I have to try to catch up – though I’m not quite sure of how much longer I can keep this particular Doctor’s Inn Website up as it utilizes (I have learned) an ancient format. I may start a new one after retiring from LACOE – which I intend to do come June 30th: so my apologies for not updating my bio, and, “making” my readers truck down that interminably long column to find the new stuff. Yet this process reminds me of my mentor in “some” of my writing forays: the legendary Sherman Skolnik. My columns have definitely taken a Skolnikian turn – as they meander down the page with no thematic rhyme or reason…
Dave “Necronom” Williams
Dave had to be the “strongest” drummer I have ever played and performed with – what with his ability to roll those double bass drums of his on all of our 8-10 minute songs. Dave’s Dad was also a professional drummer whom Dave greatly admired – though his Dad was part of a jazz group and had a much lighter touch.
We naturally awarded Dave the name of the band as his middle name.
As most drummers seem to be, he was good natured and friendly and ready to drum when he wasn’t cooking (Yep. At lunch and early dinner, Dave worked at the restaurant right at the bottom of the band house property.)
There was a moment in time, however, that got Dave more pissed than even his “trailored” girlfriend could frustrate him. I will never forget how I screwed up the timing on my entrance to “Whirlpool,” (my own composition), when we recorded it in the Summer of ’83. That is the only time I have ever seen Dave pissed off. We decided to keep my error because it made the intro less predictable – but Dave couldn’t believe I had made such a basic mistake. Neither could I.
The “band” house we rented sat on 10 acres and was very close to the Pontiac Silverdome. Indeed, the landlord used to park cars there for Silverdome events, and, the restaurant Dave worked at handled Silverdome patrons. But as-busy-as-he-was making the rent money, he was always ready for practice and always brought food from the restaurant that never made it to the patrons — even though, like all-of-us — he had that girlfriend that did not make our musical aspirations her own. These ladies all had separate agendas that in no way helped a band become great, and, often left NECRONOM members frustrated and unfocused – though our practice and performance decibel level had a way of shaking us back into the metal tunnel…
Mick(les) Waring
Mick is probably my favorite drummer, not only because he was the first I worked with, starting in 1973, but also, because he and I “got off” on the same music! Whether it was URIAH HEEP, DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH or FREE, we not only loved listening to it – but we loved playing it together. I believe I even tricked Mick into thinking that I was the best-keyboardist-on-the-planet, at least up until the now infamous TLOTH incident (TLOTH’s husband is Mick’s best friend).
But before that event, Mick and I shared a wonderful camaraderie: eschewing the smoking room (I couldn’t let Pete and Robbie smoke in the practice room [where the groupies would hang out] — because my eyes would tear and burn)– to do extra practice, since neither of us smoked. We got off on some very strange tangents, and allowed me to “get up to speed” on the songs – since I was always the slow bus in terms of getting into the groove.
And Mick, like all drummers, found the humor in “Spinal Tap” – where the drummers tended to blow up on stage and were subsequently replaced. Of-the-drummers-I-have-known, I only want to work with Mick again…if we will ever be able to musically bridge the chasm…
Coming someday…2 more drummers…