![\"Pick](\"http:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Pick-Withers-Hadani-384x512.jpg\")
David \u2018Pick\u2019 Withers came into the world in 1948 in the East Midlands city of Leicester \u2013 not exactly the swing-capital of post-war UK, but not entirely without its own ambiguous musical opportunities. For Pick, his discovery of drums can be traced back to the Boy\u2019s Brigade marches he witnessed as a child in 1950\u2019s Leicester.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was aware of playing on biscuit tins with knitting needles as a child and asking my parents for drums, but I was never allowed them. In those the days the Boy\u2019s Brigade would march around Leicester on the first Sunday in every month and you could spontaneously run out and march on the pavement with them and somehow, that idea got into my head and I joined the local Boy\u2019s Brigade. But I knew why I was joining \u2013 I wanted to get a drum! So I marched around for a year with them and then asked for a drum.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Unfortunately, this request was denied and the elusive drum was substituted by blowing a Bugle for a year whilst waiting for a drum vacancy. However, due to the natural turnover of Brigade members, an opening for another drum player was eventually found and Pick finally made contact with his object of desire.<\/p>\n \u201dThe only formal tuition I had was from a guy called Barry Bonds; he gave me the basics of five-beat rolls, Paradiddle\u2019s \u2013 very, very basic stuff. Everything I\u2019ve learnt subsequently I\u2019ve learnt myself through books and learning to read. I remember having a book by Eric Little, a Premier endorsee who played in big bands and seeing the first chapter \u2018there\u2019s only one way to hold the sticks\u2019 (traditional grip). I was playing like that anyway because I was in a marching band!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Eventually, Pick attained the position of \u2018unofficial\u2019 Lead Drummer in the Boy\u2019s Brigade; \u2018unofficial\u2019 because due to his Grammar school studies, he couldn\u2019t commit to the extra activities (Wayfarers, First Aid etc) necessary to earn the \u2018stripes\u2019 to graduate to Lead Drummer. However, Pick\u2019s advanced skills were always called upon whenever there was a Lead drum part to play, as the holder of the official title wasn\u2019t up to the required standard. By the end of the 1950\u2019s American Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll had hit Britain with Elvis as the newfound God of the genre. Unlike other boys of his age, Pick took a dislike to Presley and focused his attention on the home-grown talent.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first influences were \u2018The Shadows\u2019 \u2013 thankfully \u2013 because they gave you a great basic principle for playing in a combo, and they had good drummers. If you grow up in a provincial city like Leicester your sphere of influence is very limited. You\u2019ve got Radio Luxembourg and a transistor radio and that\u2019s not giving you any information at all!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Being successful in the Boy\u2019s Brigade saw Pick\u2019s parents giving way to buying him his first drum kit, a Fablon covered Ajax set with no Floor tom. With this acquisition, Pick was able to attempt to replicate the drum parts and solo\u2019s he heard on Shadows records, as well as paying attention to the various patterns played on the ride cymbal, \u201cit\u2019s there to give your right hand something to do!\u201d By the early 60\u2019s Beatlemania was very much in vogue influencing a generation of inner-city adolescents to pick up guitars in a Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll revolution. The Leicester Boy\u2019s Brigade members were not immune to the wave of youth culture that exploded on the back of Merseybeat and soon found their own musical outlet.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m eternally grateful to \u2018The Beatles\u2019 because they opened everything up for me and by the time I was 18 I was playing in Germany. There was a group in the Boy\u2019s Brigade and we played at the youth club. I was the best drummer and they put me in the group and we did Chuck Berry and Beatles stuff.