Deep in the drummer's cups

The first memory I have of Bill Foreman is helping my friend Jack to record the “Hey Rumba Head, Its Bill & Pete!” album. I was in a band with Jack at the he was going to record his friend Bill’s band over the course of a weekend or two. So I stopped by not knowing what to expect and subsequently had my head completely blown off by how groovy they were.

Bill & Pete were nothing at all akin to anything else I was used to at the time. Being a “professional” (I hate that term) musician, I was accustomed to playing with formally trained players for the most part. Unfortunately that meant they were usually pretty stiff and unwilling to take risks. In other words they were the complete polar opposite of Bill Foreman.

After the sessions, in which they gleefully allowed me to play tambourine, I asked Jack to make me copies of everything he had with Bill’s playing on it. The thing that blew my mind the most was that not only did Bill play amazing drums; he wrote some of the best songs I had ever heard. To this day I still play “The Little Band That Could” disk I have at least once a week.

I had written music while I was in college, but mostly Jazz and Orchestral pieces. So I understood the challenges and prejudices that needed to be overcome to be a drummer who composed music as well. At the time I was just beginning to write rock songs for my band on the guitar and Bill was definitely my biggest influence. I would write a song and then listen to “Trace of a Cat’s Eye” or “Can’t Wait To Be Free” and send myself back to the drawing board. I held him up to as high a standard as Dylan or Lennon and McCartney. His songs were that heavy to me.

Over time he would come and see us play shows, we would go to see him perform and eventually I was lucky enough to get to play a few shows with Bill. I remember feeling intimidated and elated at the time to be sitting behind the kit while he played guitar and sang. We had a lot of great talks about music and philosophy over a few beers and maybe some whiskey. Nothing like getting a couple of drummers deep into their cups and getting them started on the merits of Art Blakey.

Bill is a very modest guy. He does not take compliments about his playing very well. But having been around a lot of musicians in my day, he really is one of the best drummers I have ever heard. He mentioned that one of his biggest influences is Elvin Jones and I can definitely hear that in his playing. He has a tremendously deep pocket that propels you naturally where he wants you to go. Not many drummers can do that effectively. Bill does it instinctively.

If you’re looking for “perfection” buy a drum machine. He plays the instrument the way it should be played. He plays the drums like a musical instrument and not like a metronome. All of the bands that let him go obviously didn’t get it. They obviously did not have the capacity to swing along with him. They probably couldn’t even swing from a rope in a hurricane.

Think about all of the music that you love. The music that makes you move and shake. If James Brown played along to a metronome it would be stiff and the Godfather would have no soul. The Levee would have never broken for Led Zeppelin. Revolver would have stopped spinning for the Beatles. This is what we are talking about here. Feel. Groove. Soul. They are all one and the same. Bill Foreman has them all in spades.

Over the years we have maybe seen each other a handful of times, but I am always in awe of what a kind and generous soul he has. This most definitely comes through in his musicianship. You can take lessons for decades and study every pedagogical philosophy ever created for your chosen instrument. You can work in all the top sessions with all the top name players and even go on tour with the biggest names in the business and still not have the one quality that Bill has in everything musical that he does. Love.

Bill means every note that he plays and every word that he sings. He means it with every single cell in his being and every last ounce of soul that he has. Bill truly loves making music and he plays straight from his heart. That may mean that he doesn’t live up to the standards of musical perfection that rule today’s airwaves, but so be it!

His music may not be heard by the huddled masses of Lady Ga Ga and Maroon 5 fans, but they wouldn’t get it anyway. They don’t have open enough hearts and ears to hear it. But his music is there for those of us that are open. His music is there to reach down and pull us up from the dirt when we need it. I for one am grateful every day for that.

Please go to http://www.generalludd.com and take a listen to some wonderful music. He even gives all his albums away for free so you have no excuse! Enjoy!

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