Tim “Herb” Alexander Quits Primus — Danny Carey Subbing

Sad news. Herb was one of my favorite drummers in my formative years, and I was privileged enough to catch him twice live in the Seas of Cheese and Pork Soda era. To be fair, though, that drum chair has been notoriously volatile over the course of Primus's career. Herb has quit the band twice before.

Let's see who they bring in. I would love to see a very unconventional choice here like Lang or Minneman. Bozzio would be a hoot for a few shows. And now that Jane's Addiction is out of service for the foreseeable future, what about Stephen Perkins?
 
I was sad to see that as well. I saw Primus several times back in the day and Tim's playing was always an inspiration. I hope everything is ok with him.

I'm guessing that Les and Larry reach out to Jay Lane or Bryan Mantia first but who knows. If they open it up, it'll be interesting to see who fills the slot.
 
Saw Primus a couple of times with herb. Once on the Willy Wonka tour which was trippy as hell and at the Roundhouse in Camden which is a very cool venue. He's one of my favourite drummers.

I did see Primus with Jay Lane on the Green Naugahyde tour (superb album) and he was seriously funky. If they got him back and did another album that would be cool
 
Man, I hate that he is quitting again. I hope he doesn’t quit drumming for good. He’s got such an identifiable, interesting style. When I saw that he was using 13 inch hi-hats, I got me a set too. Loved them so much, that I went to an even further extreme and got some 10 inchers. They’re so zippy.
 
alparrott said:
Sad news. Herb was one of my favorite drummers in my formative years, and I was privileged enough to catch him twice live in the Seas of Cheese and Pork Soda era. To be fair, though, that drum chair has been notoriously volatile over the course of Primus's career. Herb has quit the band twice before.

Let's see who they bring in. I would love to see a very unconventional choice here like Lang or Minneman. Bozzio would be a hoot for a few shows. And now that Jane's Addiction is out of service for the foreseeable future, what about Stephen Perkins?
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Lang is the most musically unsuitable drummer for a band like Primus, while Bozzio and Perkins would be interesting choices.
 
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Tim explains his exit.

www.rollingstone.com

Tim 'Herb' Alexander on Why He Quit Primus: 'Sometimes the Passion Turns Into a Job'

Tim "Herb" Alexander reveals why he quit as Primus' drummer in a new interview with Rolling Stone and a letter to the fans.
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com

A few excerpts:

“All of these tours left me feeling empty. My body hurts constantly.”

When I first joined Primus, I was 24 years old. I’m almost 60 now and not just a drummer, but also a husband and a dad. Being a drummer for almost four decades has taken its toll on my body. As I said previously, my body hurts. My hands hurt. My back hurts. Ten years ago, I had open heart surgery and am still dealing with the aftermath.

. I no longer feel the need to hide the fact that for the last year I wasn’t happy and was in a dark place emotionally. I desperately missed my family while on tour and felt very lonely.

My decision to leave the band was rooted in a deep need to prioritize my mental and physical health.
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JimmyM said:
No disrespect to Herb, but I liked Brain better in Primus. Danny should be a pretty good choice, though.
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Herb is creatively brilliant, but Brain just... grooves... all the time.

Have you heard Tom Waits' Mule Variations? Primus backs him on a few songs. Well worth a listen.
 
IBitePrettyHard said:
That's devastating news. Primus just isn't the same without Tim Alexander. They've had other great drummers, but I think that Tim Alexander is the quintessential voice of Primus.

Hopefully he gets his mojo back!
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agreed. Brain has been the best "other drummer" that I thought they had...

I wonder if there are other doins' afoot, mostly b/c of the abrupt departure....
 
Would Brain Mantia come out of drummer retirement?

He's kept a relatively low profile in the drumming world since GnR, focusing mostly on jingles and sound tracks.

Great drummer though.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Would Brain Mantia come out of drummer retirement?

He's kept a relatively low profile in the drumming world since GnR, focusing mostly on jingles and sound tracks.

Great drummer though.
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that would be cool to see him interpret the parts on the first 3 or 4 albums....I saw the, on the Brown Album tour with him, and they did mostly Brown album stuff on that tour...I can't remember how he did "Jerry Was... " and Tommy The Cat though...I know they did those as encores....
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
that would be cool to see him interpret the parts on the first 3 or 4 albums....I saw the, on the Brown Album tour with him, and they did mostly Brown album stuff on that tour...I can't remember how he did "Jerry Was... " and Tommy The Cat though...I know they did those as encores....
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I dunno.

Brain and Herb are two completely different drummers. Brain got the gig because he was a long-time close friend of all the guys in Primus (including Herb), but it was always understood he wasn't going to play like Herb. So I think that's why they didn't play the back catalog much at the time. Not sure that would change if Brain came back.

But it would be cool to see Brain back in action.

I wish the Limbomaniacs would reform. lol
 
DrumEatDrum said:
I dunno.

Brain and Herb are two completely different drummers. Brain got the gig because he was a long-time close friend of all the guys in Primus (including Herb), but it was always understood he wasn't going to play like Herb. So I think that's why they didn't play the back catalog much at the time. Not sure that would change if Brain came back.

But it would be cool to see Brain back in action.

I wish the Limbomaniacs would reform. lol
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yeah, i think the earlier stuff would be less busy, and more phat/big sounding
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Would Brain Mantia come out of drummer retirement?

He's kept a relatively low profile in the drumming world since GnR, focusing mostly on jingles and sound tracks.

Great drummer though.
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Ya, I love that insane fill in Antipop. That was my favorite. But if he’s doing jingles and soundtracks, he may not want to take the pay cut ;)
 
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