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Re: Face Dances , drums, Pete's valley



In a message dated 12/17/2003 9:38:55 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
sschrade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
That's all I'm asking for.  A little acknowledgement.  More balanced
criticism.  If *I* can occasionally drop the odd compliment about John
Bonham surely *you* can say something nice about Kenney Jones every six
months or so.

Yes.  Kenney is a great drummer.  My teenage disappointment was largely due 
to being a narrow teenager that wanted The Who to keep making the same sound.  
Good for us that Pete is much broader than that, otherwise they would have 
lasted two albums.

My beef was that he didn't seem to fit.  What puzzles me is that sometimes he 
did, like on the Tommy soundtrack when he played "I'm Free" and Keith was 
still alive then.  That version made my Jon's Favorites CD.  I'm not against the 
man, it's just that his *feel* is so different at times, like when he does 
those triplets on "I Can't Explain" even at the Rockpalast show in '81 (which was 
glorious).  Keith had a different feel on that song.  Kind of held back and 
funky but still fast? When I saw Kenney live in '82 he had that rat-a-tat 
robotic beat on it like he was *trying* to hurry.  Keith just had it come from 
within him like fluid or something.  That's the difference to me.  He's a 
different person and it comes across.  No one will ever replace Keith just like no one 
can hit chords like Pete.  Kenney had the unenviable position of being the 
replacement.  I think the fact that Zak was under Keith's wing somewhat is a 
psychological buffer to us hardheads.  He does have a feel closer to Keith, but 
not the same either. I could talk all day about this.  So I will...


When I drum I find that I have a certain feel. Things I like to accent and 
things that just come out of me that I didn't know were there. Every drummer has 
a certain intangible feel even though they may hit the drums in the same 
time.  My son drums with sort of a John Bonham feel and he has his licks sorted 
out. That flurry on Stairway to heaven just before "And as we wind on down the 
road!" is a bass hit plus three tom hits on the first and third tom four times 
and the fifth is the same one only backwards.  But if you don't hit them with 
the right *feel*, it will not sound like anything Bonham did.  Jonny's 
learning jazz beats and samba beats and many more to broaden himself out.  I just 
warned him to take care of the funk.  I'm afraid that he will become Neal Peart.  
Ha ha.  Those words actually came out of my mouth and we both started 
laughing. Yeah I'm afraid that's gonna happen.



>There's more evidence
for Santy Clause than there is for a human "soul."  

Are you saying that we don't even have a soul?  Then what animates our being? 
 What do we choose with?  What do we feel emotions with?  What do we consider 
with?  I know that there isn't a Santa Claus. It's just a story made up to 
damage our faith in the real God when we find out he isn't real.  I never told 
my kids there was a Santa Claus, because there isn't one.

In the garden of Eden there were two particular trees.  The Tree of the 
Knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life.  In one tree there were knowledge, 
good, evil and death.  *Good* was even in that tree.  When that tree is 
eaten, the result is death.  Knowledge is good.  But *mere* knowledge, even about 
good things results in death.  Many religious people do not know this and kill 
others with their good intentions, even physically!  This tree is eaten by 
nearly everyone all day everyday.

These two trees are the two sources in the universe. This is a *major* fact. 
It wasn't an apple that Adam ate.  There is no record of any apple there; that 
is a myth to throw us off. The other tree, the Tree of Life is just God 
Himself.  When you eat this Tree, everything becomes very clear and is not 
complicated. There is only life.  The result of eating this "Tree" is life and peace.  
This is a basic revelation in the bible that has been hidden from our 
understanding, but it has been there all along and it has changed my life 
drastically.  I know what this is not from religious teachings of dogma and suppression, 
but through open consideration.

>FD
is downright *positive* in many ways ("Another Tricky Day").  Even the 
songs you mentioned, while touching on "the human struggle," still man-
age to evoke hope & personal triumph.  I wonder how Pete was able to keep
so outwardly upbeat at that time when, as you say, he was in the "valley
of his life?"


You're right about the positive attitude on this album.  I think that Pete is 
a positive person that knows that he must never give up.  He's a heavy dude 
and when he makes jokes, they are to lighten things up and poke fun at himself. 
 Good thing us fans are similar. When a person goes to heroin though, they 
are in a valley for sure.  Pete came out of this valley before the '82 tour and 
you don't come out of a valley while carrying a negative attitude.  I'm so 
glad that he did this!

WBN was on the way down?  Is that our next assignment Kevin?  

Jon in Mi.

"The Lord Jesus is a living Person.  Doctrines are needed with any religion, 
but not with a Person.  A wife does not need a book of doctrines about her 
husband because he is a living person."