Tunes Du Jour Celebrates International Drum Month

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Welcome to a journey through rhythm. November is International Drum Month, and this collection honors the masters of the drum kit, the players whose feel, power, and ingenuity define the songs we love. From the tightest pockets to the most explosive solos, these are the heartbeats of modern music. Let’s give the drummers some.

Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
The legendary session musician Hal Blaine provides the sharp, inventive percussion, using everything from sleigh bells to a detached kick drum to build the song’s complex and sunny atmosphere.

Cissy Strut – The Meters
Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste, the architect of New Orleans funk, creates a syncopated, greasy, and endlessly influential groove that has been the blueprint for funk drummers ever since.

Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Dave Grohl’s performance is a masterclass in quiet-loud dynamics, with his simple, powerful groove in the verse exploding into a torrent of raw energy for the iconic chorus.

One – Metallica
Lars Ulrich’s machine-gun double bass drumming on the intro is one of metal’s most defining moments, perfectly mimicking the sound of battlefield artillery.

Superstition – Stevie Wonder
The irresistible funk pattern that drives this track was played by none other than Stevie Wonder himself, who laid down the clavinet, bass, and drum parts to create a perfect storm of groove.

The Glamorous Life – Sheila E.
A tour de force from the legendary percussionist and drummer Sheila E., this track is a showcase of her technical virtuosity and incredible funk sensibilities.

In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins
For three minutes, Phil Collins builds unbearable tension before unleashing the most famous drum fill in history, a thunderous burst of gated reverb toms that everyone has air-drummed to.

Rosanna – Toto
The late, great Jeff Porcaro gives a masterclass in the half-time shuffle, creating a feel so iconic and difficult to replicate that it’s now simply known as the “Rosanna shuffle.”

Come Together – The Beatles
Ringo Starr’s signature swampy, tea-towel-dampened tom groove is the unmistakable foundation of this track, proving that feel and creativity are more important than flash.

Brick House – The Commodores
Walter “Clyde” Orange not only provides the lead vocals but also lays down a funk groove so solid and deep you could build a house on it, proving that sometimes the simplest beat is the most effective.

Rock With You – Michael Jackson
Session giant John “JR” Robinson creates a beat that is smooth, sophisticated, and impossibly deep in the pocket, providing the perfect shimmering pulse for dancing.

Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) – Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
Gene Krupa became music’s first superstar drummer with this performance, his primal, floor-tom-driven solo setting the standard for all drum features to come.

Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Mitch Mitchell’s jazz-influenced, wildly improvisational drumming is the perfect foil for Hendrix’s guitar, a chaotic and conversational force of nature.

When The Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin
Recorded in a stairwell with two microphones, John Bonham’s colossal, booming groove is arguably the most recognizable and revered drum sound ever committed to tape.

Message in a Bottle – The Police
Showcasing his unique, reggae-infused style, Stewart Copeland’s intricate hi-hat work and signature use of the splash cymbal give this song its nervous, driving energy.

Funky Drummer – James Brown
Here, Clyde Stubblefield plays what is perhaps the most-sampled drum break in history, a 20-second piece of rhythmic perfection that became a cornerstone of hip-hop.

Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones
The picture of restraint and taste, Charlie Watts enters the song with a deceptively simple beat that carries all the dread and swing the track demands.

I’ve Seen All Good People – Yes
Bill Bruford’s crisp, creative, and complex drumming is on full display, navigating the song’s shifting sections with technical precision and musical grace.

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon
Steve Gadd lays down one of the most recognizable and clever marching-band-inspired beats in popular music, a sophisticated and instantly memorable pattern.

Think (About It) – Lyn Collins
Another gift to hip-hop from the James Brown band, this track features John “Jabo” Starks’s impossibly tight groove and a legendary drum break that keeps on giving.

White Room – Cream
The inimitable Ginger Baker announces this psychedelic classic with a powerful 5/4 tom-tom intro, setting the stage with his heavy, melodic, and groundbreaking style.

Hot For Teacher – Van Halen
Alex Van Halen’s frantic, shuffling intro sounds like a barely-contained engine, kicking off one of the most exhilarating double-bass-fueled drum tracks in rock history.

Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
Larry Mullen Jr.’s militaristic, unrelenting snare drum pattern, recorded in a reverberant stairwell, serves as the song’s defiant and unwavering backbone.

