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Best drumming on a song, ever

Gil Bang

By Gil Bang
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31539

Posted
Posted (edited)

Not technical masterpieces, i'm sure, but you gotta appreciate the mania

The above has to be one of the most interesting or bizarre pieces of musical film ever made.  The mania of the drummer contrasted with the near-catatonia of the keyboardist, the casual mania of the bassist, and the bursts from Sumner.  For a piece of music that sounds (to me anyway) almost completely synthetic (meaning synthesized, i.e. I would have bet that was a drum machine).

 

Edited by TwiceHorn
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tbone_

tbone_ 14166

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It's true that Ringo didn't have the jawdropping chops of a Peart or Colaiuta or name your guy.

He also played some of the most glorious and song-appropriate parts in rock history, and few (none?) have ever been able to truly emulate what he did.  He was one of a kind and The Beatles were lucky to have him.

Truth. My band has a fantastic drummer. Best I’ve personally ever played with which isn’t saying a lot but he’s damn good. The only thing we’ve run across that he can’t really do: nail Ringo’s swing/groove.

 

Underestimating Ringo is a mistake imo.

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Scooter Monzingo

Scooter Monzingo 821

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Best is subjective. Influential is a little different. There were two songs that were the staple of every garage band in the country when they were released. 

Wipe out will always be number one. Though few do it as well as The Ventures. People seldom notice just how important the guitar work is when performing that song. Bogle and Nookie Edwards are incredibly good at hitting every string EVERY time. No distortion to hide a bad night. 

The other is Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Vida. This song changed the roll of the drummer in a modern rock band. It was 17 minutes of confusion, but it had that long almost conceptual drum solo that allowed a competent musician to demonstrate the possibilities of putting the drummer out front. 

Just my take...

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Handcruser

Handcruser 2805

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We all love what we love. Some things speak to us, and some things don’t.

Music impacts all of us differently. I remember when Peart died I was just sitting down to eat lunch. I read the alert on my phone and immediately had tears in my eyes. Not because I thought he was the best ever or anything, but that he was the last alive of 3 drummers that impacted me the most.

Bonham, Peart, and my dad. Now all were gone. And that was heartbreaking.

I would much rather listen to the isolated parts of Bonham or Peart at times than the music itself. I can listen to Fool in the Rain 20 times in a row, always hearing something a little different that adds magic to the song. The cymbal work on Spirit of Radio is mesmerizing to me. YYZ was a PhD in how to make a drum solo: it wasn’t about chops, it was about articulating feelings and emotions and blending them together to tell a story.

But in the spirit of the thread, the shuffle is what gets me. Chicago shuffle, Texas shuffle, half-time shuffle. It doesn’t matter....a song with a shuffle in it is right up my alley.






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qwertyu1234

qwertyu1234 496

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5 hours ago, tbone_ said:

Truth. My band has a fantastic drummer. Best I’ve personally ever played with which isn’t saying a lot but he’s damn good. The only thing we’ve run across that he can’t really do: nail Ringo’s swing/groove.

 

Underestimating Ringo is a mistake imo.

Maybe because Ringo is a lefty? Idk...

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17786

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15 hours ago, noharleyyet said:

Salty Baker

 

Lol.  Old guy DGAF has kicked in.  

I saw briefly this guy:

2298908916cfb9575df797c1ec118314.jpg

He's always been one of my favs.  He can swing, he's got groove and subtly.   The Stones are five secret weapons (six, with Stu of course).  But man, Charlie may be the most lethal (and I'm a Keef fan).  Just listen to the groove here after about 2:45 when they start their improvisation:

Or here:

Or 50 or so others.  Charlie may not be THE best, but he's in the running.

 

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17786

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1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Charlie Watts is a jazz aficionado "stuck" playing in the world's greatest rock & roll band.

I've been doing a deep dive on that song the past couple weeks.  

Recording notes for guitarist eyes only:

Spoiler

Distortion: 
Keith Richards plays his Les Paul Custom Black Beauty with exquisite distortion, in open G tuning, for the iconic opening riff, panned hard right. This is very much in contrast to Mick Taylor's clean tone from his walnut brown Gibson ES-345 on both rhythm and -- later -- lead, panned hard left. It's Neumann U-67s on the amps, either Fender Twins or Ampeg VT-22s.  
This distortion glows with harmonics only tubes can generate, but does so expressively. When Keith digs in harder, the distortion increases along with him. His playing is characteristically dynamic -- from loud and intense, to soft and restrained, with exaggerated articulation and lots of spaces between notes and figures. Those expressive performance details are matched by a distortion that breaths along with him. It's not 'all distortion, all the time,' but rather it is distortion with it's own dynamic motion, moving in and out of more and less distortion along with the music. 

Reverb: 
That is tasty, iconic plate reverb decorating the snare and the background harmonies. Note that the reverb isn't particularly audible on the first two snare hits, but floats in on the second bar of drums, along with the entrance of the bass. The arrangement unfolds in pieces, with an organic angularity that is a signature of the band. It teases the listener with instruments entering one at a time: the riff, the kit, bass, lead vocal, rhythm guitar, and -- at last -- harmony vocals on the title line we've all been waiting for. Why not let the reverb be a small part of the build and anticipation for the song's ultimate hook about hand percussion on a door, can't you hear me knocking?

