Rock/Funk/Fusion Listening Examples for Percussion

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CDs

Backbeat: The World's Greatest Rock'n'roll Drummer by Earl Palmer
CD 24098 Check Availability

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From the publisher:
"Earl Palmer, the New Orleans jazz musician who became one of rock and roll's great drummers, is a name known chiefly to connoisseurs. By transforming rhythm and blues' lope into a powerful headlong thrust, he propelled hits by Little Richard, Fats Domino, Sam Cooke, Ritchie Valens, Ike and Tina Turner, Ricky Nelson, the Beach Boys, the Supremes and the Mamas and the Papas, among others."

Five Guys Named Moe by Louis Jordan CD 3231 Check Availability
	From Amazon.com: "Includes ten original Decca Louis Jordan recordings performed on stage by cast members in the play, 'Five guys named Moe', plus other works. The remainder of the original Decca recordings of songs in the play are featured in 'The best of Louis Jordan'..."

Elvis, the King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters drum performance by D.J. Fontana CD 524-528 Disc 2 Check Availability
	From Amazon.com: "This five-disc set was the first release in BMG's effort to present Elvis's recorded legacy in a manner befitting the most important musical artist of his time. The strategy was simple--showcase, in chronological order, remastered versions of the King's 1950s output, from his sessions with Sam Phillips at Sun Studios (where they arguably invented the very notion of rock & roll) through his 1958 Army induction..." - Bill Holdship
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Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 drum performance by Bennie Benjamin CD 1354-1357 Disc 1 Check Availability
	From allmusic.com: "...There are a handful of wonderful lesser-known songs here, such as the Contours' 'First I Look at the Purse,' but the main strength of the 103-track box is that it features all of the biggest songs from Motown's golden era in one place. Collectors could have used a more comprehensive set, and the box itself could have been packaged with a little more care (there are no artists listed on the back of the individual discs, only songs), but Hitsville USA stands as a definitive overview and introduction to one of the most groundbreaking labels in pop music history." - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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Star Time by James Brown CD 741-744 Check Availability
	From cduniverse.com: "There are few box sets that can match the greatness of James Brown's Star Time. Backed by such brilliant musicians as Melvin and Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins and Bobby Byrd, Brown created some of the most intense, soulful music ever recorded. Collecting seventy two tracks that let you hear why Brown is hailed as 'the hardest working man in show business,' Star Time is packed with the best R&B and funk that money can buy."
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A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles drum performance by Ringo Starr CD 1056 Check Availability
	From Amazon.com: "Strummmmm! That dramatic guitar chord that kicks of A Hard Day's Night (album, song, movie) still jumps right out at you, slaps you in the face, and jump-starts your heart. And you know what? Both the music and the film are still as crisp and lively as they were in 1964..." - Jim Emerson

