The 'it's too quiet in here let's shake things up' thread!

Been ages since there was much of a to and fro on anything here - so in the spirit of stimulating a bit of lively debate...for anyone who saw Brian on the last tour, did they feel, as I did, that the drumming of Noah seemed totally overblown and fussy compared to the direct simplicity of the set with Jim?

For me Noah's playing resembled Animal from the Muppets - flailing around, playing far too much and detracting from the direct power of the Slim Jim set. I'm not saying that Noah is a bad drummer, but for me it was more of that swing band kind of drumming whereas Jim's metronomic simplicity and precision really focused the power of the band.

What did anyone else think?

I saw three gigs of the last european tour and I can tell that I am not with you here.
You talk about Jim's simplicity and precision : ok, no doubt. But Jim went only for the Stray Cats part of the gig ; I mean he went to play songs he used to play since 30 years. Noah Levy is younger and play with Brian since SFLA album.
Other thing that I can say is that I feel Noah played in much more "finesse" register. A perfect thing for the last Brian Setzer's album.
Just my opinion.


This said, I hope we'll have the two fantastic drummers on the next album !!

IMHO Bernie is the best drummer BS has ever played, including SJP. Technically and musically unbeatable. All others
are great drummes but BD is the best.

donpepe wrote:

IMHO Bernie is the best drummer BS has ever played, including SJP. Technically and musically unbeatable. All others
are great drummes but BD is the best.

+1

I concur with DonPepe and Gretscholic, Bernie Dresel was the best drummer Brian has ever had.
He had the looks, the style...

However, I enjoyed Noah a lot. Maybe he's not the best one but he sounded pretty natural, and I loved how he behaved on the stage, very nice rocking attitude. Unfortunatelly for him, people went to see SJP and Setzerado put this in a very clear way: SJP has been playing these songs for 30 years non-stop, whereas Noah rehearsed a couple of days and then a tour in front...

Keep rocking, Noah!!!

Bring back Bernie!!

If I had not a word for Bernie, it's just because I thought that Scatcatnut wanted to debate about Slim Jim & Noah during the last Riot tour (soon in the States ! I recommend it to you all !! )
Of course for me too Bernie is the guy.
Brian's work this last years can be so different, I think it's a very good thing for him to have differents guys to record with. Slim Jim, Bernie, Noah for the drums and Mark, Spazz or Chris for the double bass. This said, Brian plays the bass himself now...

who took this picture, where on the europe riot tour, and where did it first show up?

Photo taken in Amsterdam

I was in Hamburg only but Noah was great. The whole band fit together perfect.
I even really enjoyed the Stray Ctas/Slim Jim Set. This guy is raw and dynamic but to be honest his timing is not the best.
Imho Noah is more varios.

I'll chip in to help shake things up,

IF Brian books a damn date someplace around here!!! Riot preferred, but I'll take the BSO too!!

So then keep Tony Pia out of the debate as well?



Shake it up!


Ooby Dooby,
Sheik Yerbouti-billy

I didn't think it was necessarily about how good you play nowadays. Isn't it about spinning cocktail kits, jumping off your bass drum, and standing on your bass?

All we need now is a flaming piano!





I said a flaming piano! Not a flaming pianist!

Not that there's anything wrong with that...


Sight gags-a-billy

Scatman,
from my side, Tony Pia is DEFINETELY out of debate... he is an excellent drummer but... Obiously his an outstanding drummer, but he's not the one for Brian. He always tried to play many different fills and also, the sound was weak, dunno, the snare sounded like a tin or so, hah!

Noah Rules!!! Bernie Rocks!! Slim Jim "Fathoms" ;-) !!

Total agreed with Rickabilly about the piano !!
Even in the BSO like in the early years.
Kevin rocks !!!

And to maybe expand the debate - how many people - like me - preferred Lee to Johnny Hatton?? I'm sure my Stray Cats bias could well be a factor here - but again like with the Jim v Noah issue I feel that there is a more driving sense of power in Lee's playing.

scatcatcnut wrote:

And to maybe expand the debate - how many people - like me - preferred Lee to Johnny Hatton?? I'm sure my Stray Cats bias could well be a factor here - but again like with the Jim v Noah issue I feel that there is a more driving sense of power in Lee's playing.

as if Lee would ever return to the backseat with setzer driving!

