The legendary Steve Gadd

Well it wasn't strictly Motown and it wasn't strictly disco. Nor was it strictly jazz.
He melded
MikeWax said:
What was the new stuff he played in the 70s ?
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He was the next gen after H Blaine of melders
and he put that behind contemporary of the day singer songwriters

Being versed in and applying (like make up) all styles up to that point was a departure from say
Ron Bushy or that guy from Blue Cheer 1969

So one might say he was a cross over drummer the most popular and well liked
or else you got Purdie,
 
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You probably are already familiar with many of his most famous recordings, but in care you're not, these are a (very) few of the ones that helped make him one of the two or three most in-demand session drummers of the 70s, in a variety of genres:


That intro part was unlike anything else that had even been played on a pop record and remains fairly sui generis.


The entire laidback feel is just silky perfection, but it's really the way he kicks the band back in around 1:55 that's so iconic and so very him.


Again, his playing throughout is fantastic, but it's really the solo that still has people taking today.

Funny story from Steely Dan producer Gary Katz about this track:

Apparently, Becker and Fagen (and Katz) always talked about using him, but every time they came close, one of them would say, “I don’t really love his backbeat…” (laughter) and they wouldn’t call him. Having problems with the drum track (and extended solo) on “Aja”, Katz told us:
“Someone said, ‘Maybe this would be a good time to try Gadd’. [At this time] Steve had a distinct problem with drugs. When he came into the room he said, ‘Let me put the score up…’ It was a very long score, because of the eight minutes, so they set up a semi-circle of music stands. He said, ‘Can we just run it down so I can mark it?’ So Chuck Rainey, Victor Feldman, great musicians, ran it down, Gadd marks it. Said ‘Okay, I’m ready’. Walter and I were in the control room, Donald was outside with his back to us, doing the scratch vocal. He only played it once. The only time he played it, is what you hear (sounds of incredulity from audience). Walter says, ‘You know, we may have made a mistake about Gadd’. (laughter)

“So six months go by, as they usually do on our records, we went back to New York to mix, and we were just about finished mixing the song, and someone said, ‘You know Gadd’s down the hall working on a Michael Franks record’, and Don says, ‘Go get him, and let him hear this.’ So we go down, say we want to play him something – he was a mess… he sat in front of the console and we played it really loud, really good sound. The track is over, he goes ‘Wow… who’s playing drums?’ We just look at each other, ’cause he wasn’t kidding. I said, ‘You did, Steve’. He said, ‘I’m a m*****f*****’ (audience collapses)”.
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Also, his playing on Chick Corea's The Leprechaun and My Spanish Heart, and Al Di Meola's Elegant Gypsy and Casino, among other albums.


And his work with some guys known as Jim Hall, Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Roland Hanna and Ron Carter.


The guy could play jazz, he could play pop, he could play disco, he could play rock, he could play funk and he could play Latin grooves.

Musicians as rich and famous as James Taylor, Eric Clapton and Paul Simon can get pretty much any drummer they want. That they went back to Gadd again and again is fairly telling
 
I recognize the greatness, but it's a different category, IMO, than that of others like Weckl, Mayer, Chris Coleman . . . . .

I think what Steve Gadd does masterfully is play more straight forward drumming that a lot of artists want "backing" their performance. And he writes memorable drum parts, which those same artists appreciate.

But I'm with MikeWax (the OP), Gadd's drumming doesn't excite me very much, and he doesn't play anything that makes me ask "how does he do that?"
 
beatdat said:
I agree with everything you wrote, but can't yet agree with this because I don't have any examples. Got any for me?
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that may be a tough one because rock bands don't usually bring in Studio musicians and have permanent +/- members..
Altho...
I think I glanced at him playing "White Room" or "Sunshine Of Your Love" live with Clapton 😁
I cared not to watch it "too close..
but maybe I should have : )
It did cross my mind " holy sheet he's going to play Ginger bakers parts"
 
bud7h4 said:
I recognize the greatness, but it's a different category, IMO, than that of others like Weckl, Mayer, Chris Coleman . . . . .

I think what Steve Gadd does masterfully is play more straight forward drumming that a lot of artists want "backing" their performance. And he writes memorable drum parts, which those same artists appreciate.

But I'm with MikeWax (the OP), Gadd's drumming doesn't excite me very much, and he doesn't play anything that makes me ask "how does he do that?"
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I think I get what you're saying, but how can a master not excite you very much?

The way I see it, if drumming were a martial art, Gadd'd be Tai Chi; whereas someone like Cobham would be, let's say, May Thai. Regardless, I'm as excited by both, just in different ways.
 
jda said:
that may be a tough one because rock bands don't usually bring in Studio musicians and have permanent +/- members..
Altho...
I think I glanced at him playing "White Room" or "Sunshine Of Your Love" live with Clapton 😁
I cared not to watch it "too close..
but maybe I should have : )
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I'm interested in closely watching that. Wanna know if he's got a bit of Bonham, Brewer, or Rudd in him. I'll look it up. Thanks.
 
beatdat said:
I think I get what you're saying, but how can a master not excite you very much?

The way I see it, if drumming were a martial art, Gadd'd be Tai Chi; whereas someone like Cobham would be, let's say, May Thai. Regardless, I'm as excited by both, just in different ways.
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Depends on what the mastery is, I guess. Regardless of the level of skill and musicianship, I want to hear something less ordinary. Other drummers, spanning in technical ability from Weckl to Rudd, do that for me.
 
Some bookmarks
doing Gordon... (Gordon, Eric, Gadd, Tony Williams all born in 1945 btw)

Bell Bottom Blues
 
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doing Ginger.... (ginger born 1939 same as Idris for example)

Badge
 
another Gordon


Layla..
 
White Room...


steve Wins
 
bud7h4 said:
Depends on what the mastery is, I guess. Regardless of the level of skill and musicianship, I want to hear something less ordinary. Other drummers, spanning in technical ability from Weckl to Rudd, do that for me.
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Funny, I think of Weckl the same way the OP and some others in this thread feel about Gadd... Weckl is technically brilliant, has great feel, and plays for the song, but doesn't really do it for me.

Rudd, on the other hand... well, he's Phil Rudd. What more to say about him?
 
keep combing threads (this one went back to 2005) and there'll be three threads
on board total with 26000 posts each)
wager OP won't find his (#695) or this thread from year 2005 almost last century 😄
 
didn't vanish got moved is now post #695

the question arose (post #706) any Rock and I posted the Clapton
 
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