Wheels of Fire - Cream drum performance by Ginger Baker CD 9916-9917 Check Availability
	From cduniverse.com: "When Cream released Wheels of Fire, they had established themselves as the premier blues-rock band due to the success of their first two albums and the extraordinary chemistry between the band's members. As a result of this synergy, Cream also enjoyed a fiery live reputation. This double album represents both sides of Cream's musical personality."
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Blood, Sweat and Tears drum performance by Bobby Columby CD 6475 Check Availability
	From allmusic.com: "That first version of Blood, Sweat & Tears played music that roamed freely through realms of jazz, R&B, soul, and even psychedelia in ways that had scarcely been heard before in one band. The songs were bold and challenging, and the arrangements gave Lipsius, Brecker, et. al room to solo, while Kooper's organ and Katz's guitar swelled in pulsing, shimmering glory." - Bruce Eder
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The Experience Collection: Are You Experienced? Axis: Bold as Love. Electric Ladyland. The Ultimate Experience - Jimi Hendrix drum performance by Mitch Mitchell CD 2886-2889 Check Availability
	From the CD liner notes: "'The best way to accept some of the things that we do,' advised Jimi, 'if it's all that important, is to take every song for what it has to offer itself, instead of trying to put it all in one big thing, because our next LP is going to be completely different and, you know, strange...'"
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Led Zeppelin drum performance by John Bonham CD 690-693 Check Availability
	From allmusic.com: "Led Zeppelin had a fully formed, distinctive sound from the outset, as their eponymous debut illustrates. Taking the heavy, distorted electric blues of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Cream to an extreme, Zeppelin created a majestic, powerful brand of guitar rock constructed around simple, memorable riffs and lumbering rhythms. But the key to the group's attack was subtlety: it wasn't just an onslaught of guitar noise, it was shaded and textured, filled with alternating dynamics and tempos. As Led Zeppelin proves, the group was capable of such multi-layered music from the start." - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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Back to Oakland - Tower of Power drum performance by Dave Garibaldi CD 4842 Check Availability
	From allmusic.com: "Tower of Power followed their self-titled gold album with an even better album that didn't enjoy similar sales success. Back to Oakland had tougher, funkier and better-produced cuts, stronger vocals from Lenny Williams (who was more comfortable as their lead singer), and included an excellent ballad in 'Time Will Tell,' and a rousing tempo in 'Don't Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream).' The Tower of Power horn section reaffirmed its reputation in both soul and pop circles, and the album included a powerhouse instrumental." - Ron Wynn
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Bitches Brew - Miles Davis drum performance by Jack DeJohnette CD 2907-2908 Check Availability
	From allmusic.com: "Thought by many to be among the most revolutionary albums in jazz history, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew solidified the genre known as jazz-rock fusion. The original double LP included only six cuts and featured up to 12 musicians at any given time... Originally thought to be a series of long jams locked into grooves around keyboard, bass, or guitar vamps, Bitches Brew is actually a recording that producer Teo Macero assembled from various jams and takes by razor blade, splice to splice, section to section." - Thom Jurek
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Emergency by Tony Williams CD 2261 Check Availability
	From Amazon.com: "Williams's group Lifetime, which looked on paper like an organ jazz-funk trio, produced in 1969 this headlong hybrid from jazz complexity and rock immediacy. Williams, fresh from edging Davis towards his jazz-rock-soul period, concocts a driving, high-volume fusion that has more conviction and flare than anyone else's would until the advent of the great Mahavishnu Orchestra a couple of years later..." - Peter Monaghan
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The Inner Mounting Flame - The Mahavishnu Orchestra; with John McLaughlin drum performance by Billy Cobham
CD 3162 Check Availability

From cduniverse.com:
"The music on The Inner Mounting Flame is incendiary and highly improvisational. Well-conceived unison melodic passages structure each tune, and McLaughlin and company play like the virtuosos they are throughout. 'The Noonward Race' features a bluesy, yet harmonically dissonant solo from McLaughlin, and the frenetic drumming of Billy Cobham. In contrast, in 'A Lotus on Irish Streams,' McLaughlin soars passionately on an acoustic guitar, while violinist Jerry Goodman adds a simple, folky melody."

Master of Puppets - Metallica drum performance by Lars Ulrich CD 10618 Check Availability
	From allmusic.com: "Though it isn't as startling as Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets feels more unified, both thematically and musically. Everything about it feels blown up to epic proportions (indeed, the songs are much longer on average), and the band feels more in control of its direction. You'd never know it by the lyrics, though -- in one way or another, nearly every song on Master of Puppets deals with the fear of powerlessness. Sometimes they're about hypocritical authority (military and religious leaders), sometimes primal, uncontrollable human urges (drugs, insanity, rage), and, in true H.P. Lovecraft fashion, sometimes monsters." - Steve Huey
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Vol. 3. (The Subliminal Verses) - Slipknot drum performance by Joey Jordison
CD 23647 Check Availability

From the BBC:
"Once Slipknot have proved they are masters of thrash they then show they are masters of everything else. There are hyperactive bass drums, complex, compelling riffs and ridiculously fast fretwork. But there are also acoustic guitars, addictive choruses and bittersweet harmonies. There are more hooks here than in a slaughterhouse. Everything is marshalled for maximum excitement and emotional impact. 'Duality' is a metal pop classic. 'Circle' is acoustic and beautiful, with cellos and a lovely tear-jerking chorus: 'The deep sadness behind the anger and defiance'." - Nick Reynolds, BBC Review

DVDs

The Ed Sullivan Show Featuring the Beatles and Various Other Artists
DVD 1856-1857 Check Availability

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From Amazon.com:
"The Beatles' appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 and 1965 helped catapult the band to stateside fame and fortune. Their debut performance alone was viewed by 73 million viewers. This collection compiles four full episodes containing 20 songs in total, and including other guests like Soupy Sales, Cab Calloway, and Cilla Black; and even commercial breaks. Shown in their original black and white, these episodes convey the feeling of a bygone era, while placing some of The Beatles' early appearances in a framework that shows how they eventually exploded as one of the most influential rock bands of all time."

