Keith Moon

[von_krumm_drummer]

Moon was pure rock and roll. He lived his life how any rock star should. If he was alive nowdays he would be ADHD and would need even more pills than he took when he was alie 2 keep him still.

[Oxygeneral]

The only thing I would say to anyone about Keith Moon is to get Live At Leeds, Tommy and Who's Next and really study the playing. It is really fresh and original, if at times sloppy, but there is never a dull moment. The man played like a frustrated guitarist and he loved to play along with the vocals. Yes, he was a very sad figure, but remember that he changed the course of rock drumming.

[Smoking Mirrors]

All just an opinion .... but:

Keith Moon was rock and roll ... He did it all first.... and in the years when he was playing at his best... nothing anyone has done since has come close.

In rock - he was the first to bring the drums forward as more than just time keeping, in fact he brought them forward as more than just another instrument... at times he made them centre stage ... with or without antics...

When he was on it, he lost himself in his drumming... instinct overtook everything and his feelings/emotions spoke (or shouted) through the skins....

Sure he made faces, he did sometimes blow up his drum kit as a finale, or just smash it alongside Pete destroying the odd guitar or amp... He became famous for his off-stage antics, facts and rumours blended into myth and legend - and he became a celebrity. This stuff along with the energy, anger, newness and unapologetic arrogance of their music, succeeded in helping to get (and keep) The Who famous...

But these things divert attention from the fact that at his best, - he was the best there has ever been.

Watch the 'Live at the Isle of Wight DVD' ... listen to 'Who's Next' ... which are around the time I think he was drumming at his peak.

Accused of being "Sloppy?" ... Maybe.... but if so 'sloppy' in the same way that Hendrix didn't pluck every note bang on the beat, sloppy like Keith Richards is often an 8th or so behind with the dirty sounding Tele ... sloppy in the way Dylan's or Morrisey's poetry snd prose doesn't always meter exactly into the 4/4 of their songs... Any less of a genius because of it? .... NO ..... It's an integral part of the magic...

Moonie's explosive drumming was the powerhouse that drove The Who's music

(You can probably guess I'm a fan ... !) .... But once familiar with The Who's music, you hear how much their infuence flows through so many bands that have followed of almost any genre. I can't think of many - if any - rock drummers that have followed, who have none of Keith's influence in their playing. - After all - he did it first...

As a note, he also said he thought drum solo's pointless and boring.....

As for things like the 'goldfish' solo, - it was done in latter years when Keith's constant daily consumption of brandy, champagne and all kinds of illicit substances had reached such levels to leave him slow, slurry and unable to connect with his talent within. He may have been sitting on the drum stool, but he was so stoned that to all intents and purposes he wasn't really even there. Don't judge him on that performance, listen to and watch some of his earlier work.

The only drummer I have heard that can possibly equal Keith back in his heyday .... is Zak Starkey.

Any comments anyone?!!

[ewanlaing]

keith definately wasn't sloppy. he kept a solid beat all the time, and for some of his songs it sounded like he was doing a perfectly timed fill for the whole song. he was fast and fun and creative on the drums, and fun is something few drummers demonstrate as well as he did.

Originally Posted by Rudy McRudster

I was never a fan of Keith Moon. His style is always so sloppy and, a lot of the time, overplayed. And if there's one groove that makes my blood boil it's definately "You Better", or at least I think that's what it's called. It is just so annoying and never goes anywhere.

Now, I'm not saying he's terrible. He's been a big influence to many drummers, but I just don't like his style.

Sorry, kid. 'You Better' is not Keith.

Originally Posted by Speedy

Heck No!!! lol....Bonham at one point did have a double bass setup, but he hated it with a passion.

....

Bonham, actually enjoyed playing double bass drums....the other guys in Zeppelin were the ones that hated it.

Keith Moon was an original.

His approach to the instrument was very muched based in psuedo jazz. He played the vocal phrase line and rhythm, as opposed to Bonham, who concentrated on shadowing the guitar as the hinge point for his rhythmic approach. Moon's favourite 'type' of music was 'surf'. The Beachboys, Jan+Dean etc.

Moon was a very sad and tragic character(no doubt this will be dealt with in the movie), he suffered from feelings of inadequecy, was lonely all the time, even with a crowd of people around, and constantly seeking approval as a means of dealing with the feelings he had. When it didn't work, he turned to substance abuse.

If you get a chance to see 'Who's Next' on the series Classic Albums, there's a wonderful segment where Daltrey pushes up the faders on Moon's kit during Baba O, and just by listening to the drums, you know where you are in the song....this is a perfect example of his approach to the instrument.

Sloppy?......maybe while under the effects of substances, however, as Entwistle says' Keith ALWAYS knew where the beat was'.

[Creamsicle]

If anyone has The Kids Are Alright DVD you can really enjoy a clip where The Who plays Barbara Ann by the Beachboys. Keith is made lead singer for that song, and I find it absolutely hysterical. I must have watched that clip a thousand times!

[wontgetfooledagain]

Originally Posted by Oxygeneral

The man played like a frustrated guitarist and he loved to play along with the vocals.

I read once that Keith Moon's advice to any beginning drummer was to learn guitar, because of the fact that he pretty much always followed the guitar.

[Smoking Mirrors]

If you listen to his drumming, - he often played fairly straight during vocals, - but the fills he played between were (apart from often being out of this world) great "left-field" echoes of the rhythm of the words, not just filling, - but driving the song adding an extra dimension to the whole track.

Originally Posted by wontgetfooledagain

I read once that Keith Moon's advice to any beginning drummer was to learn guitar, because of the fact that he pretty much always followed the guitar.

Everyone knows the old rock cliche of "duelling guitars" on stage, with the axemen swapping licks and trading and bouncing off each other's playing ... On stage when Pete was playing guitar solos, Keith often played the part of a mirror and/or musical antagonist to Pete's riffs and licks. He would watch Pete and play fills that weren't just a foil within the breaks in the lead guitar, but a drumming equivalent of a musical question/answer sequences which built the whole tension and expression of the solos higher and higher, following Pete's lead perfectly - whilst still somehow managing to compete for equal attention on the stage.

Keith’s drumming not only flowed through echoes of both vocals and guitar, it thumped out a rolling solid beat that remained the engine that drove the band.

His antics, flying drumsticks, “full-on - let it all go” energy and wild expressions were showmanship that demanded attention, whilst both complementing and competing with the windmills and swirling microphones of those in front of him on the stage. When the Who played live: They put on an amazing show.

[Zackattack9000]

I've heard the solo off of his biography on Drummerworld, but is there anymore? This solo dosen't seem like Keith, for some odd reason...


Thanks,
Zack.

[shkeller55]

I haven't read through this entire thread so I don't know if I'm repeating anything, but...

There is a song called The Ox on the My Generation CD that's sort of a drum solo. The song sounds a lot like Wipeout, as Keith basically does a continuous drum roll through the entire song.

I have a DVD on his life (got it on eBay, questionable video quality) that shows him doing a brief drum solo on a clear Vistalite-like kit, but I've never seen it on a CD.

These are the only things I know of. You could post an inquiry on the OddsandSods discussion group - look on www.thewho.net to subscribe. There are lots of experts there who could tell you if there's anything else available.

If you listen to those other two solos, you'll see that the Drummerworld solo does indeed sound like him. He was wild, often seemed unstructured, and his timing often seemed off when he played by himself. That was Keith.

It's well known that Keith didn't like doing drum solos (he didn't do one when I saw them live in 1973), he just liked to play along with The Who's music. IMHO he was great at that and a perfect fit for them. He's my favorite drummer.

[Pepper]

I misspent much of my high school and college careers at Who concerts all up and down the East Coast, riveted to the antics of the flambouyant, bug-eyed dummer who clearly was more than just a little bit nuts. As mentioned in posts above, the DVD of the Isle of Wight Festival of 1970 captures Keith Moon's stage presence perfectly. This shows him as I remember him in the late 60s, full of energy, upstaging his chums, and clearly having more fun that anyone else at the concert. The fact that Moon was such a comedic showman makes it hard for many to take him seriously as a drummer. It's almost like everyone thinks of him as the Spike Jones of rock.

