Why so many drummers are getting fired (article)

As stated before when YOU are the one that writes the songs, and started the band, YOU chose the other musicians, YOU retain a lot more of the band rights than the rest. The biggest example of that is Lars Ulrich, He has a huge hold because HE started the band, he recruited the other musicians, he makes all the musical decisions. There is no firing him. Same with Sully Erna (Godsmack) He was a drummer that learned to play the other instruments, borrowed some money, made an album THEN hired the rest of the band under his terms. There is also no firing him, funny enough he also fired his drummer....

doggyd69b said:

As stated before when YOU are the one that writes the songs, and started the band, YOU chose the other musicians, YOU retain a lot more of the band rights than the rest. The biggest example of that is Lars Ulrich, He has a huge hold because HE started the band, he recruited the other musicians, he makes all the musical decisions. There is no firing him. Same with Sully Erna (Godsmack) He was a drummer that learned to play the other instruments, borrowed some money, made an album THEN hired the rest of the band under his terms. There is also no firing him, funny enough he also fired his drummer....

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that's a real shame about Lars, he's so bad live, the videos Metallica ufficial youtube channel puts out are fixed but live is so much worse. Best Metallica live was when Lars was replaced by other drummers.

dajazz said:

that's a real shame about Lars, he's so bad live, the videos Metallica ufficial youtube channel puts out are fixed but live is so much worse. Best Metallica live was when Lars was replaced by other drummers.

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I saw him live in the 90s, he did fine, and I have seen some recent videos as in this year recent and he sounds just fine (his usual getting out of tempo then back into it which he is an expert).

doggyd69b said:

I saw him live in the 90s, he did fine, and I have seen some recent videos as in this year recent and he sounds just fine (his usual getting out of tempo then back into it which he is an expert).

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videos are edited, there's plenty of youtube videos explaining it

Cmdr. Ross said:

I left a very popular cover band for this very reason. The drummer I replaced was "Steven Adler" and I was the "Matt Sorum". He had the swing feel, I was more linear and disciplined. Something the bass player didn't like at all & it caused issues.

After just over a year, he somehow convinced the "Steven Adler" to return & I was gone. He lasted about 5 months before health issues caused him to leave (again) and the rotating door of drummers began. No one will ever be the "Steven Adler" to that bass player and he just keeps driving drummers out. Yet the rest of the band won't oust him because not only is he a really good bass player, but his wife handles bookings & money.

I fully get the reasons people in bands leave because the vibe changes. Whether you're in a bar bashing cover band or stadium selling mega act, it's all relevant.

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I recorded an entire CD for a band and the only person in the band who didn't like how I played was the bass player because he thought the I was too "on top". My thought was "Where was this guy when we were tracking?" but it didn't matter because he didn't write, engineer or produce any of the disc.

And when there is a constant turnover in drummers, it usually is not the drummer who is the problem...

In one band that I played in, the bass player decided that he wanted to try his luck at being the drummer. Soon after, he noticed that the band leader was becoming confrontational and hostile toward him so he went back to playing bass. Some people just don't like drummers and having five different drummers in one year?

Well, it isn't the drummer...

doggyd69b said:

As stated before when YOU are the one that writes the songs, and started the band, YOU chose the other musicians, YOU retain a lot more of the band rights than the rest. The biggest example of that is Lars Ulrich, He has a huge hold because HE started the band, he recruited the other musicians, he makes all the musical decisions. There is no firing him. Same with Sully Erna (Godsmack) He was a drummer that learned to play the other instruments, borrowed some money, made an album THEN hired the rest of the band under his terms. There is also no firing him, funny enough he also fired his drummer....

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This is an excellent point but it can be even more simple than this and keep in mind that I am not an attorney and I have never played on TV...

The bass player of a local band, which has been knocking around the area for almost 30 years owns the rights to the name of that band which makes him the only person in the band who can't get fired. Sure; they can mutiny against him but this will be a problem as they would either have to change the name which presents a brand recognition problem, purchase the name from him (buy him out) or license the name from him which means he gets to go do whatever he wants and gets paid while they perform with another bass player.

Most likely, none of those three senarios will happen as they all get along.

It's my understanding that Ross Valory was the original founding member, along with Prairie Prince (the Tubes/Vapors), of Journey. It's also my understanding that when Ross was fired, he, along with Steve Smith had to be bought out because they were in a legally formed partnership. So it wasn't just a simple phone call (back then), email or text message stating that they were fired. There were legal documents which had to be signed and a process to go through. The partnership agreement was their leverage.

I'm assuming that this much like a law firm or an ad agency when a partner departs.

In many of the instances from this summer regarding the "big name acts", most of those are now sole proprietorships, especially the Fighters of Foo, which means the guy who owns the naming rights makes the decisions, for better or worse.

Like I said, I not an attorney....and btw, Jimbo Fisher got paid $36K by Texas A&M today for doing...nothing. Nice work if you can get it!

Skitch said:

And when there is a constant turnover in drummers, it usually is not the drummer who is the problem...

Some people just don't like drummers and having five different drummers in one year?

Well, it isn't the drummer...

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Exactly!

I'm still very much involved in the lives of the singer, guitar player & the current drummer. They all have the same thing to say as you did & are now more apt to tell the bass player to stay in his lane and play his parts right before criticizing others. He quickly shuts up, is good for about 2 weeks & the cycle starts again.