Did Dave Clark play on the records?

[pel...@dal.ca]

Hi,

My curiosity has been piqued by the correspondence on British Invasion
drummers. Session guys (Page, Purdy, Graham, Carol Kaye make
pronouncements, original band members (Ringo, on down) deny all.

Sometimes the sessioneers claims seem overweening, you know, "I claim
all the gold, all the silver, and that ugly girl in the corner."

Claims are made that Bobby Graham did the recording on the Dave Clark 5
records. He clearly was all over 60's rock recordings. More details at:

http://www.bobbygraham.co.uk/bobbygraham/discography.htm

On the other hand, there are some vigourous arguments by people who
knew the band:

http://www2.rpa.net/theboltons/RRyan-1.htm

http://www2.rpa.net/theboltons/DC5-Q3.htm

Any insights? Or does this come down to another "I did too" "You did
not"

Patrick

[Ed Pierce]

Personally, I think most of the drumming on the Dave Clark records is
pretty weak (at least in terms of the technique on display), so I'd be
surprised if it was done by a session drummer rather than Dave himself.

Ed Pierce

[pel...@dal.ca]

I hear ya, that as much as anything puzzles me about some of these
claims.

Patrick

[Riddim]

Perhaps you could ask the producer.

<pel...@dal.ca> wrote in message
news:1144430579.1...@z34g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

[alanwa...@aol.com]

>From Czechoslovakia and England Dave Clark played on Glad All Over.
Cannot say about other sessions/recordings.

I first heard the Dave Clark Five (a teenage night out) nearly half a
century ago at the Locarno Ballroom (now demolished), Basildon, Essex,
England where they first did Glad All Over and had a Friday/Saturday
gig.

One of the greatest session drummers of England you have left out, by
the way, is Phil Seaman who died at an early age after a long battle
against heroin addiction.

Kind regards,
Very Old Timpanist Feeling His Age

[John Hanks]

>
> One of the greatest session drummers of England you have left out, by
> the way, is Phil Seaman who died at an early age after a long battle
> against heroin addiction.
>

>

Phil Seaman Drum Solo:
http://www.littlephil.free-online.co.uk/sounds/philseaman2.ram

(link taken from Jack Peach page
http://www.littlephil.free-online.co.uk/jackpeach.htm)

Phil Seaman page: http://www.jazzprofessional.com/profiles/Phil%20Seamen.htm

Also, I had heard the following funny story before and just found it online:

A Phil Seaman anecdote:

"West Side Story" opened in London in 1958 and it required a jazz drummer,
not a classically trained percussionist who couldn't swing. Problem was
that the jazz drummer had to be a very good reader. There was one drummer
who could do it - Phil Seaman. Despite the heroin and alcohol, the
producers eventually hired him.

Phil had a habit, half-effected, half-genuine of appearing to doze when he
wasn't playing. The conductor learn't to ignore it as Phil never missed a
beat. However one matinee the stand-in conductor panicked, fearing Phil had
dropped off. He gestured frantically to the bass player to wake him. A
sudden prod of the bow startled Seaman, who stood up and fell backwards over
his drum stool into the Chinese Gong, resulting in a theatre filling
reverberation that stopped the show.

Seaman stood up, cleared his throat, and announced "Ladies and gentlemen,
dinner is served." The management promptly sacked him.

[Vdrummer]

I didn't see the DC5 on Bobby Graham's list of impressive credits.

[alanwa...@aol.com]

:):)

I've done the jazz part in West Side Story as I can both swing and
read, the swing having been taught to me by Ben Edwards, a great jazz
drummer a generation before Phil.

As always, eternally grateful to my teachers.

Or as Ben put it: "If you can't feel it, you'll never take it."

Mr Seaman a great artist in our trade who went before his time.

Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins