William Goldsmith, drummer of the then-
recently defunct Sunny Day Real Estate,
along with former SDRE bass player Nate
Mendel and Nirvana touring guitarist Pat
Smear were recruited. the producer wanted Dave to play drums
on the record. I think Dave wanted to play
drums on the record. I think the people at
the label—I think everybody wanted Dave to
play drums on the record.”
But things didn’t go well for Goldsmith.
Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Perhaps
you’ve also heard his side of what Dave
Grohl did to him. And by the time all was said and done—
that’s exactly what happened.
“I just wish that I’d never met him,” he said
of Grohl in an interview just last year.
When the Foo Fighters went into the studio
to record The Colour and the Shape after
touring for nearly a year and a half
in support of Grohl’s debut work,
Goldsmith says he felt doomed
from the start.
“I think from the get-
go, I think that
After the band had settled on the
arrangements of the songs for the new
album, Dave took the mixes with him
to finalize the guitars and vocals and—
dissatisfied with how Goldsmith’s drumming
turned out—opted to re-record the drum
tracks himself.
Understandably, Goldsmith felt betrayed.
And though he was offered the opportunity
to stay on as the touring drummer, he’d had
enough and left the band. And then came
Taylor Hawkins and the rest is history.
He’s seems like a genuinely nice guy.
Look—I fully realize that the last bit was
mostly about what a colossal dick Dave
Grohl was to William Goldsmith twenty years
ago. I also realize that following that with
a section about what a nice guy he
is probably ironic at best and
dissonant at worst, but
hang with me.
ToneReport.com
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