All We Are

Something I don't do often, especially on this site, is pick a song, and deconstruct it, and tell you all the gory details why I enjoy it so much. Perhaps I have refrained from doing so, as to not bore you all with miniscule details. Perhaps I just never had the energy until now to do such a thing.

So, here goes: Another long, pointless story by yours truly.

Kim Mitchell is a Canadian Rock Legend. Unknown elsewhere in the world, he is considered by many to be one of the world's most underrated guitarists. He can be both technical and musical. In the 1970's he was in a progressive rock band called Max Webster -- where one of the songs "Battle Scar" included members of Progressive Rock Legends Rush. Enough about Canadian Rock History. That's not what I wanted to talk about.

I saw Kim Mitchell live in concert in 1990. It was one of the first Arena rock concerts I had ever been to, and it was an eye-opening experience. I had been playing drums for less than a year, and the fires were lit that night when I was assaulted by one of the loudest sound systems I had ever heard. Since that night, one of the songs that struck a metaphorical chord in me was "All We Are". First of all, it's a well-written song -- and the true test for a well-written song is that it can be played on acoustic guitar, or piano and still hold its' merit.

I am unsure how the studio version of the song stacks up; I have never heard it. But the version that is available on the "Live: I am a Wild Party" album is stellar. This song allows all the players in the band to take a moment to shine. There is space in the song; there is enough ambiance that the song doesn't become overwhelmed with a million notes.

Yes, Kim does take some time to wail on the guitar, and he will show you that he is every bit a qualified player as Eddie Van Halen, Satriani, Malmsteen, or whoever your hero might be. He can sing in registers that most of us can only reach if kicked in the groin. But overall, he is a songwriter who writes for the song and not to show off every single lick he knows.

I tend to like songwriters who gives songs the space needed.

Even though I do call myself a musician, I am primarily a drummer. So I really couldn't tell you how many 7ths chords he knows, or how many sextuplets he can play in a minute. But I do know that this song has extraordinary rhythm.

All We Are has the hypnotic, fluid drum groove that permeates every nuance of the song. And the drumming on this particular track is full of nuances.

When I was at that concert, some fifteen years ago, I had no idea what the drummer was doing, nor did I know why the groove was so cool, but as I have matured, both musically, and rhythmically, I can tell you that what I heard was the Half-Time Rolling Triplet Shuffle -- also known as the Purdie Shuffle (named after Bernard Purdie, Master of the shuffle).

Any drummer who has heard the Purdie Shuffle has gone through great lengths to copy it. It is one of the most beautiful drum grooves ever created (It was also this reason why I played this particular track for one of my students tonight, whom is currently studying shuffles with me).

To master this groove, a drummer must understand, and have the ability to play with dynamics. Now dynamics generally refers to volume, but in this case I might say that it's more than knowing when to play loud, and when to play soft. It is also the ability to play both loud and quietly at the same time -- and yes, this is possible.

The secret to the Purdie Shuffle -- this very shuffle I was exposed to while watching the Kim Mitchell band perform All We Are, are the ghost notes.

Ghost notes are exactly what they appear to be: Phantoms in a musical void. Most people don't even hear them, but they can be felt, perceived. These are notes that are played much quieter than the others. Given enough training, the ear can learn to hear these notes. And All We Are is full of them.

The drummer on this particular track is also quite creative. He doesn't play one cliche drum fill. It's a Mother Lode of drummer's chops. In fact the drummer in question plays a number of polyrhythms within the song, with enough feel that it doesn't take away from the song. Few drummers can do that, but he could. In fact the drumming is so damn good, that even after fifteen years, there are chops that I still am learning.

So who was the monster drummer who played on this track? Well, it's tough to say. You see, three drummers played on the I Am A Wild Party album. They were Greg Critchley, Matt Frenette and Lou Molino. I don't have the liner notes handy, so I can't tell you whose drum track got the nod. I can tell you, that it was Frenette who graced me with his presence at that concert some fifteen years ago. He was, and still is, one of the best Canadian pounders out there.

Mitchell's career has waned in recent years, probably due to a number of factors, but the rising popularity of grunge, punk, and "alternative" styles put guitar rock and progressive rock on the backburner of radio DJ's playlists. But I still listen to him when I need a shot of inspiration.

Music is meant to be timeless. It is one thing that artists have been able to do to achieve a form of immortality -- it applies at least, for the legends. Scores of people still listen to Bach, Handel, Mozart, Tchaikovsky just as much as they listen to Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, or any other musical legend who has had their meeting with the Reaper.

Death is the one thing that we mortals cannot escape. But very few of us, manage to do something that will allow us to live on; to influence the lives of people even generations from now, to give color, enlightenment, or meaning to our lives.

If this is the case, then I would have to say the Jesus Christ has had the most profound impact on Western Civilization. He succeeded in achieving immortality, as even after two thousand years, countless millions of believers admire, respect, and worship his contributions to humanity.

Strange. I never expected this post to take on this sort of twist. Did it catch you by surprise as well?