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You only have to look at my avatar to see where my allegiance lies! Still, I will try and make a few points as unbiased as possible.
David Briggs and Larrie Londin were great session players. Londin was possibly the greatest session drummer ever. He played on countless hits before meeting an untimely demise. David is great too, and even though he may have made a pretty stupid comment, that doesn't change the fact he was a great player.
The TCB band created an entirely unique sound onstage. It was a particular blend of funky, white soul, country, rock, etc. Their sound together was influential, and when those guys were on it was pretty magical.
Putting Tutt down is just stupid. I recall a special Musician magazine from 10 or 12 years ago that spotlighted the players that played with Elvis. A certain musician was qouted as saying Ronnie rushed on stage, but that was what Elvis wanted, but you would have never heard him rush like that in the studio. I believe that to be very true. If you have ever heard Ronnie's playing on records from other artists, like the Carpenters or Gram Parsons, for instance, you will hear he had rock solid timing. Elvis pushed those guys a lot onstage, and that is the reason you often hear tempos waver. Often times Elvis had them play the songs too fast.
It's also true that maybe the band got a little more complacent as EP became more complacent. A routine was established and they got caught in a rut. This is a very common temptation. Equal blame has to go around. It's easy just to blame the musicians, but that is not exactly fair. I'm sure it was very hard for them as Elvis began his decline.
No one should ever have to defend James Burton. The man is brilliant and that's all there is too it. An absolute legend in his time.
Glen D. was a great asset too. He may not have had the credentials the others did, but Tony Brown always paled in comparison as far as I'm concerned.
Dismissing these guys as "sloppy" is really ignorant. In their prime they were as tight a band as there has ever been.
Originally Posted by nashville cat
