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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

soix
soix OP
9,456 posts
 

What passes for dazzling technique in rock is no big deal for a competent jazz drummer.

@stager Totally agree dude! When jazz drummers started to migrate into rock in the late 60’s, early 70’s — think Blood Sweat n Tears, Jefferson Airplane, Cream — their jazz influence was all over it.  I honestly could never play straight jazz.  I’m not good enough and honestly the difficult  time signatures I mostly couldn’t wrap my head around.  If I had a better brain and more talent I would’ve loved to play jazz cause it’s just a totally beautiful art form.  I saw Chick Corea play with his Electrik Band at the Blue Note in Manhattan with Dave Weckl on drums, Victor Wooten on electric bass, John Pattiuch, Gale on lead guitar.  I can’t even relate to you that experience.

realgoodsound
51 posts
 

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.

musicearlyadopter's avatar
musicearlyadopter
25 posts
 

I am with @soix on wacky jazz time sigs. 7/4 is not intuitive to me. If I was ever playing on time in that signature, it was an accident, and found out the hard way sitting in with a jazz group a couple of times. My best performance was serving them beers at the break!

chayro
2,983 posts
 

50 ways gets all the press among drummers, but Steve was doing this stuff way before. Check out Jim Croce’s “workin at the car wash blues”. Great track by Steve, also with a marching band style. And I just have to add- all these You Tube drum cover stars- I remember when playing along with records was step one in learning drums. Now it’s an end goal. So be it. The world changes, but as all of you drummers know, there is a BIG difference between playing with a record and playing with a band.

thecarpathian
4,339 posts
 

"Among my many Simon & Garfunkel favorites was the ditty "At the Zoo"."

@jetter ,

I can't get past him singing 'oragutang'...

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