================================
Kantou
NO SENSE!!!!!!
"JimZez5" <jim...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030729003417...@mb-m26.aol.com...
JimZez5
>NO SENSE
You got my point,which makes all off the sense in the world!
London Calling
Sooooooooooooo, you're saying The Who should have carried on
drummerless. That makes no sense whatsoever does it?
JimZez5
>drummerless. That makes no sense whatsoever does it?
up the band after Keith Died.
Iggles
"RJK" <RJKe...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bc2f4e1d.0307...@posting.google.com...
> I doubt that Kenny Jones ever had a say in what time signature the
> Who's songs were in. That's no excuse for his boring drumming.
Think about it, Jones came from the Faces, a blues rock band. The Who were
not a blues rock band. Keith played Who songs like no other pro drummer
would try. For Entwistle, KJ was a relief, a predictable performance.
Keith Moon was born to play for The Who. Yet by '78, he knew instinctly
that the Who were going to fire him in '78. He died of a pill overdose,
which was probably accidental. Moon was trying to quit his drinking (and
other drugs) at the time, and wanted to exercise. He just drugged himself
too many times, and finally lost.
London Calling
>
> Think about it, Jones came from the Faces, a blues rock band. The Who were
> not a blues rock band.
Jones came from The Small Faces - a Mod band, who unlike The Who were
actually Mods. Musically they and The Who were coming from the same
place...except the Small Faces were more authentic.
John
defacto uncle, and got Zak started by
buying him his first drum kit.>
Actually, Keith was Zak's godfather. Keith bought Zak his first kit as a
birthday present and gave him his first lessons, which angered Ringo a bit - he
didn't want his son to be a drummer.
Today, both of Ringo's sons are drummers.
My band's site:
www.strongerthandirt.com