Simon Philips

[pstevens@chinacat.Metaphor.COM (Paul Stevens)]

I feel compelled to add some more thoughts  on this "compare the
drummers" topic.  Of course everything below is prefaced with lots
of "in my opinions"

I have a lot of respect for Simon and agree with most of what has been 
said about him.  He definitely has good "independence" (drummers term
for doing different things with each arm/foot) though there are jazz
drummers who excel even more in this area.  He also has excellent
"stick control"; clean, quick strokes and beautifully smooth rolls.
To my ear, it's his "feel" and "groove" that really are increddible.
Listen to "Dinosaur" or "A Little Is Enough".  He drives those songs
without heavy or forceful playing.  He can push the song without making
it sound like it is being rushed.  It's very hard to describe but he
sort makes it seem "snappy".  When I saw him with Pete on the PD tour
I was impressed with how mentally quick he seems to be when he's playing.
He is always watching and listening (esp. to Pete) and reacts to and stays
on top of what Pete is doing in his solos.

I totally, agree that he seems more "textbook" in his approach to fills
though.  Part of this may be due to his session work.  In general, session
drummers are called upon to lay down good grooves and not try to put
in ground-breaking solos and fills.

Keith was definitely a ground-breaker.  He was not groove-oriented.
He was iconclastic and just played what came out of his raging soul.
I agree that Keith pioneered drumming as a solo instrument.  He still
did the job to keep the rhythmic flow of the songs going, but he
could also take the song out into the stratosphere.  "Summertime Blues"
exemplifies that attitude to me.  Here is a simple little blues
song.  How the hell did he ever think to totally abandon playing the
beat and just go nuts over the whole thing instead!  It's easy to be
critical of that type of style and say he was "overplaying" but what
makes Keith amazing to me, is that it really doesn't sound overplayed
at all.  It just sounds right.  Believe me, it takes increddible talent
to play like that and not have it sound overplayed.

Where I disagree, is that I don't think Simon tries to emulate Keith.
I think he's smart enough to know not to try that.  But he does find
ways to carry (even push) the Who and Pete songs using his own style
and abilities.

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   Paul Stevens                        {apple|decwrl}!metaphor!pstevens
   Metaphor Computer Systems           pstevens@metaphor.com
   Mountain View, CA