Steve Gadd's famous drum lick on "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"

I've been spinning Paul Simon a lot this week, especially the Still Crazy album. Steve Gadd's drum lick on "50 Ways" is sooo damned catchy I can't stop listening. Ya gotta respect Gadd's work. Here's a clip of Steve playing this lick. It sounds so simple and catchy. That song imo is as much Stev Gadd's as it is Paul Simon's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZZLLYEzKE8&feature=related


And this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRAVnSo2twM&feature=related

Watch at the 7:35 mark. Looks like he's workign out

 

That song is Steve Gadd's finest moment. One of Paul Simon's finest songs as well. I've been listening to Paul Simon today as well, the Hearts and bones album which is probably my favourite.

 

When I figured out how to play that lick I drove my roommates crazy with it for about a week.

 

He has quite a discography! He was also the drummer on Van McCoy's The Hustle.

http://www.drstevegadd.com/discography.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gadd
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Steve_Gadd.html

 

Steve's one helluva drummer. I'd read about him in Modern Drummer as a teenager and that made me want to hear Steely Dan's "Aja" (the song). That song alone convinced me he was one of the coolest cats to ever play the drums.

After that I pulled out Paul Simon's Greatest Hits - I was transfixed on his playing. Takes great songs and makes them better.

 

I don't know enough of Gadd's work to call it his finest moment, but I certainly agree with the rest of the above. Thanks for posting the link to the clip!

 

I think his drumming on Aja is one of his best performances. And the short time he was with Return to Forever was amazing; three performances are available on a 2CD RTF anthology.

 

For the drummers -- more simple than it sounds -- here's a transcription from Chuck E.'s In Love:

http://jaced.com/2006/02/17/a-lick-in-the-style-of-gadd/

 

The drum solos in Aja never fail to make my jaw drop when I hear them.

This is also a damn fine piece of drum work as well.

Evan

 

Agreed. I could never understand why some people call them "sax solos." It says a lot that Steve could show up Wayne Shorter on that tune!

 

A truly great drummer. Aja was an exceptional piece of work. From his discography he doesn't appear to have been out of work much.

 

Any Stuff fans here?

 

There are a lot of great drummers around, many with a style all their own. But to me, Steve Gadd is THE drummer. That discography of his (see link above) is really impressive - and not only because of the sheer number of recordings. Does that guy sleep in the studio or what?

The guy's so versatile. He can play pop, jazz, fusion, rock and whatever style. Especially in the seventies and early eighties I remember checking out albums on which he played drums. On a few occasions I just bought them mainly for his contributions. Like another poster said - he's making good music sounding even better.

That discography has some nice surprises as well. I wasn't aware he played on The hustle, and I also see that he was the drummer on Meco's version of the Star Wars title theme. I also love his work of those Al DiMeola albums.

 

Interesting the way SG changes the way he holds the drumsticks, depending on the tune. I notice on the 2nd clip that he's holding the stick on the right in the standard rock way, while his left is held in the jazz mode. Fascinating stuff, thanks for starting this thread!

 

I discovered Stuff's stuff this past week. I like what I'm hearing so far

Steve Gadd is in my top 10 list of drummers.

 

He doesn't come close to Neil Peart!

 

Agreed!

 

With all due respect, Neil cannot play jazz. Check out Steve on hundreds of jazz albums (like Jim Hall's "Concierto"). No one can swing like Steve. And if you want something more forceful listen to him on the early Al Dimeola albums. All this, plus he is the best sight-reading drummer in music.

 

I have a friend who claims his work on Rickkie Lee Jones Pirates is his finest work. I'm not a RLJ fan, so I can't comment.
I'm with those who think highly of Aja.

 

The original Warner CD for "Still Crazy" sounds great, and this track in particular has a wonderful warmth to it. The drum intro is very natural sounding, especially the sound of the floor toms.

 

Is that a patriotic thing right here?
This sort of comparison is silly, both are fantastic drummers with very different styles.

The reputation of Gadd's drum solo on 'Aja' made me buy the album and hooked me on to Steely Dan. I would've never bought one of their albums otherwise because I only knew 'Rikki' and didn't really like it.

 

Peart vs. Gadd?

Apples and oranges! Two different areas of music, two different styles of drumming. Sounds patriotic to me considering both guys who commented on that are from Canada.

Dr. Bryant,

The mastering of "50 ways" on the old and OOP "Greatest Hits, Etc." cd sounds nice and warm too. I found a copy the other day used for $15. Not bad considering everyone else is selling it for 2x as much.

 

Saw Neil live doing the Buddy Rich bit, he's not bad at that. Then again Neil is not like a Jerry Marotta/Rick Marotta/ Steve Gadd type who is called to do different types of gigs and different types of music. As a musician, I feel that Steve Gadd is like a character actor who had the greatest acting chops. He really has some amazing abilities even when he keeps it simple. He recently reconnected with old friend/Emperor of the Bass, Tony Levin , to bring back L'Image and Tony is selling the new CD at Papa Bear Records.

 

I've heard that his inspiration for the "50-times" intro came from a warming-up before a session; it's based on the bass- and snare-drums of a marching band.
The strange thing is; there's loads of Steve Gadd in my music collection (Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Al di Meola) and nothing of Neil Peart! So I can't (and won't) compare them, but Gadd=great!