CRISS: CHRIS CROSS

[drakula63]

I was reading an interview with Peter Criss (former drummer with Kiss) in the latest issue of US magazine Rolling Stone and I was interested and slightly saddened to see him say, “I think I’m the first drummer, next to Mitch Mitchell and Charlie Watts, that incorporated jazz fills in rock & roll.”

Whilst I have no beef with Criss and acknowledge that he’s an ‘OK’ drummer, I think it’s such a shame that The Shadows never really made it big in the States, as then he might have been name checking Tony Meehan and Brian Bennett who were both ‘incorporating jazz fills in rock & roll’ (and much more besides) long before either Mitchell or Watts and whilst Criss was probably still at school.

Obviously we can’t blame people like Peter Criss for their apparent ignorance (and I say that in a totally non-offensive way) as far too many musicians in the US remain unaware of either the Shadows existence or the true level of their influence on pop music on a worldwide level (both as a band and as individuals).

As one of the Beatles once said “No Shadows – no Beatles”. A shame that more people aren’t aware of this.

[BritBass]

I would image there were hundreds of drummers playing "that incorporated jazz fills in rock & roll" years before Peter Criss came onto the scene. Seeing as many rock & rollers came initially from a jazz background in the earlier days makes it even more so obvious. Not to worry though as there are a lot of egos to feed out there in rockland!!!