No that won't be happening anytime soon!

If you're talking rockabilly bass, I'd take Ronnie Crutcher or Mark Dubya Winchester ahead of Lee or Spazz. But to cover Brian's range from rockabilly to small jazz combo to bluegrass to big band, Spazz is the man for the job. I respect the musicianship ahead of the showmanship. There's no way Lee could have handled the bass on Cherokee or Lonesome Road.

But I realize the gimmicks like lifting the bass above your head, standing on it, spinning it, etc. do get a reaction from the crowd. You can see the popularity of the "tricks" from all the photos showing Chris ascending his bass like King Kong scales the Empire State Building, while Spazz performs his own balancing act. I haven't seen the Riot tour yet, but I'm betting the biggest reaction of the night comes when Brian brings out the bass. Obviously, he's not the boss of the bass, but the bass battle makes for good theater. And I'd rather see that than the "Million Dollar Quartet" fluff on Broadway.

I still love the chemistry of the three Stray Cats on stage. There's an electricity in the crowd and on stage that's unbeatable. But all three Cats are much better musicians now than they were during the Stray Cats' seminal recording days. But in terms of musicianship, I think Brian and Lee both shine brightest outside of Stray Cats.

My favorite Setzer incarnations are:

1. '68 Comeback Special
2. Nashvillains
3. BSO (Pre-Vixens)
4. Stray Cats
5. Trio (w/ Spazz and Bernie)
6. Radiation Ranch
7. LNG / Paine Brothers era

Holy crap. Did I just rank Stray Cats 4th??? That can't be right. I knew I hated lists.

Subjective-billy

Favourite Setzer incarnations for me:

1 Stray Cats

2 68CBS

3 Knife Feels Like Justice era

4 Rockabilly Riot Vol1

5 Dirty Boogie era BSO

Rickabilly wrote:

If you're talking rockabilly bass, I'd take Ronnie Crutcher or Mark Dubya Winchester ahead of Lee or Spazz. But to cover Brian's range from rockabilly to small jazz combo to bluegrass to big band, Spazz is the man for the job.

Agreed! Mark's my favourite rockabilly bass player.

Rickabilly wrote:

My favorite Setzer incarnations are:

1. '68 Comeback Special
2. Nashvillains
3. BSO (Pre-Vixens)
4. Stray Cats
5. Trio (w/ Spazz and Bernie)
6. Radiation Ranch
7. LNG / Paine Brothers era

Holy crap. Did I just rank Stray Cats 4th??? That can't be right. I knew I hated lists.

Subjective-billy

Well, what can I say? Great minds think alike...

Rickabilly wrote:

My favorite Setzer incarnations are:

1. '68 Comeback Special
2. Nashvillains
3. BSO (Pre-Vixens)
4. Stray Cats
5. Trio (w/ Spazz and Bernie)
6. Radiation Ranch
7. LNG / Paine Brothers era

My list is pretty close, with a couple of minor changes:

1. '68 Comeback Special
2. Nashvillains
3. BSO (Pre - Wolfgangs Big Night Out)
4. Trio (w/ Spazz and Bernie)
5. Stray Cats
6. Radiation Ranch

I would say...
1. Riot Squad
2. 68 CBS
3. Nashvillains
4. BSO
5. Stray Cats

BSO (Dirty Boogie) will always be my favorite... but it's because long before I listened to the Cats or BSO I was a huge swing fan, since the womb. I was nursed to Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, etc.

So, being a guitar player, when I first heard Dirty Boogie (which was the 1st BSO I had heard), I proceeded to lose my shit!!!

Going back to the second "debate", I would say that I prefer Johnny Spazz Hatton to Lee Rocker because of his game much more complete and in total harmony with the "moods" taken by Brian this last years. The last album is, in my opinion, a very strong example.