Otis Redding: Respect Live 1967 drum performance by Al Jackson
DVD 3804 Check Availability

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From cduniverse.com:
"This collection includes some of Redding's most electrifying performances from the European leg of the legendary 1967 Stax/Volt tour, where Otis is joined onstage by Bookre T. & The MG's with The Mar-Keys, plus special guests Sam & Dave. Also included is Redding's captivating performance (again with Booker T. & The MG's and The Mar-Keys) at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where he transcended genre and drew in a whole new audience. This DVD includes all his chart toppers. Directed by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, this concert film shows Redding in his prime, just months before his tragic death."

Fresh Live Cream drum performance by Ginger Baker DVD 109 Check Availability
	From allmusic.com: "Cream's Fresh Live Cream is a wonderful music documentary, uniting first-person accounts, archival performances, and rare rehearsals into a retrospective on a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band that will thrill fans old and new alike. The 73-minute documentary begins with a look at how Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker came to form the supergroup. The DVD has many great archival treasures, including rare snippets of music by the previous projects that included future members of Cream... The strength of Fresh Live Cream comes from its interviews with the bandmembers themselves. Their thoughtful comments convey a deep passion for the music they made and the bonds they shared." - JT Griffith
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T.A.M.I. Show: Teenage Awards Music International performance by James Brown DVD 4041 Check Availability
	From Amazon.com: "Filmed just eight months after The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The T.A.M.I. Show introduced [rock 'n' soul] youth culture to America in the first concert movie of the rock era. One of the rarest and most sought-after performance films from its time, the 1964 concert event featured future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Rolling Stones, James Brown, Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes and many other American and British Invasion hitmakers in their prime."
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Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock drum performance by Mitch Mitchell DVD 156 Check Availability
	From the catalog: "Videorecording of Jimi Hendrix's famous performance at the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, Bethel, New York, August 18, 1969."

Led Zeppelin drum performance by John Bonham DVD 718-719 Check Availability
	From Amazon.com: "The DVD Features include: Excerpts from Danish and French television performances, Australian television interviews with Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones, fan-shot bootleg performance of 'Heartbreaker', Behind the scenes footage of Knebworth, and an NBC interview with the band from 1970."

Miles Davis Quintet: The 1969 Berlin Concert drum performance by Jack DeJohnette DVD 4108 Check Availability
	From the catalog: "Recorded in performance at Berlin, November 7, 1969. Davis' influences included late 1960s funk and acid rock artists such as James Brown and Jimi Hendrix... The musical transition required that Davis and his band adapt to electric instruments in both live performances and the studio... This DVD contains their memorable Berlin concert'--Container."

Billy Cobham by Billy Cobham
DVD 2005 Check Availability

From cduniverse.com:
"Only a few times in history has a musician been singled out as the world-class master of his instrument. Billy Cobham is one of those few artists. For over 30 years, he has received international acclaim as the total consummate drummer. Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the fusion genre's most important early recordings -- including groundbreaking efforts by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra -- before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right."

Tower of Power in Concert drum performance by David Garabaldi
DVD 1441 Check Availability

From digitallyobsessed.com:
"Featuring a good cross-selection of tracks ranging from recent albums (Rhythm & Business, Souled Out) to some of their best remembered material from their initial prime at Warner Bros. (Bump City, Tower of Power), the band's musical riches overflow. Generosity is one of ToP's trademarks and everyone gets a chance to shine with brief but compactly compelling solos, particularly from saxophonists Kupka and Castillo, along with the dual threat trumpet combination of Jessie Maguire and Bill 'Churchy' Churchville." - Jeff Rosado

Live Sh*t: Binge & Purge - Metallica drum performance by Lars Ulrich
DVD 3616-3617 Check Availability

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From cduniverse.com:
"Rock is all about excess, and this Metallica boxed set embodies that principle. For die-hard fans of the metal band (or those soon to be converts), this mammoth collection features more than eight hours of concert footage. The three audio CDs span five days' worth of shows in Mexico City in 1993. Fans can watch a pair of classic shows from 1989 and 1992 on the two volumes of concert footage. The second volume also features a 72-page book in its entirety that can be viewed via TV or computer."

Dream Theater Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour directed by Mike Portnoy
DVD 2876-2877 Check Availability

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From amazon.com:
"The tenacious odyssey of Dream Theater culminates in one of their finest concerts ever on this magnificent Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour DVD. Just how good is this blazing prog-metal performance, recorded at New York City's radio City Music Hall on April 1, 2006? For starters, it's easy to believe the band's drummer and co-founder, Mike Portnoy, when he ends the nearly three-hour show by saying 'this was one of the best nights of our career.'..." - Jeff Shannon

Rock/Funk/Fusion Listening Examples for Percussion

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