Posted - 18/05/2014 : 11:24:28 Show Profile
I sat 5 feet away from Jim Gordon, in the drum booth at Trident
Studios in London, as he recorded Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain in 1972. I
was Carly’s road drummer and played on a few tracks on her No Secrets
album, however I wasn’t cutting it when we recorded You’re So Vain.
So
Richard Perry, the producer of that album brought in the heavyweights.
Jim Gordon, Klaus Voorman, and Nicky Hopkins to record You’re So Vain.
Carly’s road band, which included me, was sidelined for half the tracks
on that album, except for Jimmy Ryan who played on everything and played
that great guitar solo on “You’re So Vain”. Anyhow, I was totally cool
with Richard Perry’s decision to bring Jim Gordon in.
I was in London
for the duration of that album, as road bands often were back then, on
call at any time. I saw this as an opportunity to watch Jim up close. I
had been listening to Jim Gordon and Jim Keltner ever since Mad Dogs and
Englishmen. I asked Jim if he would mind if I sat in the drum booth and
watched him play. He was totally cool with that. So I watched Jim do 40
takes (Richard Perry was famous for doing a lot of takes) of You’re So
Vain.
You see, back then the live performance in the studio had to
contain all the magic in the basic backing track. There was no fixing it
or replacing parts after the track was recorded. You could repair
little things but the vibe and groove had to be all there in the
performance. Perry pushed players right to their limit. I liked his
style. He had a vision and wasn’t going to stop till he got it out of
the musicians. He made great bloody records that all stand up today
under scrutiny. He always used the best players on his records. As a
player, working for Richard Perry was a step up the ladder in session
world. It meant something. Anyhow, I watched Jim like a hawk for 4 or 5
hours, playing that song over and over again.
It’s one thing to hear a
player on a recording but to see a player playing live is a whole
different ball game. Body language reveals so much about where a drummer
is coming from. Seeing Jim play up that close, and fine tuning his drum
part, was like getting intravenous Jim Gordon…his DNA being injected
into mine. And I got it, big time.
I saw what he had and what I didn’t
have. But not for long. I really understood where his notes were coming
from and went away from that session knowing what I had to do to improve
my act. Jim never played a rim shot on 40 takes of You’re So Vain.
He
hit the middle of the snare drum so hard that the head was completely
caved in, in the middle. It was a 6 inch crater in a perfect circle. He
hit the exact same spot every time he hit the snare drum. That means all
his backbeats sounded as identical as humanly possible. Engineers love
consistency from players. I was suffering from total rim shot
dependency, playing tight, funky and snappy, New York style, like
Bernard Purdie. I am a New Yorker.
Jim had that West Coast lazy thing
going on. His notes seem to have length. They breathed. Legato drumming I
call it. There was all this air around each of his notes. And his
groove was so relaxed and secure and comfortable. It was like sitting in
a giant arm chair that fit perfect. He made all the other players sound
amazing right from Take One. And he made the recording sound like a
real hit record right from Take One. I was blown away.
The tom tom fills
were like thunder. I still copy him doing that today and think about
him in that room every time I do it. I put my left hand on the high tom
and my right hand on the floor tom and play straight 8th notes (both
hands in unison) that crescendo into a chorus. Just like You’re So Vain.
His drumming was intelligent and impeccable on that record. There was
no click track either and Richard Perry was very demanding when it came
to tempo. (By the way, click tracks have ruined pop music today). Don’t
get me started.
That’s something else I had to improve on. Playing time.
I’m still working on that. Jim nailed that track at least 40 times and
every take on the drums was brilliant and useable as a final drum track.
However Richard Perry wanted to hand pick where Jim played certain
fills and all the other cats too. So that’s where a studio musician’s
discipline comes into play. You have to play the same track for hours
and maintain the feeling and learn every note in your part till it’s
written in your DNA.
Then on top of that, you have to take instructions
after each take from the Producer telling you exactly what to amend or
delete in your part. It’s a lot of mental work going on. Not all players
are cut out for this kind of disciplined playing, and designing a part.
That’s what great records are. Great parts. Jim was like a computer. He
did everything Richard Perry asked of him and still kept all the other
stuff going in his part, take after take after take. And he hit the
drums so damn hard. His snare drum was monstrous and it wasn’t even a
rim shot. I was stunned at the power in all his notes.
He saw that whole
drum part in his head as if it was written on paper and handed to him.
And take after take, for maybe 4 or 5 hours with breaks, he played it
spot on every time. I got it…big time. Thank God I was replaced by Jim
that day. What I got from that experience took my playing to another
level completely. I put funky drumming on the back burner after watching
Jim and started trying to make my notes real long, relaxed, with lots
of air around them, giving each note it’s full sustain value, and even
tuning my drums so that the notes would sustain for their full value.
And every note was thought out.
That’s what Jim did. He didn’t play any
throw away notes. Not one!! Not even an unintended grace note on the
snare drum. That’s what making records is all about. You have to own and
believe in every note you play. Every 8th note on your high hat has
meaning and character and tells a story. You can’t just be playing
mindless time with a back beat. Drummers who do that sound bored and
uninvolved.
A drummer has to be involved in every note and put life into
each one. This is what Jim did. I know this for sure. It’s a subtle
thing but it makes all the difference in a player. Discipline,
restraint, and conviction in every note. That’s when real music starts
to happen. Can’t we all start a movement to get him out. Sounds like
someone should talk to him. Like me. On the other hand, maybe he wants
to be exactly where he is. I respect that too. Returning to “real life”
after this many years might be too overwhelming. I can relate to that.
By the way, my birthday is 14 July, the same day as Jim Gordon’s
birthday.