But, to call him sloppy is to do him a disservice. Granted, he quickly lost his edge in the mid-70s but look closely at how disciplined he is on the Isle of Wight DVD (1970). Sure, it looks like he's just flailing away at will, but he is very much in synch with his mates and clearly drives the music forward. Would he fit in with any band of that era? Probably not. It is hard to imagine him with the Beatles, Doors, Rolling Stones, Kinks, or even the Yardbirds. Each band had their own style and Moon was a perfect fit for the Who sound and stage show.

Speaking of which, one of my fondest memories is sitting in the back of the RKO Theater in NYC and talking with Keith Moon during intermission at the 1967 Murray the K Easter Show. The week-long show was the Who's first US appearance and they were largely unknown outside of a few geeks like myself who traveled from my home outside Wash, DC specifically to see The Who in the flesh. To make a long story short, I talked Keith into sitting down for a few minutes at the back of the nearly deserted theater and I am sure that I impressed him with the fact that I, too, played drums (although for a group with considerably less talent and far less of a future).

At the time, he was just a twenty-year old British kid on his first trip to the States hoping to make it big with this very loud band. He was quiet soft-spoken and maybe even then a little out of it. Then, when other fans began gathering around us, he excused himself and walked out the front door of theater and onto the streets of NY in company with some roadie. It occurred to me later that I probably could have tagged along and had quite an adventure to tell my kids had I survived it.

[TOMANO]

A point could be argued that a musician's job is to express his/her personality, ideas and emotions through their instruments. If we can hold this as an accepted truth, then Keith Moon definitely holds incredible validity as a musician.

His anti-technique was mystifying, to be sure, but his playing more times than not transcended any lack of schooled chops. Within the context of The Who, his contribution to the spirit of the music was crucial, as much an identifiable presence and Townshend's electrifying guitar, Entwhistle's frenetic bass and Daltrey's blue-eyed soulful vocals. While Moon the Loon is legendary by his off-stage antics, Keith the Musician is immortalized in the sublime drumming of the Who's classic repetoire, particularly Who's Next, Quadrophenia and Tommy.

Long Live Moonie!

TOMANO

[Loge]

Found a great site for anyone interested in all of Keith Moon's Premier (and Zickos))
kits - covering his entire career 1961-1978. Lots of history, pictures and setup diagrams.
Very detailed. The "Pictures of Lilly" kit is particularly memorable.
Anybody who loves vintage drums, Premier, or Moon himself should check it out.

http://www.thewho.net:16080/whotabs/equipment/drums

The drummer on Emminence Front is 5,000 times better than Keith Moon's best day. (ok, slight hyperbole, but still, you all get my point I hope.)

A little restraint goes a long way. Yes, even in Rock 'n Roll.

[Loge]

Originally Posted by Stu_Strib

The drummer on Emminence Front is 5,000 times better than Keith Moon's best day.

A little restraint goes a long way. Yes, even in Rock 'n Roll.

Wow. 5000 times is a lot! Have to check him out (yawn).

Originally Posted by Loge

Wow. 5000 times is a lot! Have to check him out (yawn).

I don't even know who it is. All I know is it ISN'T Keith Moon, so that makes it pretty good.

Seriously though, Moon would have wrecked that tune. The guy comes of the backbeat, what, one time total? Who was it that said "it isn't the notes you play, it's the ones you don't" or something like that?

edit: Is it Kenny Jones?

[iceneweb]

.. . . but f'n brilliant all the same:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NZYav_WyE3A

just look at his face - what a madman - love it!

[TitanSound]

The guy is a fruitcake.....but so entertaining! His style of playing is not the most technical but you can practically see the energy and passion bursting from him when hes playing.

[iceneweb]

Yeah, i love the way they didn't take themselves as seriously as some of their contemporaries (Led Zep), and many of the modern bands. Moon could have been a comedian (i guess i was, in a way) judging by the way he was clowning around when in front of the mic doing the backing vocals . . . .

[KLittle123]

Originally Posted by JW89

i heard something, i dont know if its true or not, but pete townshend was talking in an interview about moon, and he said a doctor was examining moons footspeed, and his one foot alone was compatable with the speed of a machine gun, thats disgustingly fast, it makes me wanna stop playing

It wasn't his foot that was like the speed of a machine, I thought it was all of his arms and legs. Like he could play a note every 1/10 of a second or something. I forget what the statistics are. But it was really quite fast... I think.