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Having cut his teeth in the Boys Brigade group Pick\u2019s next move was joining local band, \u2018Berkley Squares\u2019, followed by a six month stint in Germany on the club circuit with a new Rogers kit. Upon returning home, Pick spent a few months unemployed before taking up an offer to join a band called \u2018The Primitives\u2019, who had an Italian recording contract, cumulating into a 3 year career in Italy. Whilst there, Pick crossed paths with the \u2018The Doc Thomas Group\u2019 (an early incarnation of \u2018Mott The Hoople\u2019), becoming friendly with the band and their drummer, Dale Griffin. The connection was to serve him well after \u2018The Primitives\u2019 had run their shelf-life, as the band would provide Pick with floors to sleep on in London whilst he went in search of auditions. After answering an ad in the \u2018Melody Maker\u2019 for a job with a band called \u2018Spring\u2019, Pick found himself travelling to (the now legendary) Rockfield studios in South Wales for an audition, the outcome of which, was successful. \u2018Spring\u2019 had a deal with RCA and the next three years saw one album being recorded and lots of gigs in the South Wales\/Herefordshire area on a new Ludwig kit with Paiste cymbals.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen \u2018Spring\u2019 ran its course there was an attempt to create a \u2018house\u2019 band at Rockfield. I ended up doing a tour for Dave Edmunds in a band that included Andy Fairweather Low, to promote \u2018I Hear You Knocking\u2019 and a few years later I ended up touring in \u2018Brinsley Schwarz\u2019 with Edmunds and Nick Lowe. Dave had a very loud Fender Goliath amp and I was terrified of it! He was a big fan of \u2018The Beach Boys\u2019 and announced one day that he\u2019d found the ultimate sound for guitar \u2013 double tracked 63 times! Apparently. 64 was too much! he\u2019s got a great pop voice along with the late Gerry Rafferty who I also recorded with. I ended up doing lots of sessions (in Rockfield) and when I went there it was a very\u2026shambolic studio! I was there for about three years and then I moved to London in about 1973.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Back in London, Pick found himself sleeping on peoples floors (again) until he discovered an opening into the newly burgeoning Folk scene, playing with artists like \u2018Magna Carta\u2019, Ralph McTell and Bert Jansch. During this period Pick was able to connect and work with musicians Rod Clements and Simon Cowe, both members of Northumberland Folk-Rock legends, \u2018Lindisfarne\u2019 and also now living in London. Connecting with musicians from the North-East of England resulted in him being introduced to guitarist and song writer, Mark Knopfler, now residing in Deptford, south-east London. Networking within the London music scene had definitely rewarded Pick with some very fortuitous links and a busy work schedule.<\/p>\n \u201cI ended playing with Charlie Dore \u2013 the sexiest derriere in Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll! \u2018Charlie Dore\u2019s Back Pocket\u2019, she had a hit with \u2018Pilot of the Airwaves\u2019 \u2013 she\u2019s still around I think.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Whilst playing for Dore, Pick was also a member of the un-signed Dire Straits who were all toiling at non-musical daytime commitments and gigging by night.<\/p>\n \u201cMark was a teacher at art college, John (Isley) was studying at Goldsmith\u2019s college and I think David (Knopfler) was a social worker.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Despite urban myth, the band did not<\/em> undertake a mammoth amount of gigging before they were signed to a five year major label deal. In fact, they achieved the anomaly of getting close to being signed without<\/em> a manager, something unheard of today. The band also had a publishing deal unusual by modern standards, due to all<\/em> members being bound by the contract, rather than just main songwriter, Mark Knopfler. Historically, publishing companies were paranoid about falling into arguments over royalties with the bands main writer \u2013 quite a common occurrence back in the day. When a situation like this arose, another member of the band would suddenly – and conveniently – become the \u2018composer\u2019 overnight and seek a more lucrative publishing contract with a rival publisher!<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to sign as I wasn\u2019t a writer; but they insisted that we all signed. The publishing deal was just there stop me from getting my own publishing deal with new songs!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Debut album \u2018Dire Straits\u2019 (1978) produced the classic 1979 hit, \u2018Sultans of Swing\u2019, breaking the band into the consciousness of the British public when it reached No.8 in the UK charts (No.4 American Billboard) and with it, introducing a misnomer into the world of drum folklore. Regarding the verse that features the line \u201cwhen the time bell rings\u201d, it is often assumed that Pick played a Paradiddle between Ride cymbal and Snare drum. However, this is not as it seems\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a Paradiddle. I knobbled it off a \u2018Poco\u2019 live record! It\u2019s a drummer called George Grantham and I learnt if off a lick that starts on the cowbell!