Sunday, June 29, 2014

KLEM FM

An old gem for all The Who fans out there:


A YouTube commenter writes that this is "[w]hat happens when your bassist, drummer and guitarist all play lead at the same time."

Keith Moon's drums were miked exceptionally well for that show, which is great because it was one of his best live performances at the band's peak. Moon had a leg up on many drummers of his era in that he used all four limbs in an active way. Most right-handed drummers have a lazy left foot and use it to control the high hat cymbal (the one that opens and closes). Many drummers will keep time with it, and it's audible on many studio recordings, making a little zit-zit-zit sound. Not Moon. He played a double bass drum kit, and pedaled out bass drum rolls and triplets with both feet, actually doing some of the work of his hands. In this song, you can hear how he keeps a cymbal crashing or riding the entire time, which required frequent attention of his right hand. This left only his left hand to patter and batter around the snare and the tom-tom drums. You can really hear this beginning around 2 min, 40 sec. Amazing to this day, IMO.

13 comments:

XRay said...
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XRay said...
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Paddy O said...

XRay, that second comment is off topic. Wait, so is this comment. I've been drawn into the off-topic vortex.

If only I could type an on topic comment with my feet at the same time.

Lazy feet.

XRay said...
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chickelit said...

This blomment has been deleted by a cog administrator

deborah said...

Thanks, chick, for once again increasing my knowledge of music. It never occurred to me that drums were a four-limbed operation...like the organ or piano.

I was thinking of you today while listening to the Catch-22 audio book. The narrator does a fabulous range of voices. Strangely, or logically, he does a remarkable Alan Arkin impression for Yossarian's voice. It is somewhat distracting, however.

chickelit said...

It never occurred to me that drums were a four-limbed operation...like the organ or piano.

Or like driving a stick in stop and go traffic.

Paddy O said...

Before I delete my now utterly off-topic comment (that relates to nothing at all whatsoever), are the WLEM and KLEM threads more open threads with prompts, or are they focused threads with music themes? Can you off-topic an open thread?

Mostly I just feel bad because my snarky comment got someone else to delete something and I wasn't intending that, I was just being snarky. I question my moral character now.

chickelit said...

@Paddy-O: They are free-for-alls

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

The theme of the latest issue of Lapham's Quarterly is "Youth." This pleased me tremendously when I first saw it.

But the introduction by Mr. Lapham, now an old (and I should think highly intelligent) man, contained no special insight or wisdom that I could discern. And the first piece uses the purportedly youth-obsessed business/social culture of Silicon Valley as evidence of . . . well, I don't know. That's because I stopped reading it about a week ago as it seemed kind of overblown and hence stupid.

In the meantime, I've not even so much as glanced at the cover of the "Youth" issue, having lost interest and wishing to invite no further disappointment.

Looks like the bloom is off the rose.

The Dude said...

They are only "base" drums if you are playing them right.

chickelit said...

They are only "base" drums if you are playing them right.

Fixed! (You ace of base)

The Dude said...

I am merely a cymbal thereof.