00:01 Bee Gees - “Nights on Broadway” 1975
4:40 Hall & Oates - “Rich Girl” 1977
7:00 Bee Gees - “More Than a Woman” 1978
10:18 Hamilton, JoeFrank & Reynolds - “Don’t Pull Your Love” 1971 (I always thought this was an Elvis song!)
13:02 Billy Cobham pattern of bi-directional 4 against 3 triplets
Recently, four songs came up on a random UA-cam playlist that I had never played before - and had rarely heard since I was a little kid in the 1970’s (‘my’ music back then was KISS and Queen until High School).
It was fun to see how much I remembered from passive listening 45 years ago, and using active listening to figure out the parts in real time as I play.
You’ll notice the first moments of each song I’m trying to parse what’s being played, so those are the roughest moments (as well as any stops or dynamics changes). Luckily, all of the songs were on heavy rotation on the local radio stations my parents played as we drove all over town way back when…
This video clip is complete and unedited - just a raw look at how I play everyday.
First up was "Nights on Broadway" - such a great song, and I will always picture the Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake SNL skit as the Bee Gees. Dennis Bryon drummer on this track.
Second was "Rich Girl" - a song that really annoyed me because my Mom and sister would both sing loudly to it in the car, and I'd plug my ears. My favorite drummer of all time, Jim Gordon, on drums.
Third was "More Than a Woman" - a song so soft and pretty, 8 year old me couldn't hear how good it was .. back then I was obsessed with KISS, and had no time for 'mushy' songs.
Fourth was "Don't Pull Your Love" - a GREAT song I always thought was Elvis. This one was a little harder to remember as I played along, as it was released when I was a toddler, and, it was a rough first timer! This is definitely a song that needs to be listened to closely, and notes taken, before tackling. It's such a well orchestrated song, every hit on the drums needs to match the recording or it will be a trainwreck (like this was). I included this mainly to show many of my videos are real, first time play throughs, mistakes and all. I'll avoid posting videos like this last song in the future, lol. Joe Correro Jr. on drums.
And at the very end, I often either continue the groove to hear it alone, or I'll improvise some fills waiting for the next mystery song to start playing. The ending pattern was a Billy Cobham signature, picked up by Simon Phillips and Nicko McBrain, and from them incorporated into my practice sessions. Fun!