Johnny B Goode Drum Part?

As silly as this sounds........Has anyone considered the high school dance scene from Back to the Future?

There's a pretty good close up of the drummer playing Johnny B Goode as Michael J Fox is wailing away on the guitar.

I'm sure that dude playing the drums is an actual drummer. He's got the trad grip, he's got the swing and he's got the moves.

I'm sure he's swinging the hell outta those hats......but there's a great close-up of him playing the groove.


Exactly. Watch the clip, Marty mcfly tells them how to play it!
 
What's a drummer to do?

I want to say that the drummer is the only one swinging anything, so the other guys playing straight should be fine.

At least the audience isn't thinking about that.

Yes Larry. The drummer swinging against the straight band playing IS Rock and Roll.

Let the absolute groove master himself explain:

 
Exactly. The drummer is the one who swings. That's the special sauce of early rock n roll.

Here's a nice clip of Steve Jordan playing the song with Chuck...

OMG Keith in a tux.

It's not working for me lol.

Also I wanted to clarify something for myself...It's been said that it's the jazz ride pattern played on the ride.

I always thought it was straight shuffle, not spang spang a lang. I still think it's a straight shuffle pattern on the ride. That's what Steve is playing AFAICT on the Chuck berry vid. So why has it been said that it's the jazz ride pattern?
 
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Because I find the original so old sounding.. and having played it a billion times - I much prefer Ronnie Tutts take on it with Elvis. It's got a more modern rockin' shuffle feel to it - and it gets the crowd going! Plus it's a LOT more fun to play..
The only difference is the guitar intro and shots.. so whichever version your guitar player plays stick to that but the rest of the tune - I'm with Ronnie!
 
Despite the subtleties of the swing vs. straight in the original, every band I’ve played this with has expected a straight rock beat from me. If I played any fraction of shuffle they’d be confused, or even stop (in rehearsal) and remind me its a straight beat. So be prepared to just play it straight at the gig.
(Same thing happens with Whole Lotta Shakin’ too.)
 
Despite the subtleties of the swing vs. straight in the original, every band I’ve played this with has expected a straight rock beat from me. If I played any fraction of shuffle they’d be confused, or even stop (in rehearsal) and remind me its a straight beat. So be prepared to just play it straight at the gig.
(Same thing happens with Whole Lotta Shakin’ too.)
Yeah, been wondering how this may impact the guys, since I'm just setting in with them. It may actually be true of several songs on the list. Don't recall ever hearing their full time drummer playing any shuffles or swings when I've seen them play out, but the set list has several. We'll see...
Because I find the original so old sounding.. and having played it a billion times - I much prefer Ronnie Tutts take on it with Elvis. It's got a more modern rockin' shuffle feel to it - and it gets the crowd going! Plus it's a LOT more fun to play..
The only difference is the guitar intro and shots.. so whichever version your guitar player plays stick to that but the rest of the tune - I'm with Ronnie!
Never heard that version. I like it! Can definitely see why the crowd would move more. :)
 
Yeah, been wondering how this may impact the guys, since I'm just setting in with them. It may actually be true of several songs on the list. Don't recall ever hearing their full time drummer playing any shuffles or swings when I've seen them play out, but the set list has several. We'll see...
I would bring it up before you gig. You could ask something along the lines of, "Hey. Do you play this like the original, or do you straighten it out a bit?".

I like questions. It shows that one is paying attention.
 
10 bucks says they don't know what you're talking about.

Make it 20.
They had no idea. They had already dropped the song because they said it was too tough to make sound good and went nowhere. I’m thinking because it wasn't played correctly. There are tons more songs to choose from, but I would have liked to have given it a go. Especially after learning the drums are different than how most around here play it. Oh well!
 
Hard to do without the piano though. I was showing this discussion to my guitarist friend, that was our thought.
 
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