Groove o' the day: Jim Gordon — Jump Into The Fire

Here's a cowbell groove from the studio legend, tragically insane, Jim Gordon. It's Jump Into The Fire, from Harry Nilsson's album Nilsson Schmilsson, which for people not around in the 70's will be best known from the “last day” scene from the movie Goodfellas:





Kind of like hearing them on Bugs Bunny is my only connection to a lot 30's songs that are now jazz standards. There's no shame in it. Anyhow, the groove:

There is some layering of percussion parts going on, so it's possible he's not playing the cowbell live with the drumset track. Early on, the bell drops out during the drum fills, consistent with it being played with the drums, but later there seems to be a ride cymbal sounding (it's low in the mix, and the sound is possibly from another source) while the cowbell continues, and the bell seems to continue through the drum fills. Generally the 16th notes in the first measure are played stronger than the ones in the second measure, hence the parentheses on the latter notes. Gordon's feel is totally different than what you hear from drummers playing similar music today. He's absolutely solid, but with an edge— there's a quality that's absent from later players who are more perfectly metronomic and squared away.

Audio for the complete tune after the break:

DBMITW: Jim Gordon

I'm working on a long transcription right now, and am determined to post the entire thing, so for now just enjoy the drumming of studio great Jim Gordon:



Several more after the break- also see my little transcription of Gordon's break on Frank Zappa's Apostrophé.

Transcription: Jim Gordon - Apostrophé

Here's Jim Gordon's drum break from the title track of Apostrophé by Frank Zappa. The tune is a jam with Zappa and Cream bassist Jack Bruce. This is actually one of the first things I ever transcribed, if not the first, back in 1984 or so. Along with the rest of the record, it's one of the earlier pieces of music I actually noticed and liked, from when my brother was playing this around the house when it came out in 1973.

Get the pdf   | buy the LP (the only way to hear this one)

YouTube clip of the track after the break:

1984 Modern Drummer interview: Andy Newmark

Here are some excerpts from another great Modern Drummer interview from my youth, this time with session drummer Andy Newmark, drummer on Sly Stone's Fresh, John Lennon's Double Fantasy, David Bowie's Young Americans, and much more. Here he discusses studio greats Jim Keltner and Jim Gordon- who he has worked with closely, his time with George Harrison and John Lennon, and the craft of drumming on records:

THE GOODNESS of KELTNER and GORDON: 
It's a feeling that makes other musicians, and producers, feel musically comfortable. They're able to play that real simple stuff with a conviction that makes it work. If you don't see the beauty in playing simple and get off on it, then when you do it, it won't come off like the person who loves to do it. When Russ Kunkel, Gordon or Keltner would just play those real simple beats, they got off on it. They liked that; they were into it, so it gave the notes validity.

Also, I noticed on the playback that all of the takes- not just the final one- sounded like real records. Whereas often, when I'd hear a playback of something I was doing, a lot of little things would make it feel, to me, like a demo. When I heard them play on something, it always seemed to be so smooth. They had a way of making everything settle and be relaxed. The hardest thing to get a studio drummer to do is make the record feel it's in the right place. Tempo has a lot to do with good records. Being slightly too fast or too slow might cause the whole song to miss the point. And I think producers rely on drummers to find that magical place, within a very small range of tempo. It's something that most people might not hear. There isn't a large difference in those tempos, but it's that one magical place that makes it feel like everything's breathing properly. I started picking up on an inner instinct from these guys that they knew where to put the tempo, and believed in it themselves. They weren't looking for direction- they were the direction; they were the core.



 Extended excerpts plus a couple more of Newmark's tracks after the break: