Fusion 45

If I were to characterize each of the four drummers I’ve profiled so far, I’d start by portraying Steve Gadd as the street-corner griot. In the tradition of the village story-teller, Gadd is the guy who marches behind the raconteur, pounding out the rhythms that accompany the news and stories of the day. If Paul Simon is a modern day Stephen Foster, then Gadd, the drum corps expatriot, is the marching band that follows him. Like the guys you see on the New York city street corners, Steve Gadd is the guy who can create a million-dollar drum kit out of cardboard boxes.

Jim Keltner is, at once, the noisiest but also the most symphonic. He’s the rock and roll version of Jack deJohnnette, using every crack and crevice, cymbal and snare of his kit to produce a multi-textured palette of sounds. If you go back to the example from the John Lennon album (or listen to his work on the “Little Village” record), you hear a thick texture of sound on many of his cuts.

Russ Kunkel is your uncle, the one you can always count on. (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the rhyme). Whether it’s a cover of an old R&B tune or a straight-ahead Southern California rocker, you could always count on him to be there, be square and be right on the beat. Porcaro, on the other hand, is like your crazy older brother, the one who always stayed out late and missed school the next day. He’s the one who’d show up for one rehearsal per month (or one cut per album); some days he’d be remarkably average and other times he’d be so blindingly good that you have to excuse him his shortcomings.

This bring us to the subject of Hal Blaine. Now approaching 80 years old (and still recording!), Blaine is arguably the dean of all session drummers. As a part of the LA session group known as The Wrecking Crew (so named because older session cats said rock and roll was “wrecking the business’), Blaine by his own account has played on over 150 top 10 singles during his career (40 of which reached Number 1). In 1963 and 1964 alone, he played on 29 Top 10 singles. From his first Top 10 with Connie Francis (in 1961) through his recordings with Elvis, The Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel and just about every made-for-TV band in the 1970’s, Blaine is the most widely known drummer who’s name no one knows.

Blaine is the taste-maker, the four star chef of session drumming. Deftly adaptable to whatever was on the chart but with a deep sense of musicality that made him slightly funky but never overbearing, Hail Blaine laid the foundation for all that was to come. He is a nice-course dinner of rock and roll drumming.

There’s no way to cover his career in just one pass, so here’s a baker’s dozen from the chef, covering all but one of his Top 10’s from 1961 through half of his output in 1963.

Connie Francis - Mama (#8 in 1960)

White pop in the 1950’s through the pre-Beatle years of the 1960’s did very little, if anything, that was original. Everything that appeared on the pop charts was co-opted from some other source (be it southern blues or European art songs). This is an example of the latter, complete with a drum track so light it could be meringue. This is a prophetic track: it sounds very much like another singer Blaine supported in the seventies who went by the name of Karen Carpenter (though KC didn’t have the same range as dear old Connie).

Connie Francis - Where The Boys Are (#4 in 1961)

If you listen closely to ‘Mama,’ then follow it with this track, you recognize one of Blaine’s greatest strengths: his brushwork. Not that there’s anything wrong with today’s players and their 40 piece kits; but, listen to how expressive Blaine is with little more than a hi-hat, snare drum and (very quiet) bass drum. On AM radio’s in 1961, that’s all that was needed.

Elvis Presley - Can’t Help Falling In Love (#1 in 1961)

This is one of my favorite Elvis tunes, mostly because I can sing along without hurting myself. There’s nothing here that expands too much on ‘Where The Boys Are’; but it’s beautiful. There’s a slight note of reverb on the snare drum that’s not present on the previous track.

Elvis Presley - Return To Sender (#2 in 1962)

Another song played so many million times that it takes an entirely different mindset to get Blaine’s message. What is he saying? He’s saying: Here’s the snare drum sound that everyone from Slim Jim Phantom to your mother will try to get out of their kit.

Herb Albert - The Lonely Bull (#6 in 1962)

(One-And-A)-(Two-And)-Three-Four. (One-And-A)-(Two-And)-Three-Four. Next, the bride will throw the bouquet!

The Crystals - He’s A Rebel (#1 in 1962)

Remembering back to the AM radio where all these songs first appeared, we understand why the snare drum and cymbal sound was so important: with a limited frequency range coming out of those transistor radios, they WERE the beat. Great 16th-note pattern on the (high pitched) toms!

Bobby Darin - Eighteen Yellow Roses (#10 in 1963)

Bobby Darin (who wrote this one) probably owes some money to Marty Robbins (who wrote ‘El Paso’); there’s a slight resemblance, don’t you think? Interestingly, the drum beat is a cowboy-ified version of ‘The Lonely Bull’.

Bobby Vee - The Night Had A 1000 Eyes (#3 in 1963)

One part polka, one part Ed Sullivan orchestra, one part Latin swing, one part Vegas, all wrapped up in a 3 minute pop song. Like Barry Manilow’s recording of ‘Bandstand Boogie,’ this record falls flat without the drummer.

Elvis Presley - (You’re The Devil In Disguise) (#3 in 1963)

One part cha-cha-cha, one part Eddy Arnold, one part Benny Hill: a guaranteed formula for success.

Jan and Dean - Surf City (#1 in 1963)

Jan and Dean - Drag City (#10 in 1963)

By the time this charted in December of ‘63 (Oh What A Night), Blaine was just 34 and had played on 16 Top 10 singles that year (and who knows how many more that didn’t chart that high). The lesser known of Jan and Dean’s two ‘city’ hits, this was one of Blaine’s four Top 10 efforts for ‘the poor man’s Beach Boys’.

Leslie Gore - She’s A Fool (#5 in 1963)

Hot on the heels of Gore’s biggest hits, ‘It’s My Party’ and ‘Judy’s Turn To Cry’, this was the next to last of her Top 10 hits (though she continued to record singles into the 1970’s). Better production values are starting to show on this record as the soft ride and snare drum sound have much greater depth than in past records.

Sam Cooke (#10 in 1963)

I promised you Blaine could get funky. Close your ears to the Sam’s soul and listen to the drums alone. Among the greatest opening drum beats in pop music.

ZIP: Hal Blaine - ‘61-’63

Next up: The rest of 1963 and some of 1964