'Beyond the Beats': A dozen of rock's greatest drummers share their craft in new book

David Dorsey | The News-Press

Besides pounding on drums for the bulk of their lives, music author Jake Brown got to wondering about the other common threads shared by some of rock music’s all-time great drummers.

Brown, who got to know Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith through one of his other rock 'n' roll book friendships, planted the seeds for his new project by calling him.

Beyond the Beats: Rock & Roll’s Greatest Drummers Speak! a new book published by Music Square Media, presents the back stories of 12 drummers on some of the most revered bands in rock and roll history.

Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters and Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction were the first who agreed to participate. Their contacts kept leading to more drummers wanting to share their stories.

More heavy hitters followed: Lars Ulrich of Metallica and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe; Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, Matt Sorum of The Cult and Guns ‘n’ Roses, Tico Torres of Bon Jovi and Steve Smith of Journey; Doug ‘Cosmo’ Clifford of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Kenny Aronoff, who has played with John Mellencamp and John Fogerty; and Jimmy Chamberlin of the recently reunited Smashing Pumpkins.

The 12 drummers represented multiple genres of rock and roll in metal, hard rock, alternative rock, classic rock and grunge. But they all had a common thread, Brown said.

“These are incredible stories,” Brown said. “Personality-wise, every one of these guys, they’re all pretty energetic players, but what I found was that every single one of these guys, except maybe Tommy Lee, are all really uncomfortable talking about it in way that’s bragging about it. They all understand that they have an unusual gift. But they all talk about it very candidly in terms of their ego."

He continued, "They have to stay very, very grounded because of the instrument that they play. You’d think that all of these guys would be really hyper. But they were all really laid back. Joey Kramer in particular. “They all had this interesting commonality to them."

For instance: “Led Zeppelin (drummer) John Bonham is heavily attributed. Everyone talks about him with a considerable amount of awe.”

But for Brown, the biggest draw is the insider perspective: "They’re breaking down these legendary, epic drum performances that are iconic to so many millions of rock fans.”

Examples include Kramer detailing how Aerosmith's Walk This Way came to be and came to be copied by other bands and drummers and Lee revealing how he configured the upside-down, roller coaster drum setup for Motley Crue.

“Chad Smith spent four hours on the phone with me, going through every Red Hot Chili Peppers song I wanted to grill him on,” Brown said. “Lars Ulrich opens up in depth about constructing Metallica's One and Ride The Lightning."

While Brown said he launched the project with the objective of learning more about the roots of their music, he also aimed to get them to open up.

That led to interesting conversations about the physical demands of drumming. He noted, "Lars Ulrich talked about the challenges at age 50, playing with the same athleticism that he did at age 20, and doing that all over the world. They have to keep that going for decades. It was interesting what they do to stay in shape."

They also discussed how the bands keep reinventing these same performances, "like playing Walk This Way for 40 years. How do you keep it interesting not just for yourself but for the audience?"

There were some interesting tales from the studio as well, like "Axl Rose coming to Matt Sorum and saying he needed to come up with a way to combine three songs, Don’t Cry, November Rain and Estranged."

The dozen drummers all talked about the importance of practicing their craft, playing along with records and learning studio etiquette.

“Who would have believed that all of these guys would be in one book?” said Brown, who plans on releasing a second volume with 12 additional drummers next year and 12 female drummers in 2020. “This has never happened before. They all told me that they’d never been asked to do a book like this.

He added, “These guys have these incredible imaginations. They’re still playing in arenas and in some cases stadiums, and they’re still doing it around the world. These are 12 of the most influential drummers playing today. They’re still as vibrant as ever either. They’re still out recording music and putting out new records. It’s just amazing. The hope is that people get an appreciation for their craft and what they’ve been able to accomplish.”