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Web Exclusive Interview
The Return Of Double Drumming’s Greatest Hits Cont'd

“Initiation's title track features two crème de la crème New York session players: Bernard Purdie and Rick Marotta. Great fills and accents between the two of them. Either one of these guys is such a pleasure to hear, but the two together makes for a real treat: tasty and solid as they come.

“Finally, ‘Fair Warning,' which closes side one of the album, is a bit of an anomaly—a slow (almost 12/8 feel) ballad with two drummers, Chris Parker and Barry Lazarowitz. The recording is really cool: lots of echo emphasizing giant fills of few notes but a lot of power.”
Travis Hudelson


“I've got four favorite double-drummer tracks. The first is ‘Without You,' from The Doobie Brothers' album The Captain And Me. This song features The Doobies' original two drummers, Michael Hossack and John Hartmann. Hossack was later replaced by Keith Knudsen, and then later Hartmann was replaced by Chet McKracken. In recent years, Hossack and Knudsen played together in the band, until Knudsen's tragic passing recently.

“‘Hold On Loosely' by 38 Special features Steve Brookins and Jack Grondin on drums. The pair plays very nicely together, and they hold a solid groove. I didn't believe that they both played on this track until I saw live footage of the band playing this song, and I saw and heard them doing things that I now hear on the studio version but that I didn't notice before. It's hard to believe that two drummers could play together so tightly.

“I'm not positive about this one, but I think the song ‘I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink,' from Merle Haggard's Back To The Barrooms album, features two drummers. I do know that that most of the songs on the album have two drum tracks. Nashville greats Jerry Kroon and the late Larrie Londin play on this album, and it sounds to me like it had to be two guys playing together on ‘I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink.' One drum track is playing half time 2/4 (and lots of tom-tom fills), while the other is playing a straight 4/4.

“Finally, The Charlie Daniels Band featured two drummers throughout the '70s and early '80s. Charlie's biggest hit, ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia,' features one of his drummers playing a train shuffle with brushes, while the other plays regular sticks. The drummers on this track are Fred Edwards and James Marshall.”
Casey Lyde


“The song ‘Frankenstein' by The Edgar Winter Group deserves to be on any double-drummer list because it's an instrumental and two drummers were used to make it a monster hit. The drummer is Chuck Ruff and Edgar himself plays the timbales.”
Todd Mercer



“A great double-drummer track from the CD Fela Kuti With Ginger Baker Live! is listed as ‘Ginger Baker & Tony Allen Drum Solo.' This was recorded live at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1978 and is featured as a bonus track on the CD version of the album. Simply put, it's amazing.”
Mathew Roy


“You can't do a double-drummer article without adding Ralph Johnson and Fred White! Check Earth Wind And Fire's Gratitude and listen to the cuts ‘Devotion' and ‘Reasons.' And if you want to get deeper, listen to The Eternal Dance for a live version of ‘Mighty Mighty.' The intro alone and the interplay between the two is amazing!”
Ronin Ali