‘Bring It On Down’: the song that made Oasis want to fire drummer Tony McCarroll
It is no secret that Oasis was rarely a harmonious band to be in. From the offset, the history of Manchester’s Britpop heroes was storied by arguments, musical differences, and, often, violence. For the most part, however, these conflicts were limited to the relationship between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, whose deteriorating relationship ultimately led to the demise of the group in 2009. Much earlier in the group’s career, however, the brothers had a particularly argumentative relationship with their original drummer, Tony McCarroll.
McCarroll had been onboard with the band from their initial formation as The Rain in 1991, prior to the involvement of either Liam or Noel, who joined the group shortly thereafter. From the very beginning, it was clear that McCarroll was not the most technically gifted drummer on the scene, but his basic playing style and attitude fit in well with the stripped-back, raw, and aggressive sound of those early Oasis tracks. After all, the appeal of Oasis largely came as a result of their attitude, persona, and seemingly simple compositions that many young people during the 1990s could relate to.
When the band came to record their debut album, Definitely Maybe, the flaws in McCarroll’s playing style and lack of technical ability became more and more apparent. Creation Records boss Alan McGee wanted the track ‘Bring It On Down’ to be the first single officially released by the band, establishing them within the mainstream musical consciousness of the UK and building anticipation for the release of the debut record. As we all know, however, it was ‘Supersonic’ that became the band’s first single, with ‘Bring It On Down’ being reduced merely to an album track.
The production of Definitely Maybe was plagued by issues as the band and record label attempted to recapture the energy of Oasis’ live performances on tape. However, the group seemed to have particular difficulty when working on ‘Bring It On Down’. That difficulty came predominantly from McCarroll’s seeming inability to get the drum track right, so much so that the band were forced to hire a session drummer to try and record the song properly.
As Noel Gallagher once recalled in Definitely Maybe: The Documentary, “I’d been telling – or, asking – Tony [McCarroll] for two years, ‘It goes like this.’ Then, of course, when this drummer comes down and he’s playing it, and Tony’s stood there, it must have been awful for him. Then, the [session musician] couldn’t get it.”
This vindication seemed to spur McCarroll on, as Gallagher continued, “[McCarroll] jumps back on the drum kit and goes ‘Oh, you mean like this?’.” The songwriter joked, “At that point, I was like, ‘You’ll be on the fucking dole by Christmas, you blagging little cunt.’”
Although McCarroll did eventually master ‘Bring It On Down’, the difficulties in recording the song were a sign of things to come. The drummer had barely scraped by on Definitely Maybe and, as Gallagher’s songwriting became more complex during the run-up to (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? it became evident that Oasis would have to find a new drummer. McCarroll was ousted from the band in 1995 and replaced by Alan White, who stuck with the group for the majority of their existence.
Replacing McCarroll was, undoubtedly, a decision made in the best interests of Oasis; he simply would not have been able to play the drum tracks on Morning Glory or any of the subsequent albums. Although the band’s decision to sack their friend and bandmate could be seen as harsh, McCarroll certainly got his own back when he sued the band in 1999 over royalties, for which he eventually received a £550,000 settlement.
