Ray Manzarek was just interviewed by a local station and he said Copeland's tempo was "too eratic" and he "lacked [the] mystery" necessary to be the Doors drummer. He also said nobody is asking "where's Stewart," they're asking "Stewart who?"
Sounds to me like somebody doesn't want to be shown up by a better musician in his own band.

Stewart Copeland is a champion.

He's better than I'll ever be but he does come across as an @sshole. IMO.

I dont know Mr.A? I saw Alan Gratzer live with REO and thought he was pretty good. Of course I base everything off of my skills which means The Clanging Monkey with the cymbals looks adequate. LOL.

I would certainly classify Copeland a cut or two above the average drummer in style, technique and innovation, esp. his cymbal work.

That being said, I wouldn't want to invite him to my BBQ, either!

BTW, Alan Gratzer with REO -- the way he (used to?) wear those gloves was just too cool. lol

Oh, speaking of Mr. Ray's less than kind remarks, here's an old link to a John Densmore article in which he's  discussed.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020708&s=densmore

-bruce

No ... he doesn't just come across as one ... he IS one!!!

The music business is 90% personality. If you're a jerk but can play well, no one will want to work with you; period. The only way Stewart will find work is to do his own projects. Anyone ever notice that this is what he's been doing that last few decades? There you go.

 When i used the word 'adequate' i simply meant that he was 'qualified to satisfy a requirement'. And Stewert did just that, i love The Police and i have most of their albums (and his drumming approach for the music was the correct choice)... It would be interesting to hear him play in other genre's just to see how he would approach the music.

That's interesting that you say that Tony. I had a similar experience with Dave Weckl. I met him when I was in my early twenties after a clinic and he was nice as could be. I have heard allot of people say things about him that are less then complimentary about his personality. I thought he was a great guy.

If he doggedly sticks to that style, yes. I don't know if he would or not. I thought he was an odd choice for the Doors, but I consider him a great musician, so I was interested to hear how he would approach that gig.

It's easy to pigeonhole drummers and assume they can't do anything else. Some are one-trick ponies, but some aren't. I run into that in my own career sometimes, and it's frustrating - people assume because they see me on a rock gig that I can't play jazz, and so on. So I'm not willing to write Stewart off as being a bad fit for other projects unless I hear the proof myself.

I liked how he played on the Animal Logic records with Stanley Clarke. The bass player in my band said they were not good live, and didn't groove with each other. But they sound good on those records.

Who knows? I think more than his playing, his personality might make him a poor choice to try to be "Joe Sideman." Not because he's a jerk - because I have no proof of that - but because he's shown himself to have a very strong, dominating personality, which is not the usual fare for a paid accompanist. Most of the really successful studio guys and touring sidemen also have some SERIOUS people skills. I don't know if Stewart worries about that stuff or not.

Regardless, I think he's an amazing drummer, and am always interested in hearing what he's up to.

Here's what I heard:
Stewart's membership in the band was equal to Ian Astbury's - he was in, he was their drummer, done deal.  Then Stewart broke his ankle (or wrist, I can't remember) in a bicycle accident.  The Doors delayed their tour to give him time to heal.  Later, they played a couple of gigs in Vegas.  Shortly after that, Stewart was fired.
When Ray was asked about Stewart on the radio yesterday, he mentioned none of this.  He just commented about his "eratic tempo" and "[lack of] mystery" in a very gruff, unhappy tone.  To me, it sounded like he just doesn't like the guy - as a person or a musician.
An interesting side note:
Ray was asked how this whole Doors reunion/recreation came about.  He said he and Robby Kreiger decided it was a good idea after doing the Doors VH1 Storytellers show (with Ian and some other current singers) a year or two ago.  The Cult had just split up and Ian was in LA, so they asked him to join - good timing.  When they asked John Densmore to do it, he said he couldn't because he has tinitus.  He said he actually blew out he ears during the Storytellers show - bad timing.