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Following the success of the bands second album \u2018Communiqu\u00e9\u2019 (1979), Pick was recommended to play on the (eventual US platinum selling) Bob Dylan album, \u2018Slow Train Coming\u2019; a prestigious undertaking for a lad from Leicester who started out following a Boys Brigade marching band.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like being a professional footballer waiting for that million pound transfer deal. Doing Dylan was a big a change for me, a benchmark. When I came away from that felt I didn\u2019t have to prove myself to anybody anymore. My only reservation was that it was \u2018the religious album\u2019 and I was so looking forward to doing something like \u2018Blood on the Tracks\u2019 or \u2018Desire\u2019! We recorded at \u2018Muscle Shoals\u2019 with Barry Beckett and Jerry Wexler producing. Jerry was like the football coach; he had a tremendous presence, one of the great icons of the R&B era. He used to tell us fantastic stories and anecdotes over dinner!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The recording process with Dylan proved to be an enlightening experience.<\/p>\n \u201cHe likes to have everyone there from day one. He doesn\u2019t do overdubs or guide vocals; the vocal he sings on the first take is the master vocal. I have tremendous admiration for him. That\u2019s why you get such wonderful energy on the tracks; but Wexler was determined we wouldn\u2019t do this and sent various people home. Dylan was quite suspicious of this but went along with it and eventually relaxed into it. There was one track about 15 verses long that Wexler wanted to edit. So we cut the tape down to about 7 verses and Dylan overdubbed his new vocal, which he didn\u2019t like. So it was re-edited using the original vocal take and it was so much better as you could hear us responding to his voice. It was a bit jumpy in parts as they couldn\u2019t get the backing tracks as clean as the edit that he overdubbed vocals on; but it was a better overall feel. I was only with him for ten days but I think he was pleased with what I did. I learnt something during that session about recording and keeping ones integrity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The third Straits album, \u2018Making Movies\u2019 (1980) was a short album song-wise, but most definitely\u00a0 quality over quantity, spawning the hit \u2018Romeo & Juliet\u2019 and populated with an exemplary drumming approach with some awesome feels. Check out Pick\u2019s work on \u2018Skateaway\u2019 for a lesson in laid-back but precise in-the-pocket playing. Recorded in America with Jimmy Iovine and Shelly Yakus, Pick was to experience some new approaches in achieving drum sounds.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used Remo Diplomats on the kit. Three takes and we threw them off! We used torque keys for the tension, it was murder! It was worth it for the sound\u2026but it was hell! Shelly had some Hi-Hats he wanted me to use. They were rather dull \u2013 almost like a dustbin lid sound effect, but he EQ\u2019d them. The pay-off was that they didn\u2019t bleed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n After four successful albums culminating in \u2018Telegraph Road\u2019 (1982), Pick feared that the band were moving more into Stadium Rock territory, an accurate prediction on his part. Not wanting to fall into a hedonistic existence where everyone around you tells you how \u2018great\u2019 you are until you actually start believing it, Pick gracefully bowed out of the band, leaving an opening that Terry Williams (another Rockfield studios stalwart) would fill \u2013 at least for live work. Despite turning his back at a point in the bands career that elevated them to A-List international stadium-band status, he has absolutely no regrets about his decision and finds the idea of dinosaur-rock-band-reunions quite abhorrent.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like nostalgia – I believe in \u2018Now\u2019. I\u2019m glad I did all my work when I did and not today. But I don\u2019t think the opportunities I had are there for young musicians today and it does worry me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Post Dire Straits, Pick adopted a fairly low-key life, choosing to spend more time with his family \u2013 though by no means was he idle. Work with artists like Brian Auger, Dennis Locorriere and Joan Baez cropped up, along with other calls reserved for those lucky enough to have reached that certain level in their profession.<\/p>\n With a career now in its fifth decade, Pick has experienced enough drum equipment to settle on the tools of his trade that he uses today. On cymbals, Zildjian K\u2019s are now his favourite choice \u2013 though he did spend his Dire Straits career as a Paiste endorsee, of whom he speaks very highly.