Feeling Gravity’s Pull -
Maps and Legends -
Driver 8 -
Life and How To Live It -
Old Man Kensey -
Can’t Get There From Here -
Green Grow the Rushes -
Kohoutek -
Auctioneer (Another Engine) -
Good Advices -
Wendell Gee - Mills
For some reason I remember reading that Berry had a hand in writing Can’t Get There From Here.
yes, and “driver 8”
Feeling Gravity’s Pull - Buck
Maps and Legends - Buck
Driver 8 - Buck & Berry
Life and How To Live It - not sure. Buck & Mills?
Old Man Kensey - just like Catapult & Cuyahoga - started out from a Berry-bass-line, not sure what happened next…
Can’t Get There From Here - Berry
Green Grow the Rushes - Buck
Kohoutek - Buck
Auctioneer (Another Engine) - ?
Good Advices - Mills?
Wendell Gee - Mills
Are these just guesses? Or how would you find out? I’m fascinated. I’ve been told and believe Bill wrote Nightswimming. Stripe’s lyrics of course. It pisses me off so much when people say he was only the drummer. Fools.
In a recent post in one of the R.E.M. groups on FB someone took him to task for his drumming abilities. They acknowledged his other contributions to the band but didn’t speak highly of his abilities as a drummer. They made some good points, and while I try to be objective about R.E.M., it still felt like sacrilege. BTW, it was all well stated and nothing they said was meant to be insulting.
Not guesses, some of them I’m sure of, some I’m semi-sure (and some, of course, I don’t know) - really paid attention to the who-wrote-what issue in all my years of fandom (since 91’ more or less), but sometime my memory deceives me, and sometimes ,in certain interviews, you can just “read between the lines” in the way that one of them is talking about a certain song and it sounds like he wrote it. and one time I had a conversation with one of the Love Tractor guys and he gave me some info regarding some of the early songs…
Pretty sure Nightswimming is Mike. But Bill definitely wrote classics like Perfect Circle, Everybody Hurts, and Leave. Agree with you completely - so much more than a drummer.
Given the non specific nature of their credits I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of who came up with what.
Re Fables Driver 8 always seemed liked the quintessential Buck composition to me - jangly riff, Am and Em everywhere, ringing open chords. I have very few sources myself but as a life long fan you get a vibe; Buck = minor key jangly rock, Mills = country tinged power pop and piano ballads Berry = dark horse favourites. Then Stipe comes along and puts a beautiful cherry on it all.
Outside Fables this is what I know from interviews etc in regards to who came up with the basic song on which the others built:
Mills:
Rockville
Nightswimming
Kenneth
Electrolite
Supernatural Superserious
Buck:
Losing My Religion
Saturn Return
Living Well
Berry:
Everybody Hurts
This is all I’ve got but I’d love to know more. I guess most of the output was more collaborative but I believe the above were essentially a one guy deal re the music composition with Stipe then adding vocals
Like Ignoreland, Life and How To Live It uses the drop D/Neil Young tuning, which strongly suggests that Buck wrote it.
By contrast, the funk/soul vibe of Can’t Get There from Here almost certainly came from Berry, who had played with that genre in the Back Door Band with Mills. Highly unlikely that Buck would have come up with those chords or that groove.
To me, Bill was a brilliant drummer/percussionist. I wouldn’t waste time arguing about it. To each their own, but having seen them live so many times, what I witnessed of his drumming was superb.
Peter & Bill. just read the “part lies…” liner notes…
I know I’m replying to an ancient post, but all of this seems entirely speculative. Are you referring to the instrumentals here, or the lyrics as well? I don’t think you can put one name to any R.E.M. song. They were one of the most collaborative bands. Sure, most songs began with someone noodling a riff or an idea, but that’s a long, long way to putting one name to a whole song. Michael might have walked into a rehearsal, not spoken, left a sheet or 2 of lyrics and buggered off for the weekend only to find the guys had turned it into, say, Nightswimming. It was always stated that there was a veto between the guys that could nix a leading riff, instrument or lyric.
In an old interview Peter said of Welcome To The Occupation, he disliked the line “hang your freedom fighters”. He felt it was cliched. Then he called Michael a genius for changing it to “hang your freedom higher”. Which really does make all the difference. I personally think that the post Bill records lacked the magic of the older stuff, because Bill was never just the drummer. I don’t get the point of these lists unless you actually were involved with the process. The only song I can can say definitely belongs to one member is Mills and Rockville. There are probably more, but lists of names for every song doesn’t represent what R.E.M. were about. Maybe towards the end, which saw a decline, but not the early stuff.
Generally referring to who came up with the start of the song, which in most cases with REM was Berry, Buck, or Mills.
Oh, just the beginning? Fair enough, then. It’s probably still not spot on but it’s a lot more believable.
Yes, it seems like Berry was more likely to come up with a riff, whereas (particularly in the later years) Buck and Mills (sometimes with vocals) often came in with fully developed songs.
I find it hard to critically judge drumming as I’m a guitarist and just don’t get the finer details. My late Dad was a drummer though and got a bit obsessed with Bill Berry. He thought he was really unique and was fascinated that on some songs, he found it really difficult to work out by ear what he was doing. He used to ask me sometimes to replay IRS tracks while in the car so he could have another go at working it out (can’t remember which tracks). My Dad was primarily a blues/rock drummer.
He really liked him. Like I said, i can’t judge but perhaps he’s a little like Peter? Uniqueness and originality papers over the cracks of technical ability?
I think Bill was fizzing with technical ability. Of all of them I believe he was an amazing instrumentalist. Almost certainly the most proficient musicians. He played bass, guitar, keyboards, all of it.
I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying. Bill Berry is an incredibly talented musician. I was relaying the thoughts of my Dad, a drummer, who liked him and was “fascinated” by the way he played. A unique drummer. He wasn’t blown away by him though, and you won’t find Bill very high in greatest of all time lists, if at all.
All of REM are incredible musicians, but technical ability is a specific thing. Doesn’t have a bearing on how good they are within the realms of what they do, or how influential or successful they are. My Dad only listened to REM through me. Being a drummer, he’d always be focussing in and judging songs on the quality of the drumming. I thought it was interesting he was incredibly fascinated by him. The only drummer of “my” bands he spoke of being genuinely impressed with ability wise was Matt Cameron from Soundgarden (for the record).
I play guitar and piano, so have a reasonable understanding of technical ability in those instruments, and will have moments where playing impresses me, completely seperate to whether i like the song or not. Mike Mills is a fantastic Pianist, and I’d much rather listen to Nightswimming than Cornflake Girl. Stick Mike next to Tori Amos on piano though and, ability wise, he’d look like an 8 year old with their first casio keyboard.
Yeah, I may have misunderstood your post. I’m a music lover but sadly have no talent in that direction. Not disrespecting your dad or his musical knowledge in any way. I’m just constantly annoyed by people who say Bill was “only the drummer”. I’m sorry if I didn’t make that clear. Mike’s a good enough multi instrumentalist but he’s not Tori Amos or Billy Joel. He’s a good all rounder and his harmonies with Michael are nothing short of great voodoo. I still think Bill was the best all rounder in the band.
