On drums...

Gentlemen,

2017 is shaping up to be a real down year isn't it? In more ways then one.

When I was a kid back in the 70's, I used to spend many weekends at my great grandmothers house. She liked to stay up late and watch Carson and Lawrence Welk. The only thing I liked was watching the drummers play. Mr. Mutten Chops aka Ed Shaughnessy was always great with the double bass Slingerland kit backing Doc. I have recently have got more into the Welk TV drummer playing the Premier kit cause they are always on PBS these days. He really played to the style of whatever music was on that night. Once I knew it was Paul Humphrey, I got to thinking I have heard of this guy before. I am a Dead fan and a Jerry Band fan and thought I saw tapes (yeah cassette tapes cause I am old) of this guy playing with Jerry. Sure enough he did. Pure Jerry: Keystone Berkeley, September 1, 1974 released in 2004 details here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_Jerr ... er_1,_1974

Humphrey was also the featured drummer for both the Lawrence Welk orchestra and television show from 1976 to 1982. He worked as a session drummer in the 1960s for jazz artists such as Wes Montgomery, Les McCann, Kai Winding, Jimmy Smith, Charles Mingus, Lee Konitz, Blue Mitchell, Gene Ammons and was one of the drummers on Marvin Gaye's album Let's Get It On. Humphrey also recorded with Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Jimmy Smith, The Four Tops, Al Kooper, Jackie DeShannon, Natalie Cole, Albert King, Quincy Jones, Dusty Springfield, Jean-Luc Ponty, Michael Franks, Maria Muldaur, and Marc Bolan.

Well I thought that Lawerence Welk drummer on TV playing those Premiers looked pretty good.... cause he was.

In digging more into Paul Humphrey I discovered that he is the drummer on Joe Cocker‘s Feelin’ Alright. I would have thought for sure that was Jim Gordon.

https://scottkfish.com/2017/08/06/thinking-of-paul-humphrey/

When I was young, I would have assumed that anyone playing for Lawrence Welk just couldn't be worth listening to, because I was hopelessly arrogant about my own tastes, and ridiculously arrogant about my abilities, which were decidedly shabby.

Not sure I would enjoy watching Welk even today, but I don't look down my nose at him or his audience as I once did. Whether or not Paul Humphrey liked the music he was playing hardly enters into it. The fact is, he made music and was not just parroting some favorite drummer or another. I don't much like Joe Cocker, either or the Dead or Garcia either, for that matter - but that is also beside the point. A drummer first and foremost has to make the other musicians sound good, and to do that he has to play the music that they are playing and be musical about it.

Thanks for posting, Francis!

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Gregory

I really hated seeing Welk back in the 70s for the same reasons you did Gregory. Even now watching the re-runs on PBS can be painful and I have yet to make it through a whole show. That said, Humphrey is a pros pro for sure. His fluid play on various styles is impressive. He is a full time professional drummer that took jobs where and when he had too to stay employed in his chosen profession. His list of recordings and folks he played with speaks to that.

It reminds me of an interview with Steve Smith from the Sept. Modern Drummer.

Smith - "It is hard to keep a band working. And one reason is because we’re drummers, and drummer-bandleaders have a smaller piece of the market. One of the classic examples is that of Buddy Rich and Frank Sinatra. They were roommates when they played with Tommy Dorsey. One of them ended up playing gigs and probably dying broke, and the other became a superstar. One was a singer and one was a drummer. They were equally talented. That’s the life of a drummer. I do the touring when I can and as much as I can, but it’s not enough to make a living from. And it is expensive, so sometimes I break even or even lose money. The goal is that we all get paid decently enough to do the gig, and have fun and bring the music to people. So I’ll continue to do it."

https://www.moderndrummer.com/article/september-2017-steve-smith/

I am no pro drummer and have a day job. I identify more as a guy that plays the drums rather then calling myself a "drummer" like Paul Humphrey. Paul did what he had too and made it swing and look easy. You can't tell me he relished every minute on the Welk show, but it kept him working for years and put him on prime time TV when there was not much in the way of other platforms and exposure back in the late 70s and early 80s. Most people will never know or appreciate him, then or now; but a few of us know better and recognize a fine musician when we see and hear one.... even on the Lawrence Welk show.

If I were to guess about his view of the thing, he had humility and that led to gratitude for having work in his chosen field. To turn work down requires that one have the luxury to do it: either the luxury of more than enough money and work, or the luxury of snobbery.

I cannot count the number of snobs out there who may or may not be good musicians, but who nonetheless isolate themselves in arrogance and then look down their noses at anyone who would play THAT (substitute whatever genre or venue) sort of thing.

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Gregory