BOC Drummers

[John A Swartz]

>Must say I disagree on your assessment of Mr. Rondinelli...saw BOC again
last weekend in Tampa - about the 7th time this year...and I was once
again very impressed by by Rondinelli's drum work.

Hey, I did NOT knock Rodinelli's drumming -- all I said was that Chuck
sounds more distinctive to me than some of the others, but that they were
all fine drummers.  I did not offer an opinion on how well Rondinelli
fits in - and I really can't go on much other than 1 or 2 live tapes
since I've never seen him live w/BOC.  My comments were more in response
to someone's suggestion that Chuck Burgi leaving BOC was a big loss.  I
also did not argue as to whether or not the current line-up is the
"best" since '85.

My attitude is the following -- I'm not a drummer, so I'm not qualified
to go too in depth on this - however my brother is a drummer, and I
think by playing bass, I have a decent appreciation of drumming.  To my
ears and personal taste, there is one Albert Bouchard and everyone else
will probably always be just a substitute in my mind (and some of that is
my acknowleged lack of full appreciation for some of the subtle differences
in drumming styles) - even though they all are good drummers.  When Rick
Downey was in BOC, I thought he did a fine job, and there were some things
I liked about his style.  Jimmy Wilcox and Ron Riddle, both fine drummers,
didn't strike me as anything unique, but the seemed to fit in fine.  Chuck
Burgi has a more agressive style and at times he was a bit over-powering
for BOC, IMHO (again though, a fine drummer).  I've never seen Micelli or
Rondinelli live, although I've heard them on tape -- again, both seem to
be fine drummers, although I don't hear anything particularly distinctive
in their styles.

'Nuff said by me...

John