A friend of mine worked for Phil Ramone at A&R off and on and was working the day Simon recorded "50 Ways . . . " According to him, Simon had the song but hadn't figured how it would sound best. They tried several different takes but Simon wasn't happy with any of them. He and Ramone decided to break for lunch to see if inspiration struck. When they came back from lunch, Steve Gadd was warming up with a pattern he'd learned in high school, supposedly. Simon and Ramone heard that and immediately knew it was the right sound for the song. Can't verify it; I wasn't there but my friend is pretty reliable.
50 ways to leave your lover
So, decades ago a bunch of drummer friends and me — well before the interweb — struggled to figure out this classic drum riff and none of us got close. Years later I saw a local band play it and I knew right away the drummer had no idea what he was doing and was just mailing it in and it pissed me off because it’s such an integral part of the song. Right after the “performance” I went home determined to learn how to do it right. After consulting the Google machine I learned how to do it — it’s not all that hard but it ain’t easy, and the amazing thing is that Gadd even came up with this and how it ultimately ended up defining the song. The drummers out there will especially appreciate this I think, and I challenge you to learn it because it’s pretty rewarding to be able to play.
https://youtu.be/Ou70vvjE8k4?si=2yfPiHB4Oems22-C