Ed Greene

remoAKA

Member
Anyone know much about Ed? (sometimes Ed Green, without the E on the end?)

I love his groove on Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) from The Jacksons.

This is another guy who seems to be quite elusive on the web when you consider his large part of the session scene, especially around the late 70's and 80's. And again, someone without a page on the Drummerworld main site.
 
The only stuff Ive heard of his is some tracks off 'the nightfly' by Donald Fagen. If you drum for him then you must be pretty good! Seems like a good groover, but I guess he was more well known before my time..
 
Hi Tim

I've got quite a lot of his recordings. He pops up a lot along side all the other greats, and seems to have been a major part of the whole session scene. I guess you're right, he's not so well known these days. I still think he deserves a dedicated space here on drummerworld though. As does Mike.

Here are some notable Ed recordings...

Steely Dan - Aja - (I got the news)

Jacksons - Shake your body down to the ground

Peter Allen - Bi-Coastal
 
This thread is ancient, but just heard Theme from SWAT (the mid 1970s tv show) and the band Rhythm Heritage and Ed Green was the drummer. Nice playing and great groovin tune to jam to. So many great old school R&B drummers, so little time to discuss...
 
Ed Greene is the man! I've been a fan of his for years and found out he's living here in town. I got a lesson from him and got to ask him a bunch of questions. Although he's not credited (nor are any other musicians for that matter) he's playing drums on almost every Barry White production from the 70's. He said the first hit he played on was Sammy Davis Jr's "Candy Man." You can hear him on "Sara Smile" by Hall and Oats, Steely Dan's "I got the News" . He's got a super laid back style with no show boating. Just a heavy groove. He played violin as a child and developed his reading and time through Orchestral playing. He says that his luck in the studio business was just being in L.A. at the right time. I beg to differ. Check out these albums:
Lamont Dozier - Out Here on My Own
Gene Page - Hot City
Bobby Blue Bland - His California Album
any 70's Barry White (the song "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little bit More" is super bumpin')
Four Tops - Meeting of the Minds
Marvin Gaye - Live 1974 in Oakland (James Jamerson is on here as well)

Enjoy!
 
Zoro's book, "The Commandments of R&B Drumming" features Ed Greene in chapter two-funk drumming. I agree, he has an awesome laid back no-frills style that is tailored to the track he's playing.

If you guys are still interested in this thread, let me know and I'll jot down the list of tunes Zoro compiled for Ed Greene. Or, just go pick up the book. It's a killer history lesson and will direct you to some seriously important listening.
 
Ahh....really surprised that no one has mentioned the song Little Rasti. I will say that if you go to the trouble to find it, and do...find the original cut on Blue Note (R.I.P. Rudy Van Gelder) and listen to it on some solid house speakers or good headphones. One of the best free solos segue into groove that I've heard before. "Sick" might be a lame adjective to describe this song intro.

https://youtu.be/av4j96aEDAA
 
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Ed has a Great groove and his hihat playing is really nice! One of my favourites is Aaron Neville - Grand Tour cd that Ed plays on + Barry White & Steely Dan stuff. There's a lot of good drumming on The Jacksons Destiny album. I recorded this short video lesson of Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) groove so check it out :) https://youtu.be/ASdXkOqVR8k
 
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