U N IT E D
WE
STAND
around
continued
and said, 'That's
be-where
we played it. A I got that real delayed and four,
and that
& AI J a c k s o n lr.
BE A
rs,
There's never delivered
DE E P been
the goods
P OC KE T S section
that
less fuss and more
wallop than the team of Donald
"Duck"
.o f great drummers,
for
Dunn
but Al was one of a kind. I've
never worked with anybody else who could come dose to duplicating
Jackson
a rhythm. with
room
what he could do." -Jim
the late '60s and early '70s Dunn and
worked
recordings,
their
magic
induding
and "I Can't Turn
on hundreds
Otis Redding's
You Loose,"
"Hold On, I'm Cornin'"
Essential ReCordings
"Respect"
The Compl et e St ax! Vnl t Si ngl es , 195 9~ 1988, Atlantic.Atlantic Bl ue s, 7947-1914, Atla.~tic. Booker 1. &.· the MG 's:
Sam & Dave's
Rh yl hm&
and "Soul Man," Albert
Th e Ve l}' Be st of Bu uk er T. & th, ~ MG's,
King's "BornUnder
Jones and guitarist
"Hip-Hug-Her" and "Soul Limbo." BookerT, &
The Vel }' B~s t of OtisR edding;
the MG's split up in 1972, and plans to reunite
Best (J f S a m & Gave, Rhi no. Wil so n Pick et t:
three years later ended when jackson
was fatally
Greatest
E
A
made
up the .house
Duck and Al
ban d at Stax Records
in
Memphis during the heyday of '60s soul. Whether tracking MG's
funky instrumentals
or backing
lip such headliners
J
A
= 112
:
grooves where fe d always reigned S1)preme.
.
II
...
'''When I started playing with the MG(s, it was
Jackson
with
.had the secret to that.groove=-that the delayed feel. Ifthere's
I
)
times. He
.(-
I
)
I
)
(-
The verse patte rn of "In the Midnight
ing; it comes from what A I used to tell me: lust
eighth-note
.wait on :twa.'"
.swing-the
IN other words; delay the' second
U
I
big pocket with
any secret to my play-
)
··
~ I
··
:
in Memphis, and
enjoyed seeing him play plentyof
Til e Vel} '
W i/ san Picket t' s
H m , Atlan!i~,
...
~
AI
lr.," Duck recalled in De cemb er '94 . "He
wa s th e most respected drummer thad
room
R h i ~O , Ot is Heddi ng:
,R h i ~O , S a m & [lave:
as Otis
lineup laid down dozens of hip-shaking
just a-treat to be in the, same
a Bad Sign," and MG'sgems
& the
Sam & Dave, this for-
Redding, Wilson Pickett.or midable
as Booker T.
Roberts
of
and A I Jackson Jr. Along with organist Booker T . Steve Cropper,
great
Duck says things have
never been quite the same. "I've played with a lot
feel on two
gave me a little
to play," During
BHAYEB
rhythm partnerships-and
and for .som e of the little jumps Ili ke
syncopation
Du c k Du n n
shot. His death marked the end of one.ofrhe
where the beat should
the arms get thrown .' So that's where
plaeement perfect
U
(--
I
(-
to lt, right? But listen to the way Duck's
Hour": Nothing
me$hes with AI's delayed feel on two and tour 10gi ve the tune Its slinky
backdrop
for Wilson Piekett's
urgent vocal ..
beat just enough to give the groove a relaxed, laidback feel withoutlosing
any forward motion. Doing
it right is a lot harder
than itsounds,
as careful
J ~
c
132
study o f just about any MG's groove proves. It gets even trickier when
yo u throw in some of the. sub-
..
:
-
,
-I-
-H~
'tle variations that mark Dunn and Jackson's greatest tracks-c-like Wilsonl'ickett's
"In the Midnight
Hour;"
1965,
which they recorded.in
"That
one-really
.us," Duck.noted
,>
+
J .J J J J J J J
opened. up the pocket
in his '94 interview.
for
JJJJJJJJ
:
:
"[Famed,
Atlantic Records producer 1 Jerry Wexler started
On "Time Is Tight,
telling us .abo ut't his 'je rk' dan ce tha t
deadly a(:(:uraey while AI use$ erisp eighth·notes
Jar
ill New
42
York. He started
!lASS
PLAYER
?'
throwing
J UNE
W;]9
po Pu-
his arms
'I 9,'li8
subllepush.
n
a 1,969 MG'Sinstrun'lental,
Duck doubles
Steve Cropper's
on the dosed
hi~hat 10 ueate
guitar
line with
a strong but
excesses he embodied
on- and offstage-ended
the union that will forever be hailed as rock's most original rhythm
section.