[KLittle123]

Originally Posted by dothecrunge

He got the idea from a jazz drummer. I don't know who.

Joe Morello is who he got the bare hands from.

[stumprrp]

i love keith moon, his playing with the who is so energetic and exciting!

comon guys though lets not start comparing, they all fit there bands and is not better then the other guy or whatever.

[tombombsquad]

Originally Posted by Rudy McRudster

I was never a fan of Keith Moon. His style is always so sloppy and, a lot of the time, overplayed. And if there's one groove that makes my blood boil it's definately "You Better", or at least I think that's what it's called. It is just so annoying and never goes anywhere.

Now, I'm not saying he's terrible. He's been a big influence to many drummers, but I just don't like his style.

Just to let you know....its You better you bet, ...and moons been dead for around 4 years when that cam eout, the drummer was kenny jones.

[Daddy-o]

I always thought Keith seemed to have a very odd flow with his right hand jumping back and forth on the cymbals. Is it true that Keith did not use a hi-hat? That certainly would explain, in part, his very different style. What say ye hi-hat players?

[LiveGoat]

Originally Posted by Daddy-o

I always thought Keith seemed to have a very odd flow with his right hand jumping back and forth on the cymbals. Is it true that Keith did not use a hi-hat? That certainly would explain, in part, his very different style. What say ye hi-hat players?

Once Kieth went with two kick drums he abandoned the hats. Later (late 70's) he had a closed hat setup on his right (with about a kazillion other drums and gear).

--LG

[ElvinBaRkerDennis13]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

Are you sure it was Keith's drumming and not the termites?

Ye sWHen Keith tried out for his first band, The Beachcombers, ( he tried out for this band like three times i think) he hit so hard that his blue Premier kit that he borrowed start to go through the floor. This prompted Keith to Tie down is kit for a while, then he started to use what looked like a hollow box, but it was actally a solid wooden block, to keep his kit from falling through the floor.
If you are at all interested in Keith Moon, or the Who, i suggest buying the book Moon, its like 400 page long, but its alla bout experiencing the who from keiths perspective, and it tralks about Kim, jis wife, and Mandy, his daughter, its a great book, ful of knowledge
tj

[doublestrokeroll]

Originally Posted by tuckerduncan2002

Would anyone care to enlighten me about Keith Moon? He is deemed a legend, yet I have never been impressed by his playing. I found his playing sloppy, especially in concert. I don't think he took his playing all that seriously. Maybe someone could help me out.

Keith Moon page on DrummerWorld

I think what was unique about Keith was he could play a seemingly total off-beat fill and yet come right back in perfect time. Was he one of the greats? Probably not. Was he one of the most unique? Definately.

[ElvinBaRkerDennis13]

Originally Posted by doublestrokeroll

I think what was unique about Keith was he could play a seemingly total off-beat fill and yet come right back in perfect time. Was he one of the greats? Probably not. Was he one of the most unique? Definately.

so you dont feel that Keith Moon was one of the greatest drummers of all time? he made a ton of bad mistakes, but he became a touring musician at the age of 15, that is insane, and he was considered the greatest, if you want to consider Ringo ANY good, please, you have to consider Keith one of the greats!!
tj

[Steady Freddy]

One of my most memorable gigs was a night at the Starwood in Hollywood, Ca. We played there on a pretty regular basis during the mid to late seventies. On this night we were opening for blues legend John Mayal. We really weren't into blues very heavily, but we looked forward to his performance. Nothing like being back stage.

The first surprise was an appearance by Joe Cocker. He sat in with Mayal and sang a couple of songs. Pretty cool. Later I was hanging out in the upstairs area behind the stage and one of the roadies asked if one of Mayal's friends could jam on a couple of my drums. I said sure. I had to two mounted toms on a floor stand and the drummer took them onto the stage and put some nice dents in the heads. I missed his performance.

As the night went on one of the roadies told me the drummer that jammed on my drums was looking for me and wanted to thank me. We rounded the corner from opposite directions and nearly banged heads. He asked if those were my drums and I said yep. He said thanks, I'm Keith Moon. We shock hands and he handed me a hundred dollar bill and said buy some new heads.

I did.

