Meg White

Kind of hard, if I have a crush on Meg or not, nevertheless She does the job for The White Stripes and fits dead right.
 
Kind of hard, if I have a crush on Meg or not, nevertheless She does the job for The White Stripes and fits dead right.
+1 from me Ian. She completely suits the unmolested vibe of the act. A cleaner drummer would tighten the act, & that would leave it naked. A more expressive drummer would force attention away from the raw "warts n all" guitar vibe. It's a one man + support show that gets the job done. Great, IMO, no. Can I see why it's popular, oh yes!
 
Yes Phil Rudd is a guy that comes to my mind too.

Or guys like Steve Gadd, or let alone Keith Carlock. They are able to choose to play literally nothing but a money beat but still groove like crazy.

Keith Carlock is an absolute BEAST on drums. Listen to his money beat on 'Morph the Cat.' Talk about groove...good God!

Last weekend I got asked to play in a minimalist blues band with just guitar, harmonica and drums. No bass. We didn't rehearse, I just showed up and they handed me a song list. I knew most of it but what I didn't know I just asked to hear the guitar line and then made up a groove to fit. I only had a snare, bass, hi-hat and ride cymbal.

Anyway, the point was, I stayed in the groove the entire night. I maybe played 2 fills the entire night, because if you try filling when the only other rhythm is a guitarist playing, things can get shakey. It was a ton of fun. A few other area singer/songwrite types just randomly showed up and sat in for a few songs. It made me think that maybe Meg is staying home for similar reasons.

In the last song we played the guitarist pointed to me and I took a solo. Compared to what I was playing the rest of the night, it was ripping. The crowd loved it. It made me think about how much better a few chops will sound in the midst of a lot of really simple playing. Anyway, I had a blast and the bar owner has given us the carte blanche to come whenever we want and play.
 
Okay, we've established that Phil Rudd, Keith Carlock and Steve Gadd are better drummers than Meg. Yes, the sky is above us and dogs like trees too :)

Does it matter? Is Jack rushing to the phone to steal those guys? Meg suits the act musically and also in non musical ways - the latter often being underestimated in importance. How many times have you been driven crazy by a band member who plays great but can't help but to cause problems and / or spoil the vibe?

Meg's presence works with the WS and the duo gives millions of people a great deal of pleasure. However, they don't please Matthias or Late Bloomer. I doubt that Meg will lose any more sleep over that than Neal Peart would over me not being a Rush fan :)

I don't know why I like The Stripes. As a King Crimson fan, really I shouldn't. But I do. I think it's their charm. When we're charmed we don't care about flaws. Maybe the flaws are part of the charm? I dunno. Not everyone is charmed by the same things either. It's the X-factor.

Whatever, I'm not into bashing any drummer who's getting out there and doing it, especially if they're playing in front of huge crowds ... I'd be totally overawed if I had to do that.

Great post, Average. That was enlightening.

Andy, "A cleaner drummer would tighten the act, & that would leave it naked" was an interesting perception. A bit of looseness does seem to fill things in more because there aren't clean spaces between the notes - not good in a 6-piece group but it seems to work in the WS duo format.
 
I got a new student last Tuesday. A 13 year old girl inspired to drum by Meg White.

Thanks Meg.
 
I think Pollyanna is a little in love with Meg, and love is blind.

LMAO - actually, I think the problem is that YOU'RE the one who's in love with her, but she's unattainable so you put her down ;-)

Seriously, I just don't like seeing musos who are out there doing it being dissed. I've done the same when people have bagged out Ringo too. Sure, some fans are annoying in the way they hype their heroes, but we live in a hyperbolic media-driven age.

Thing is, why dis any drummer? At least she's flesh-and-blood and not a bloody drum machine. The WS are one of the steadily diminishing number of popular acts that's not digital ... or 100 years old and rehashing their hits from 30-40 years ago. They're also probably the only act that's bringing blues to a new audience. 8Mile's excellent comment (#230) says it all.

And, as Wy's comment shows, she inspires young girls to drum. It sure beats sitting around reading Dolly and obsessing about your appearance IMO ...
 
I hate to say this about any woman, but think of Meg as an open door. When this student is ready I'll introduce her to Terry Lynne Carrington and a host of other great female drummers.
Also think of this; How many 13 year olds have you inspired this week? Or any of us for that matter. Profile is as.important as skill. Sad but true.
 
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People putting down someone like Meg White come across as jealous. It's kind of pathetic. What does her success have to do with their lives??? Nothing. She made it. That is her crime. They didn't. That is their regret. Pathetic!
 
To be perfectly honest, I am not so much critisizing Meg's drumming ability. I am more critical of general audiences out there who heap praise on musicians like her based solely on the cool or sexy image they portray. They generally only hear the surface of music and don't have a clue on what the full sound is. I think history will show many successful bands or musicians/performers were actually not much chop, but maybe had the X factor to wow the crowd.
 
