Serious Omission - Where's Dennis Wilson?

[TalkShowMan]

Hi, this is my first post. Greetings from Belfast. Have been a long time viewer of the site, kudos to all involved in making it a one stop resource for the truly modern drummer.

Anyway, the subject of my first post is this; where is Dennis Wilson (no jokes please).
Couldn't help but noticing that a genuinely inspirational and influential drummer is't listed on the drummerworld roll-call. Any chance he could be put up here someday soon? I can give a long list of reasons why he should be here, but for now suffice it so say..."DENNIS ROCKS".

Discuss

[TitanSound]

He is on the DrummerWorld Wishlist

And welcome to the forums!!!

[TalkShowMan]

Ahhh, wishlist you say... I obviously don't know this site as well as I thought I did. Thanks for the reply.

[jstorey4]

I'm a huge Beach Boys fan. Dennis was not the greatest drummer, but did have a lot of natural talent. I mean, he was doing studio work and touring with only a year or two of experience. His solo album is pretty amazing. He also is never credited for being one of the first's to play "open handed".

[riddim]

With all due respect, I"m not sure how serious that omission is.

I saw Dennis with the Beach Boys on Shindig and elsewhere back in the day, and my overwhelming impression was that playing drum set with any degree of skill was not his thing. Nothing has crossed my vision to change that, unfortunately.

To the best of my knowledge , all the Beach Boys hits were recorded by Hal Blaine, earl Palmer, Jim Gordon, or a combination thereof. Hal's bio goes into this in detail.

[Skynman]

Start a thread about Dennis Wilson on the drummers page and see what the rest of the members have to say! I looked and did not see one about him who knows it may generate some interest? As far as the Beach Boys goes I like their sound and thought the drumming was fine!

[BellsOfRhymney]

He was great on live tapes I've seen ...great natural feel.

[nickg]

yes, hal blaine did most of the beach boys tracks in the studio. i'm not sure how many, if any, that dennis wilson actually did for the most part. so it's kinda hard to judge how good of a drummer he really was just by watching tv reruns of him playing along with pre-recorded tapes.

[chrisnope]

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum but had to respond in some fashion to this old thread regarding Dennis Wilson. 1st off the fact that Dennis Wilson didnt play on studio recordings is a massive myth. I also think that the overwhelming attitude towards his drumming (he's been called a basher) has more to do with his brother Brian's attitude than anything else. Dennis played on alot more Beach Boys material and hits than you might realize.

He played on pretty much everything on their 1st four or five albums but did NOT play drums on "Surfin USA." song.He did however play on: "Don't Worry Baby," Surfin Safari," "Surfer Girl," "Wendy," "Do it again" " I can hear music" "Got to know the woman" and many, many more. The fact is he WAS the drummer in the beach boys. In later years, basically from 1977 on is when his drumming really began to suffer due to substance abuse problems just like Keith Moon. One only has to view later Who material to see that literally Keith could not play anymore, Dennis' talents suffered similarly.

Alot of people simply don't think Dennis is a good drummer. But I on the other hand disagree. In fact the early albums/hits that he played on are very good. They all have distinct hooks minus tons of fills.To this day I find it kinda strange that Ringo Starr is worshipped but Dennis (who in many ways was a similar self taught drummer) is never mentioned.

After 1967 he can also be heard on plenty of BB's material and this stuff shows off his drumming best of all. From 1967-1977 is when his drumming was at it's best due to plenty of road work. He however, took his songwriting most seriously and this talent including all the songs he lent to the BB's as well as his "Pacific Ocean Blue" album are incredible artistic contributions. As a drummer for 25 yrs of both tons of live and studio work I think I'm a pretty good judge of a drummer and I happen to like Dennis' drumming. It's not perfect, but then again he never took it seriously enough to make it that way. He has interesting phrasing and creshendos that he relied on, probably because he played 'open handed' although he was right handed.

Most of all- he endorsed Camco drums and up until 1975 he is ALWAYS seen playing either a Camco or a Rogers kit. He almost always used a Rogers Dynasonic snare-thus he had fantastic taste in drum gear. For anyone looking to judge Dennis' for themselves I'd suggest: The Beach Boys lost Concert which can be seen on youtube from 1964. And some parts of The Beach Boys Live at Knebworth from 1980. Albums to listen to- any of their 1st four proper albums as well as "Sunflower," "20-20" and the strangely interesting "Love You" from 1977.

[Bernhard]

Originally Posted by kookadams

Anyone who knows anything about drums who would dismiss Dennis Wilson for any reason is a poseur. Dennis Wilson was the reason I picked up a pair of drumsticks!! Technicality doesn't mean shit, his "open-handed" style is something that hardly any drummer could do! He had the talent, looks, style- everything!!! He was the greatest rock star that ever lived and it didn't matter that he wasn't technical. I don't give a rats ass about Pert or Bonham or any other "drum icon". I learned everything I need to know from Dennis Wilson, Marky Ramone Hal Blaine, Dusty Watson and Bill Stevenson! I don't waste my time on prog-jazz, metal or whatever bullshit that people misconceive as motivational for being a real musician or percussionist. And from what I've seen and been told Dennis used Camco and Rogers throughout the 60s, Zickos in the 70s and played a Yamaha in his last years- if someone has information of otherwise I would like to know.
-joshthekook@gmail.com
facebook.com/kookadams

Just let me know, on which tracks he really played, so i can check out. The Live appearances were not impressive to say the least.