 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46166

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Cool, thanks for the notes.  I noticed the 'verb on the snare, and also how dry Keef's guitar is (in particular).  It's right up in the listener's right ear.

It's possible that the first snare hit is solo'ed off a close mic, too, with no reverb.  Could have even been dropped in as an overdub and never present on the mix of the kit. 

Edited by jimmyjazz
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VirginiaLonghorn

VirginiaLonghorn 4781

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On 5/26/2020 at 5:37 PM, Scooter Monzingo said:

Best is subjective. Influential is a little different. There were two songs that were the staple of every garage band in the country when they were released. 

Wipe out will always be number one. Though few do it as well as The Ventures. People seldom notice just how important the guitar work is when performing that song. Bogle and Nookie Edwards are incredibly good at hitting every string EVERY time. No distortion to hide a bad night. 

The other is Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Vida. This song changed the roll of the drummer in a modern rock band. It was 17 minutes of confusion, but it had that long almost conceptual drum solo that allowed a competent musician to demonstrate the possibilities of putting the drummer out front. 

Just my take...

 

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HiggyBaby

HiggyBaby 2545

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Posted
Not claiming the best, but I've always like Tony Thompson's drumming for The Power Station.
[/url] And of course, their cover of the T.Rex classic, "Bang A Gong".
  


I’m convinced that if they did a dozen takes of that song in the studio to get it right, Tony Thompson went through a dozen drums sets because he hit them so hard.
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ztejas

ztejas 43540

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14 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

It's Dave Grohl.  Taylor Hawkins played a bit on that record but only after Dave re-recorded a bunch of William Goldsmith's drum tracks and Goldsmith "quit". 

That's funny. I wasnt trying to intentionally pick 2 Grohl songs - I figured it was Hawkins on Everlong.

I also wasn't really submitting "best drumming track ever" contenders - just some songs that really stand out to me. 

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Lurch

Lurch 5931

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If you enjoy Grohl drumming (and who doesn’t?) be sure to check out the concert footage of Them Crooked Vultures and that year he played with QOTSA. So fluid and powerful while also playing some incredible licks

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Homercles

Homercles 10206

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11 hours ago, Longhornstampede said:

Speaking of playing within the song... Jeff Porcaro's beats were some of the best

https://youtu.be/NMI81yIlT0Q

On a side note and not strictly drumming, this deconstruction of Rosanna is something I listen to occasionally...they gush about Porcaro:

 

Always liked listening to individual tracks, maybe it was all those years in band at school.  

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Longhornstampede

Longhornstampede 3186

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1 hour ago, Homercles said:

On a side note and not strictly drumming, this deconstruction of Rosanna is something I listen to occasionally...they gush about Porcaro:

 

Always liked listening to individual tracks, maybe it was all those years in band at school.  

Yeah that "band" was pretty much perfection...wish they had recorded more, but then again in a way, more might have been too much

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46166

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4 hours ago, Homercles said:

On a side note and not strictly drumming, this deconstruction of Rosanna is something I listen to occasionally...they gush about Porcaro:

I was never the world's biggest Toto fan, but their musicianship was outrageous.  To me, it's all about Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather, and Bobby Kimball.

Listen to those isolated tracks -- the bassist (David Hungate) is clearly not in the other guys' league.  They talk about him as if he's great, but the ears don't lie.  His tone and timing are well below that of the other guys.  That's OK, somebody has to be the worst guy in the band.  (Hey to me, always.)

Cool stuff, love it.  Thanks for the link.

 

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hullabelew

hullabelew 3724

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Toto had booked a small tour of small college towns, then that debut album took off on the strength of "Hold The Line".  They were doing these huge summer stadium shows in 79 but still had to fulfill those small college dates.  I saw them on that tour in Wichita Falls, spring of '80.

Check out this lineup from April, 1979:  California World Music Festival.  

AC/DC / Aerosmith / Journey / Van Halen / Toto / Cheap Trick / REO Speedwagon / Ted Nugent / Eddie Money / U.F.O. / The Boomtown Rats / The Outlaws / April Wine / Cheech & Chong / Head East / Steve Lukather / Brownsville Station / Mother's Finest / Mahogany Rush / The Fabulous Poodles

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46166

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Man, I am such a huge fan of Steve Gadd.  If I had to name just one, I'd probably say he's my favorite drummer.  I love Keltner, Aronoff, Bonham, Katche (and Kotche) and the like but Gadd tiptoes such a glorious fine line between groove and East Coast Asshole, what's not to love?

And that clip . . . Gadd + Tony Levin + Eric Gale + Richard Tee?  Get the fuck out.  That's not even fair.  Paul Simon is a sawed off riff-stealing little genius, but in the end one has to respect the final product.  And, Edie.

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