Schism – Tool
A master of complexity, Danny Carey navigates the song’s dizzying array of shifting time signatures with a tribal power and mathematical precision that is simply breathtaking.

Baba O’Riley – The Who
The untamable Keith Moon crashes and tumbles through this rock anthem, playing with a frenetic energy that threatens to send the song flying off the rails at any moment.

Dig Me Out – Sleater-Kinney
Janet Weiss is the roaring engine of this track, playing with a ferocious power, impeccable timing, and creative fills that drive the song forward relentlessly.

I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Funk Brothers drummers Uriel Jones and the great Benny Benjamin create a powerhouse rhythm section, delivering a performance full of simmering tension and explosive release that punctuates the song’s raw emotion.

Dancin’ Fool – Frank Zappa
Terry Bozzio is the manic force behind this track, navigating Zappa’s absurd rhythmic twists and turns with an explosive combination of power, precision, and theatrical flair.

One Love/People Get Ready – Bob Marley & The Wailers
Carlton “Carly” Barrett, the originator of the “One Drop” rhythm, gives this song its iconic reggae heartbeat, where the accent is on the third beat of the measure.

Footprints – The Miles Davis Quintet
At just 20 years old, Tony Williams redefined jazz drumming with his explosive and interactive playing, shattering old conventions and pushing the entire band to new heights.

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doggies + Ray 2014-09-24 11.53

Ray Charles And The Birth Of A Classic

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In 1927, Howard Hoagland Carmichael was working at a law firm in his native Indiana. He befriended cornet player Bix Beiderbecke, who introduced Hoagland to trumpet player Louis Armstrong. Smitten by the jazz music his friends played, Hoagy, as he was known, quit the law firm and moved to New York, attempting to make it in the music business as a composer.

Another friend of Hoagy, saxophone player and bandleader Frankie Trumbauer, suggested to the former attorney “Why don’t you write a song called ‘Georgia?’” and helped get the lyrics started by adding “It ought to go ‘Georgia, Georgia’.” Big help that Frankie was.

At a party one night, Hoagy sat at the piano and began to bang out a tune based on Trumbauer’s suggestion. His college roommate, Stu Gorrell, who moved to New York to make a name for himself in banking, was with him, and suggested a song title – “Georgia on My Mind.”

Neither Carmichael nor Gorrell had ever been to Georgia. In fact, it has been suggested that Gorrell, who wrote the lyrics to “Georgia on My Mind,” was not writing about the state at all. He wrote the song’s words about Carmichael’s sister, who at that time was going through a messy divorce. Her name? Georgia.

On September 15, 1930, Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra made the first recording of “Georgia on My Mind.” Bix Beiderbecke played cornet in what turned out to be his last recording session. He died from pneumonia less than a year later at age 28.

That record wasn’t a big seller, but one year later, on September 24, 1931, Frankie Trumbauer, the man who suggested Carmichael write a song about Georgia, recorded the tune and had a #10 hit with it.

In the years that followed other jazz greats recorded renditions of “Georgia on My Mind,” including Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Django Reinhardt, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Gene Krupa with Anita O’Day.

Prior to “Georgia on My Mind,” Stu Gorrell had never written a song. The closest he came to doing so was suggesting that Carmichael name a tune he wrote “Star Dust.” Subsequent to “Georgia on My Mind,” Gorrell never wrote another song. He went on to become a Vice President at Chase Bank.

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Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930, eight days after Carmichael first recorded “Georgia on My Mind.” Charles became familiar with the tune from all the versions of it performed over the years. He would hum the tune in his car on the way to gigs. He would hum the tune in his car on the way home from gigs. His driver, Tommy Brown, had an idea. Said Charles, “Cat said, ‘You hum it so much, why don’t you record it?’”

Charles took Brown’s advice. In 1960, “Georgia on My Mind” became Ray Charles’ first #1 pop hit.

On April 24, 1979, “Georgia on My Mind,” written by two men who had never been to Georgia, and possibly about the sister of one of those men, was adopted by the Georgia General Assembly as Georgia’s state song.

Today’s playlist is made up of twenty classic Ray Charles’ recordings, including the sublime “Georgia on My Mind.”

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