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were very approachable, European and they were innovative. Zildjian were very expensive and had no profile to speak of over here. I finally got to them about ten years ago and they have great definition. I use Paiste when I practise and Zildjian when I play live.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n He also loves what he\u2019s heard on recordings of the Sabian Jack DeJohnette signature line, but has experienced difficulty locating any to try. So if anyone in Sabian land is reading\u2026<\/p>\n As for drum set-ups, Pick has pretty much settled on his old Gretsch kit from his \u2018Sultans\u2019 days, a black round badge in 18\u201d, 12\u201d 14\u201d sizes. Not necessarily his favourite kit, but \u201csmall and practical\u201d<\/em>. As for Snare drums, he loves his old Leedy 14\u201d x 5\u201d wood shell along with a more modern counterpart.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve also got a steel Ayotte I bought in New York. I don\u2019t use it at the moment with the band I\u2019m with as it\u2019s too bright; but I really like it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n There was also a somewhat dubious Eddie Ryan kit during the Dire Straits years\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt was murder! It was big and the tom-toms were murder to tune because I don\u2019t think they were really made true. You could never get even tuning on the tension rods. I gave that away to the Nordoff Robbins music therapy trust.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Talking about the music industry today, Pick is in no doubt that things have changed for the worse. He has little time for the Pop Idol\/X-Factor gladiatorial galas from the Simon Cowell entertainment factory, with their never ending supply of over produced Diva\u2019s on vocal auto-tune. Furthermore, he blames the record companies for not tackling the digital nature of music consumption soon enough.<\/p>\n \u201cThe industry\u2019s changed so much; you\u2019re attacked on all levels these days. I don\u2019t believe in downloads, they think \u2018I can download that and have it all for nothing.\u2019 I don\u2019t know how that works in peoples minds? Where\u2019s the value in it? There\u2019s no artistic value, no aesthetic value, no sentimental value; it\u2019s just there \u2013 bin it! I don\u2019t know how they can make a considered decision about music on iTunes through tiny computer speakers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, he remains concerned about exactly how and where the younger generation are going to gain the industry experiences that he was fortunate to have; though does see salvation through live performance.<\/p>\n \u201cI put all my faith in live music, the last frontier. I still love playing. I don\u2019t like the baggage that goes with it anymore \u2013 the travelling, the sitting around waiting for venues to open. It\u2019s alright when you\u2019re 16, 17, 18; it\u2019s all part of the experience. I was one of the judges at my daughters school \u2018Battle of the Bands\u2019 competition. There were drummers. Bass players, guitarists, all with varying degrees of competence, enthusiasm, bravado – the whole lot! I thought it was a great atmosphere.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As well as taking on selective gigs, Pick is also devoting some time to teaching, in order to spread the benefit of what he has learned over a lifetime as a professional musician. Of late, he\u2019s made some school visits, teaching in small groups and one-to-one, with a strong emphasis on developing coordination and independence. As for what still inspires him as a player today, Pick refers to the classic greats of the 20th<\/sup> century as anchor points, preferring to stay clear of the modernist surge toward the purveyors of Olympian techniques.<\/p>\n \u201cIt all seems too pyrotechnical to me…I\u2019m not sure if there\u2019s any soul in it? I like Pete Erskine, I think he\u2019s a good player; I like Gadd, I like Grady Tate, Purdie, Jack DeJohnette, Harvey Mason, Omar Hakim, Ed Thigpen, Steve Smith \u2013 he\u2019s a fine player. The pyrotechnical ones I\u2019m not sure about \u2013 but then, it\u2019s a personal thing. I love James Taylor and the guy he had who killed himself \u2013 Carlos Vega, what a waste\u2026\u2019Hourglass\u2019 the last album he did, I think that\u2019s dedicated to him. Yes…James Taylor, I\u2019d love to play for him!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nGoodbye Leicester, Hello World<\/h3>\n
A Strait Career<\/h3>\n
Gear Talk<\/h3>\n
Future Pathways<\/h3>\n
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