Essential Recordings Meat y Bea ty Bi g & Bou nc y, Li veat
(a ll on MeA)
Next, Ouadrapheni
lee ds , Who' s
a.
J oe Os bo rn & Hal Bl ai ne CA L IF o n NI A GROO V I N' They didn't have a trademark base studio, or a distinctly no classic rhythm topping
groove,
regional
a home-
sound-but
section played on more chart-
hits across
more
styles than
the Los
Angeles team 0001' Osborn and Hal Blaine. Along with keyboardist industry
Larry Knechtel, they became the
section during the so-called "California
drums for the Who." later In the same interview,
John
Entwi
M A X IM U M
st l e
ROCK
& Kei t h Moon
ROll
&
sections. defined
sound
as definitively
of a band
growth
of his legendary stage setup, "Sometimes
I use the
on my left for sticks and drinks
two tom-toms
Few rock rhythm John Entwistle
Keith was pressed about the unchecked
the overall
and towels," he said.
as the Who's
and Keith Moon.
("1 can make
an y band sound like the Who!" Entwistle boasted
From their earliest days together, and
Moon
set their
sounds-s-and
sights
rhythms-of
Entwistle
on changing rock.
the
The frantic,
climax of "My Generation"
is a prime
in April '96.) But the 1964 pairing of the Ox and
triplet-based
Moonie
example of their ability to carve a hard-charging
wasn't
musicians
exactly
one
playing
as one"
Instead,
Entwistle's
soaring,
Moon's
anarchic
rumble
of those kinds
co-foils for Pete Townshend's
riffs and pop-smart The intent
of things.
trebly
evolved
Jines and
into perfect
anthemic
behind
guitarist
guitar
choruses. Entwistle's
and Moon
groove out of seeming chaos. The manic Moon could keep straight
lead/rhythm
patterns), frenzied
essentially
was never
time (although
eschewed rock's standard
he regularly
kick-snare-kick-snare
and when he did maintain
he set Entwistle
style is dear enough: Townshendwas a rhythm
"two
the groove
free to fly. Check out the duo's
interplay
on 1970's Live at Le eds and
197L's Who 's Nex t.
the
Moon's
1978 death-s-the
result of the very
Hal Blaine & Joe Osbom
(with sticks)
world's greatest timekeeper,
someone
so
J ~ 190
had to
both
lead
way
and
the nail
things down. A s for Moon's inimitable style-a
blazing
combination
of eighth-note
kick
grooves,
scattershot triplets, and stick-twirling flashwho knows where it ·camefrom? "I'm the best Keith Moon-type drummer in the world," was the only explanation
-r
he could ever offer.
would get very frustrated
couldn't
play
hi-hat
cymbals,"
Entwistle
because
at all, just told Chris
Keith
a mess
of
"Like a drum kit falling downstairs": matching
EntwlsUe
holds together
the "My Generation"
dimax
by
Mo~'s ·furiOus triplets nearly note-for-note.
Swing feel
J
= 144
Jisi in a 1989
Drums &Drumming interview. had to play simpler
"So I sometimes bass parts to hold it all
Ifhe came out of a drum break out of
together.
time, I'd have to set a new time orlook at his bassdrum foot to see what the hell he was doing. I mean, at times it could sound. like a drum
kit
falling downstairs." For his part, Moon was always brutally
candid
aspirations
about his .playing. "I've no real
to be a great drummer,"
he admitted
to Me lod y Ma ke r in 1972. "I just want to play
Beneath -"gain,"
Townshend's Entwistle's
some cool walking
relentless,
syncopated
chattering eighths
ARP synth groove
playoff
Moon's
on the epic "Won't
relatively
straight
rhythms
Get Fooled and set up
fills.
J U N E
I ~ 9 S
"
BA SS PLAYER
43
