OMG (Sorry I Just Discovered Billy Cobham)

ha ! yea i know who he is. i've owned Spectrum at least twice but i was never exposed to much fusion. sure i know the names Mahavishnu, Weather Report, Return To Forever etc but i've never really heard their music.

that was tough sho nuff.
 
Seeing Cobham live with Mahavishnu literally changed my whole outlook on drums. All those odd times, playing over the bar, and just his fantastic strength and technique.

Don't be sorry. I hadn't seen that before. :)

Nice avatar, Bingo! Takin' me back to my youth.
 
In the early 70's I saw Cobham playing a fast ride pattern with his right hand and later on
moved it over to his left hand....awe inspiring. I had never seen that done so well before.
 
Love me some Billy.The guy plays some of the fastest singles I have ever heard.But his solos are also not just about speed.Lots musicality and dynamics also.

I saw him with Mahavishnu at the bottom line in NYC, mid 70's,I think it was,and I was just gobsmacked.

I still have one of his solo albums "The Funky Thide of Sings"(spelling is correct).Talk about in your face drumming.

Steve B
 
He raised the bar back in the 70s, and he is good composer too. I am big fan of fusion, from all of the decades it has existed. In fact I am listening to some now. Peace and goodwill.
 
Whether they know it or not, every drummer playing today was influenced by Billy Cobham. He was an innovator. He still is in many ways. Always trying a different approach. But his use of the "free" hand in crashing influenced so many drummers in that day, it became standard approach to set playing all drummers apply today.

I saw him two or three times back in the seventies. He's was like a force of nature.
 
unbelievable stick control. Open rolls with the sticks 10" off the head and just a purrrrrr. Beautiful.

AND ... he has matched grip at the ends of the sticks!?! Blasphemy. ;-)

(pls don't turn this into another tiresome match vs. trad debate. I play trad BTW.)

peace
radman
 
I only know a hand full of drummer's names but he is one of them.

I saw him sometime in in the early 70's and, as a wannabe drummer, I was absolutely blown away. He looked like he was barely breaking a sweat but he was playing notes on every surface using every appendage.

I wanted to learn to play like that. He looked so relaxed but was banging the hell out of that kit. It took me 30 years to even realize how he does it (bounce your sticks and you can play twice as fast dummy)

I figure that if I work hard, in another 40 years, I'd be able to do some of it :)
 
Back
Top