Sensitive to Criticizm?

[Carl E. Anderson]

>>> be too offended.  I think I once criticized Albert's 'Zilla drum solo,
>>> but then turned around and said that I thought he was among the
>>> top drummers ever to pound.
>>
>>       I have a confession to make. Most drum solos I find kind of boring. So
>> I can honestly say I haven't played two the same in 25 years. Consequently
>> some are better than others. I'll cop to that. I wouldn't even care if you
>> said you hate all drum solos. I'd just think we're on different wave-lengths.

        Drum solos are boring more often than not, especially if they're
let go on for ages.  I think the Bonham solo in Zep's _Song Remains the
Same_ film was dead dull :)  I was (confession!) not blown away by
Al's solo in the Live '76 vid--though I did like the flanging and cool
lights going on during it ;)  My other favorite drummer besides Al, Barrie
Barlow does a drum solo on Tull's _Bursting Out_ LP which is OK but not
terribly interesting.
        On the other hand, I've been genuinely impressed by Al's drum
solo's at live Surgeons gigs.  Drum's seem very physical to me, and
I think seeing a drummer soloing live has a greater relative impact than
a guitarist soloing live.

        I've enjoyed a number of drum solos from the Allman Bros. live,
but then they do have _three_ percussionists, which I think helps.  One
drummer as a hell of a job to sound incredibly cool on his own.  After all,
when we think of "guitar solo" we really usually mean "guitar widdling
with the rest of the band behind it", and when we say "drum solo" we mean
"poor bastard drummer left out there all alone trying to impress a crowd
who's there because they thought the guitar riffs were catchy or the singer
was sexy" ;)

> Any plans for the Surgeon's ever getting to this moribund
> upstate New York Hamlet?

        Actually, the Surgeons are no strangers to upstate New York, if
I remember aright.  And _well_ worth seeking out--even the drum solos ;)
I like the bits where Al does something _weird_ like tap on a beer bottle
or Deb's guitar neck or something--that's something with a strong visual
element in it that can't really be reproduced in the studio :)

Cheers,
Carl