Bernhard

[Ian Williams]

That's fine! You stick with Wilson...
...I stick with Bonham, Paice, Phillips, Powell and Bill Ward.

[con struct]

Dennis Wilson was who made me want to be a drummer.

My mother was always playing Beach Boys records, so when they came to town naturally she had to go. i was 11 at that time, this is back in the sixties.

So she brought me along to the concert, and the sight of Dennis Wilson hunched over his drums knocked me out. The sound of the ride cymbal, forget about it, that was it, I was to be a drummer.

I wish I could say that he was good or that he was bad, but that was so long ago that all I remember was Dennis Wilson in his striped Beach Boys shirt beating the hell out of those drums. You know, I can picture it to this day, quite vividly.

I don't think you could say that he was a bad drummer. He was very basic, I'll say that about him, and he and his brother Brian made it work for awhile.

[Pocket-full-of-gold]

Originally Posted by kookadams

Dennis was a great drummer because he got the job done! Drumming isn't about being fancy with fills or how well you can use a double-kick pedal- that's all horseshit!

Dennis was and will always be the reason I wanted to be a drummer. So what if he wasn't technical; he had the heart, the spirit, the charisma, and the legacy of being the greatest rock star that ever lived!

Drumming is about keeping the beat, holding the music together, but being a showoff and a douche-bag. Dennis Wilson was the REAL DEAL!!!

Agreed with respect as to what constitutes a great drummer. But that doesn't explain why if he was that good....even in terms of consistency, playing for the song and keeping steady time, heart, spirit and charisma......then why did they feel the need for Hal Blaine? Did he really get the job done at all?

Originally Posted by kookadams

And for christ sake he was just as good if not better than ringo!!

if someone can disprove it, explain it to me-
joshthekook@gmail.com

Can neither prove nor disprove personal taste and only an idiot would try to. But it can certainly be explained why Blaine was used on so much of the Beach Boys most well known material. The Beatles certainly didn't call on his services. Instead of ranting and raving, let's discuss. Have a go at explaining that to me.

[tamadrm]

Originally Posted by Pocket-full-of-gold

Agreed with respect as to what constitutes a great drummer. But that doesn't explain why if he was that good....even in terms of consistency, playing for the song and keeping steady time, heart, spirit and charisma......then why did they feel the need for Hal Blaine? Did he really get the job done at all?



Can neither prove nor disprove personal taste and only an idiot would try to. But it can certainly be explained why Blaine was used on so much of the Beach Boys most well known material. The Beatles certainly didn't call on his services. Instead of ranting and raving, let's discuss. Have a go at explaining that to me.

I'll even go you one step further.Although I reguard Dennis as a good drummer,he dosen't come close in my opinion,to the groove,creativity,and musicallity of Ringos playing.I also agree with PFOG about using substitute drummers.The Beach Boys used drummers other than Dennis not just in the studio,but LIVE also.

I had the fortune of seeing the Beach Boys I guess at least 10 times over the years ,and on two of those occasions,Rickey Fatar,played MOST of the drum parts.One of those tours was with Chicago on the "Wishing You Were Here" tour.I think Dennis only played two or three tunes,but he always seemed to play "Fun Fun Fun"

As I said,I think he was a good drummer, but Carl,and especially Brian,required something more than just good."Pet Sounds","Smile,and especially Surfs Up,were and are masterpieces,that even inspired the Beatles to create an album that contained such amazing vocals and melodies.Just give Abbey Road a good listen.

Steve B

[ra1708]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgDAp...eature=related

[The Old Hyde]

Hal Blaine....nuf said

[snico]

Just felt I had to respond to this thread. Did you realise that Brian Wilson actually replaced *all* of the Beach Boys on Pet Sounds & Smile (including Good Vibrations) ... he basically got in a session band. So this was not a comment on Dennis' drumming ability, but rather more to do with Brian's musical/production ambitions (and also worth noting that Brian himself was not a virtuoso player - he played little on those recordings). Brian basically left the 'touring' band in about '65 so whilst Dennis et al. were on the road Brian was at home writing and recording - so logistics were a big factor. Also worth remembering that in the 60s it was common practice for record labels to get session players in to record (studio costs were high and session players had studio experience and could get the job done in one or two takes). For example Roger McGuinn was the only Byrd to play on their first album!

Something else worth remembering is that Dennis was a multi-instrumentalist and a songwriter. I also think that one of the strengths of the Beach Boys is that they weren't snobby about getting musicians in to help - for example Ricky Fataar in later line ups. This didn't mean Dennis wasn't doing anything - he was playing keys, singing and songwriting (listen to "Cuddle Up" ... awesome song!).

I my opinion classification of "great drummer" is so subjective to be meaningless. Dennis was not technically amasing ... however he was extremely talented as an all round musician and brought a level of feel to his performance that would be beyond many technically proficient drummers.