MusicRadar

Is Steve Gadd the most influential drummer ever? He's not saying

View in gallery

"Here's a good exercise I like a lot: I take one idea and use it as many different ways as I can. I'll take four beats and divide them up between my right foot, left foot and both hands - the combinations are endless. If I stumble upon something and I like the way it sounds, I'll work on it and make it comfortable. Then I'll figure out how to do the same thing but start it at different parts of the bar - it's the same pattern, but I'm playing it at a different point, so it's going to sound different. I like ideas. Working on musical ideas and not just technical things is what I'm all about."

Speaking of musical ideas, one of your most famous drum intros is from Paul Simon's 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. How did that pattern originate? Did Paul have a firm idea of what he wanted, or did you come up with it?

"It was pretty collaborative. We were working on the song in the studio, and I remember the bridge was feeling OK, but the beginning wasn't sounding as good as it should. It was fine, but it wasn't all there. What I used to do was practice between takes, and one of the things I was working on was using the left hand on the hi-hat and creating different combinations between the hi-hat, snare and bass drum.

"Phil Ramone, the engineer, and Paul heard what I was doing and it was suggested that I come up with something like that for the intro. It was as simple as that. I tend to look at situations like that as almost group efforts - everybody contributes."

Given the circumstances at how it came about, are you amazed at what an iconic pattern it's become? Drummers everywhere refer to the '50 Ways' intro as one of the best of its kind, a pattern they just have to learn.

"I'm grateful, of course. Amazed? I don't know if I'm amazed…Actually, yeah, I am amazed. You know, I just went in as a sideman and came out with this piece of music that everybody talks about. You never think that's going to happen. When you go in to do a session, you just want to make the songs work for the artist. You don't think about anything other than that."

Talk to me about your association with Eric Clapton. What kind of dynamic do the two of you have? Does he give you a lot of direction?

"He lets everybody pretty much do what they do. I think the times when he gives direction are those situations when he's not as comfortable as he could be. A lot of the songs that we play have been recorded before with various bands and musicians over the years. Or they could be his interpretations of old blues songs - the stuff he grew up on and respects a great deal. Sometimes I'll try to duplicate what was done before; other times I'll throw a couple of little changes in there, but nothing too drastic. I'm not there to rearrange what Eric is all about."

"But back to the question of direction…He never gets into real specifics. Eric is a feel player. Nothing is ever written in stone with him. He'll talk about the feel he's looking for, but he doesn't get too technical. With him and a lot of guys I play with, it's all about sharing what's on the bandstand. You go up and you put your heads together and hope that it all works out."

Around the web: