Mr. Original

It's hard to really stand out as a drummer, but Mr. Stewart Copeland is a big standout. He'd probably tell you that himself, except that he's an okay guy. He's plenty humble considering his talents. What makes him so great that drummers literally speak about him in mostly-reverent tones? It's a bunch of things, his sound (he usually tunes his drums really tight, up into tabletop/Bebop-Jazz range), his touch, his equipment, his attitude, his Paistes and whatever all it is, he's just one of those naturally-gifted musicians like Buddy Rich or somebody like that, and several of the modern Rock-whatever drummers. I think he was an Army brat, but I know he lived in different parts of the world growing up, at least according to the story, so he was exposed first-hand to many different types of rhythms. He always had the radio and therefore the Beatles and Stones and other American groups maybe as a beacon and unconscious drumming template, but he had all this other stuff, and not just the "Apple pie and Chevrolet" drumming aesthetic of most American guys. It just occurred to me that that's a bit how his drumming is...a steady string if you will of rhythm going on, but with little side things hanging onto the beat like maybe some crazy Armenian belly-dance lick or something, and it didn't matter whether it was the middle of a verse or not, not to mention the Reggae influence. 

But what REALLY makes him the real thing is his crazy licks, and his FEEL. He'll do some out-to-lunch thing on a tom or a cymbal, and it's simply HIS lick alone. They're so cool and crazy, but many of them are pretty simple really. It's a "Why didn't I think of that" thing, except of course HE thought of it. Drummers copy drummers and drummers steal licks (usually with happy permission) and drummers learn from other drummers and that's how it works. But if you try to copy much from him besides maybe an offbeat crash cymbal hit or or a splash cymbal thing (neither of which he invented) or to break it way down on the verse; if you play almost any of his licks you'd be called a clone, unless of course you're in a Police tribute band. That's how original he is, and there are only a few drummers like Bruford and Bozzio and Billy Martin and Cobham and a good handful I guess who are truly original, but still Copeland is a standout. His feel? Well, that's #1 with him. All else, in the Police anyway, including tempo (bless his slightly-speeding-up heart, and who cares) was secondary, and with all that experience behind it, what more could you ask from a drummer?