People putting down someone like Meg White come across as jealous. It's kind of pathetic. What does her success have to do with their lives??? Nothing. She made it. That is her crime. They didn't. That is their regret. Pathetic!

I'm jealous of Sheila E!

Maybe don't take it so personally? If you honestly don't appreciate people attacking other people (my motivation wasn't attack btw) then maybe don't do it yourself? If I put up a video of myself and it's not in time and you call it, sweet, I'd totally accept that and agree with it. I don't begrudge Meg White being successful at all - good for her. Doesn't mean I can't speculate on why it has worked for her - speculation not factual claims. Suggesting I'm jealous and pathetic is really just a projection of your own insecurities man - maybe you think she's great and when people disagree you feel like their criticising your taste. You don't even know me, or anyone else here. Why do you need to control what people think? If there's any putting down going on around here it's coming from you.

Peace man. Don't be so angry. It only hurts you in the end. The rest of us are getting on with our lives.
 
To be perfectly honest, I am not so much critisizing Meg's drumming ability. I am more critical of general audiences out there who heap praise on musicians like her based solely on the cool or sexy image they portray. They generally only hear the surface of music and don't have a clue on what the full sound is. I think history will show many successful bands or musicians/performers were actually not much chop, but maybe had the X factor to wow the crowd.

LB, people like the WS because they play rootsy, well-written songs, they put every fibre of their being into their playing, and they are fun. The WS aren't there to offer technical goodies to Serious Young Musos ... it's all about the story and the emotions and a lot of people dig that. Sounds fair enough to me.

Many's the talented young band that's been overtaken in the musical rat race by what they consider an inferior unit and wondered "Why them and not us?". Most times it's because the more popular band tugged at people's emotions.

I remember a band comp we played back in the Paleozoic Era. We were beaten by a punk outfit. We had an eclectic set, with time changes, key changes, and plenty of dynamics and musical subtleties. Our guitarist, bassist and sax player were accomplished musos. Our sax player made about half his $$ from session work.

The punk group played dead simple stuff that all sounded the same to me ... and they romped home.

I felt cheated at the time. But now I realise that they spoke more directly and clearly to the crowd than we did, and the crowd responded (with help from a sizeable rent-a-crowd haha).

Being able to connect is not a gift to be underestimated. Some have it, some don't. Personally, I don't, but that's okay. I no longer feel jealous or miffed at the "injustice" ... there's nothing wrong with people wanting to identify more than they want to be impressed.
 
Ahhh the drama of the interweeb!

Interesting aside, Meg was only playing for 2 months when they recorded their first album. I have been playing 9 months, and I am too self-conscious to post a video to YouTube. I feel like I have sooo much more improving to do. Sometimes being a perfectionist holds you back because you never feel you will be good enough. Hats off to Meg for jumping right in, whether or not the playing was good or not!
 
Hi guys,

Wow controversial thread.

Have to admit, I find listening to White Stripes difficult - because of the drumming.

Once upon a time there was a man named Omar Hakim.

He started playing drums at a young age and eventually became very successful in his own right as a session drummer.

He is quoted as saying that he "doesn't want others to think of him as a drummer, but as a musician".

I've run across too many drummers my age who think that because they play drums, it's their responsibility to base their enjoyment of music solely on the drum track. I don't know how old you are, Jennygirl, or what your experiences with drumming are, but if you dislike the White Stripes based solely on the fact that Meg White's drumming isn't to your taste, I don't quite know what to say.

Then again, it's your tastes or whatever.
 
Once upon a time there was a man named Omar Hakim.

He started playing drums at a young age and eventually became very successful in his own right as a session drummer.

He is quoted as saying that he "doesn't want others to think of him as a drummer, but as a musician".

I've run across too many drummers my age who think that because they play drums, it's their responsibility to base their enjoyment of music solely on the drum track. I don't know how old you are, Jennygirl, or what your experiences with drumming are, but if you dislike the White Stripes based solely on the fact that Meg White's drumming isn't to your taste, I don't quite know what to say.

Then again, it's your tastes or whatever.
Come on! You haven't listened to an album because the drums were awesome?
Omar Hakim is an awesome drummer, and even if he is a musician, he plays the drums therefore he is a drummer(and a musician).
People who play instruments need to look up to somebody for inspiration, and when a musician plays awesome(be it musically or technically) on their preferred instrument, they will latch onto that person. For me, this can make an album go from good, to awesome.

Meg Whites drumming is a large part of the White Stripes(its only guitar and drums), so disliking Meg is disliking 50% of the band. Therefore, Jennygirls personal opinion is more righteous.
Personally, I would remove all of Meg's cymbals and replace them with hi-hats, so she wouldn't bash them constantly.
 
have some of you ever even played .. as a percussionist a complicated drummer isnt an asset there so busy being frilly they forget to play .. thats the diff between a pro and a "drummer who thinks they are" I dont care what they can do theres a time and a place ..play with not to the group >> I would so choose a simple drummer over one that is adding to much .. THINK
 
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