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At fifty as well. Fucking awful.

Wow

So sad. He really seemed like Dave Grohl's long lost little brother.

Also sad that Grohl, for the second time in his career, has to deal with the death of a band member that might just end the hugely popular band he's in.

It wouldn't surprise me if they continued on after a period of mourning. No question he'd be missed, but Grohl's also the only constant in that band's history, and Hawkins didn't join until they already recorded their first two albums.

True, but he and Grohl were so close after 25 years, I doubt Grohl would be able to trust anyone else to be his drummer.

My guess would be that if they go forward Grohl plays drums on the records, and they find someone to do the parts live, who may or may not subsequently appear on the records if they think that person is able to jibe well enough with the onstage chemistry enough to take into the studio. That’s just rudimentary guessing on my behalf but it really is and always has been Grohl’s band first.

I didn't see it myself, but wasn't there a story in the Foo Fighters doc about Grohl playing and replacing all of William Goldsmith's drum parts on their second album? (IIRC he was the last drummer they hired before Hawkins came on board.)

Goldsmith's drum tracks for "Doll" and the slow intro of "Up in Arms" are still on the album, but yes, Grohl redid all the rest of the tracks himself; although there is a dispute as to whether Goldsmith's tracks for the verses of "My Poor Brain" were also used. This is what led to Goldsmith quitting. Goldsmith was the only drummer prior to Hawkins, as every instrument on the first album was played by Grohl himself except for one guitar part on "X-Static" played by Greg Dulli.

Yeah, Goldsmith's exit, I always view that as the one big black spot on the image of the "nicest guy in rock", but it's rarely mentioned. As far as I understand, Grohl didn't talk to Goldsmith before just starting to re-record his tracks, prompting him to leave in anger. Real shitty move, even though, of course, Foo Fighters is/was Grohl's solo project.

As for them continuing? I don't see in any way that one of the biggest and highest grossing rock acts of today will call it quits because of this. But, on the other hand, I don't immediately see who could take over. Maybe just someone relatively obscure, just as Hawkins was when he joined?

With all that said, I can't imagine how tragic this must feel for Grohl. As someone stated earlier, he had the kind of surrogate brother role to Hawkins...

jegharfangetmigenmyg wrote: Mon Mar 28, 2022 11:42 am Yeah, Goldsmith's exit, I always view that as the one big black spot on the image of the "nicest guy in rock", but it's rarely mentioned. As far as I understand, Grohl didn't talk to Goldsmith before just starting to re-record his tracks, prompting him to leave in anger. Real shitty move, even though, of course, Foo Fighters is/was Grohl's solo project.

As for them continuing? I don't see in any way that one of the biggest and highest grossing rock acts of today will call it quits because of this. But, on the other hand, I don't immediately see who could take over. Maybe just someone relatively obscure, just as Hawkins was when he joined?

With all that said, I can't imagine how tragic this must feel for Grohl. As someone stated earlier, he had the kind of surrogate brother role to Hawkins...

I thought it was producer Gil Norton who basically coerced Grohl into gradually re-recording all of the drum parts. Not excusing Grohl's conduct, but I think Goldsmith is still more angry with Norton over how he did it very surreptitiously. Still, he should've brushed his ego aside and realized that the touring money was more important, anyway. I've never really been crazy about Norton's work as a producer. He sucked out the ethereal/spooky qualities that the Pixies had on their first two records.

I actually like all of the PIxies' records before they split up for the first time. I definitely prefer Albini's work, but in Norton's defense, I find no fault in Doolittle and his re-recording of "Gigantic" was arguably better than Albini's original (which was pretty great to begin with).

I imagine changing anyone's work is always a sensitive issue. Not exactly art, but I had to work on a news story in school once - like a 1 or 2 minute piece for the web - and long story short, one of my classmates re-cut it. The classmate who originally cut it saw the result and completely broke down, specifically saying that we had un-did her work. I felt like we had just shredded a painting she made.

The band cancelled the rest of their scheduled dates this year

Fiery Angel wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 2:31 am I doubt Grohl would be able to trust anyone else to be his drummer.

Then shouldn't he also hire an armed security detail?

beamish14 wrote: Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:42 pm

jegharfangetmigenmyg wrote: Mon Mar 28, 2022 11:42 am Yeah, Goldsmith's exit, I always view that as the one big black spot on the image of the "nicest guy in rock", but it's rarely mentioned. As far as I understand, Grohl didn't talk to Goldsmith before just starting to re-record his tracks, prompting him to leave in anger. Real shitty move, even though, of course, Foo Fighters is/was Grohl's solo project.

As for them continuing? I don't see in any way that one of the biggest and highest grossing rock acts of today will call it quits because of this. But, on the other hand, I don't immediately see who could take over. Maybe just someone relatively obscure, just as Hawkins was when he joined?

With all that said, I can't imagine how tragic this must feel for Grohl. As someone stated earlier, he had the kind of surrogate brother role to Hawkins...

I thought it was producer Gil Norton who basically coerced Grohl into gradually re-recording all of the drum parts. Not excusing Grohl's conduct, but I think Goldsmith is still more angry with Norton over how he did it very surreptitiously. Still, he should've brushed his ego aside and realized that the touring money was more important, anyway. I've never really been crazy about Norton's work as a producer. He sucked out the ethereal/spooky qualities that the Pixies had on their first two records.

Is there a source that says that it was Norton who coerced him? Listening to the Goldsmith's drum tracks that still remain (including the fierce title track which was released as a b-side), they do sound very pedestrian with no great fills or ideas, so I guess it could be that they were not up to Grohl's standards. There's no doubt that Grohl's drumming always adds color to the songs he's playing on, even making the less interesting ones more listenable, this includes his work with QotSA, Them Crooked Vulture and that Cobain fronted one. I would say that he's one of very few drummers where you could almost always hear it's him playing, without knowing it. He comes up with creative takes, and I don't think Goldsmith would be able to have invented signature beat of 'My Hero', just to take an example. What I'm trying to say is that Goldsmith probably wasn't the right drummer for the band, but Grohl should have told him that instead of just trashing and re-recording his work behind his back.

Adding to this, I was never a big fan of Hawkins drumming, either. Very capable technically, and he seemed to be a great guy to be around (which obviously was a big factor for Grohl too!), but I don't think I would be able to distinguish his drumming from another's, and I can't think of any of his ideas which really sticks out (maybe 'All My Life' and some of the other work he did on that album?). Admittedly, he didn't get much to work with on Foos later MOR albums. I lost interest in the Foos a long time ago, I thought 'There's Nothing Left...' was pretty toothless, and every album since then have basically been a couple of good singles and a lot of fillers. The one exception being the 'Wasting Light'-album, where Pat Smear seemed to reignite the band, if only for a couple of years, sadly. But they were a great live band, especially back in the day. Boxed up in the attic, I actually have a used taped-up drumstick from Hawkins that I caught after one of their shows some 20 years ago.

Sounded like the tribute show at Wembley today was pretty intense emotionally. His son Oliver sat in during much of the Foos set and I just saw a clip of “My Hero”, and even from Instagram clip I saw on my iPhone that was the first word to come to mind, intense. It feels like a lot more is being put to rest or exorcised, with the depth of Rock history present at the show.

Beautifully put. Classic Rock/Prog has some really insightful writers on staff and reading their stuff has turned me onto a lot of new music befitting my tastes over the years.