[ElvinBaRkerDennis13]

Originally Posted by Steady Freddy

One of my most memorable gigs was a night at the Starwood in Hollywood, Ca. We played there on a pretty regular basis during the mid to late seventies. On this night we were opening for blues legend John Mayal. We really weren't into blues very heavily, but we looked forward to his performance. Nothing like being back stage.

The first surprise was an appearance by Joe Cocker. He sat in with Mayal and sang a couple of songs. Pretty cool. Later I was hanging out in the upstairs area behind the stage and one of the roadies asked if one of Mayal's friends could jam on a couple of my drums. I said sure. I had to two mounted toms on a floor stand and the drummer took them onto the stage and put some nice dents in the heads. I missed his performance.

As the night went on one of the roadies told me the drummer that jammed on my drums was looking for me and wanted to thank me. We rounded the corner from opposite directions and nearly banged heads. He asked if those were my drums and I said yep. He said thanks, I'm Keith Moon. We shock hands and he handed me a hundred dollar bill and said buy some new heads.

I did.

wow, i will give you two thousand dollars right now for those heads, OH MY GOSH! keith moon, dude, i really wish that i could have been there, but dude, im so jealous of you!!!!

[iceman3900]

hey the only reason you see keith moon playing the drums crazy and making strange facial expressions is that he wanted to be the center of attention. if he didn''t take playing the drums seriously then why the hell was he up there playing with one of the best bands of all time?? he wouldnt be wasting his time playing the drums for no reason. playing the drums was the only thing he was good at and he realized that he could play it well. he was deff without a doubt when of the most fastest and innovative drummers to have picked up sticks. a good dvd to buy to see excellent drumming is Isle of Wight Festival 1970. its a great dvd.

[hillbillydrummer]

Well, if one considers just the pure art form of drumming, one would have to consider Moon one of the best modern drummers. If you listen closely to Naked Eye from Who's Next, Moon's concept of drumming in concert with the lead guitar reveals a whole new way of redefining the role of the drum in the convential four piece band. Of course, Moon did this with earlier music with the Who, but that song, in my opinion, gives a clear example of tremendous contribution he made to drumming and music. Yes, he was unconventional and boorish at times, but when looking one's personal life, especially a celeberities, you must consider the good with the bad. It is too bad that individual's become almost slavish in devotion to one person's style, while overlooking the contributions of others. All muiscians are creative to some degree, and in my opinion, Moon, on the drum set, was creative and innovative, two intangibles that are necessary to create in a rock band setting.
Hillbilly Drummer

[knuckle9]

Actually Keith Moon played so fast that he was making a beat every 1/2 a millisecond whic, i believe is 1200 beats a minute. At the time a machine gun couldn't fire that fast.

[Bonham to the moon]

Actually Keith Moon played so fast that he was making a beat every 1/2 a millisecond whic, i believe is 1200 beats a minute. At the time a machine gun couldn't fire that fast.

where did u get this information? and those who gave you it, how did they get the information, i dont think they ever recorded what his BPM was. And if they slowed down a tape to determine it, then he would hold the record for fastest BPM, am i wrong?

[shuffle]

Originally Posted by knuckle9

Actually Keith Moon played so fast that he was making a beat every 1/2 a millisecond whic, i believe is 1200 beats a minute. At the time a machine gun couldn't fire that fast.

One beat each 1/2 millisecond=2000 beats each second= 120000 bpm

That's good reliable information that you give us.....

[wontgetfooledagain]

Originally Posted by knuckle9

Actually Keith Moon played so fast that he was making a beat every 1/2 a millisecond whic, i believe is 1200 beats a minute. At the time a machine gun couldn't fire that fast.

Actually, at that time the minigun was around. With that machine gun you get to choose between 3,000 rounds per minute and 6,000 rounds per minute. Which one do you want to put Moon in a contest with?

Originally Posted by tombombsquad

Just to let you know....its You better you bet, ...and moons been dead for around 4 years when that cam eout, the drummer was kenny jones.

Hmmm...Makes me wonder how many "Keith Moon" fans are actually unknowing Kenny Jones fans?

[ewanlaing]

new premier kit released. "spirit of lily" based on keith's "pictures of lily" kit.
reviews seem good so far.