Keith Moon Bio and Playing Style

[citizenterryk]

moonie wasn't a drummer......he was a force of nature!!!

[wap9]

steve jones is an idiot. keith moon was a huge talent. who the f@@k is steve jones too say. the pistols did one album thats sounds like kids playing as you get older. john lydon talks sh@t too. infact bollox too old boring punks.

[alsaxe1]

@wap9 what steve means, as i understand it, is that if keith was to play w any other band using his bombastic style it wouldn't have fit. Keit could show restraint when it was called for..

[nicar13578]

Does anyone give me permission to punch the guy who disliked this? Grrrrr.....

[shibi07]

Watching the last seconds of this great video I found out what he was doing meanwhile drum doesn't play in a part of the song. Just from another planet

[marmcmick]

WOW! JUST WOW!!

[zenlee1109]

Keith was incredible at playing ahead, behind, or right on the beat, whereas most drummers are trained to be on the middle almost all the time.

Listen to Baba O'Riley and notice how when the drums first come in they're a little slower than the beat and it has a great effect. Then when they come back in at "Sally take my hand..." he's faster than the beat and it's more exciting, and of course for the outro he's right in the middle. All that while playing to a fixed-tempo backing track.

[badmuddafadda]

Although The Who is a good band.... I don't think they would have ever made it without Moon.

[isk8likeaposer]

Ladd breaks it down pretty straight forward, but honestly with the left foot lead, most drummers step on the hi-hat counting 8th notes with the pedal over drumming; John Bonham did that a lot, and really if you think about it, since Keith didn't have a hi-hat often, he was doing the same thing just on a kick instead of a hi-hat.

[ballhawk387]

Good vid about Moon's drumming. Ladd was on point.

But Moon himself was most accurate in saying he was "the best Keith Moon style drummer I know."

Sod comparisons, I still prefer to just just ENJOY the music of great drummers, and pick up a trick or 2 from them. :). The music speaks for itself!

[BassRaven]

@ballhawk387 preach on brotha.



[MADROCKS212]

3.05 makes me mad, 'played something like this' .. bad technique nothing like Kieth.

[MADROCKS212]

Who the fuck is that fag Robert Ladd anyway. Jeez there should be people who worked with Kieth talking about him not no marks like Noel Gallagher.

[BGruber42]

How Keith pulled off his left footed lead double bass... by being left footed.

[annikee59]

Steve Jones sounds like shit.

[gotmadskilz]

Keith Moon shopped at Target? @3:11

[Psychoderelict01]

Jeff Beck didn't think Moonie was a crappy drummer, ala Steve Jones. And JB should know, he employs only the best. Steve Jones' band was a pile of rubbish anyway...

Oh and "ten Keith Moons in one"...hahaha, right.

[MrGb1965]

Is it true that Moon started his double-bass with the left foot? This guy says it's unusual to do this, but I'm thinking, if the accent is on the second of two bass drums hit, e.g. in the bridge of Shakin' All Over, wouldn't it be natural sometmes to hit the accented (2nd) beat with one's stronger leg, i.e. the right one? I've heard some bad analysis about Moon's playing, and I wasn't quite sold on what this guy said. I'm not a drummer so maybe I'm just blowing smoke. Just saying....

[GregMarimba]

The host knows what he's talking aobut most of the time. The thing about the right / left lead on bass drum is not right though. Many guys from the 60's eara lead with the left when they did double bass. Moon though did a very different thing with one foot going constantly then the other playing the actual beats which added such power to the sound when both bass drums hit at the same time. What a natural and such relaxed hands too.

[bubaaaack]

How do you think Keith did it, what made him so good? :oDDDD

[MrThreshold2009]

Steve Jones is an idiot, and it's such a predictable thing to say Keith would have been crap in another band. He was just gifted enough to play along to anything. Jones has obviously not bothered listening to The Who Sell out. What a dunce.

[5jerry1]

@MrThreshold2009

I have read Tony Fletcher's biography on Keith Moon, and Pete Butler's book about him as well, and Steve Jones might not be that far off. I like Moon as much as anybody; he's one of my favorites (the early clips especially), but his style probably wouldn't have fit with a lot of the bands of the day. He was perfect for Pete, Roger, and John, but would've been mismatched elsewhere. He did it his own way, and it worked for him. That made him the best, in a way.

[MrThreshold2009]

@5jerry1 I'm sorry but I entirely disagree; listening to The Who Sell Out alone proves the immense range Moon had. It was just a natural ability; he was, of course, also in bands before The Who, and was almost left the band in the early days to join Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, pre-Led Zeppelin. Anyway, it's all subjective. You could say Bonham wouldn't have been good in other bands.

The most naturally gifted drummers I've come across are Jaki Liebezeit and Reni. They could drum to anything.

[5jerry1]

@MrThreshold2009

The Page/Plant thing was due to infighting within The Who. And yes, he could've had a steady weekend gig with The Beachcombers, but ambition took him out of that.

Everyone knows he was completely unconventional in his approach and The Who's style afforded him the platform to showcase and he really might not have been so perfect elsewhere.

[knightm27]

keith was a genius. the original, patented, british exploding rock drummer. i get tired of people saying, 'well technically he's not as good as peart, grohl...blah blah...". that's like comparing jimi hendrix to eddie van halen. different eras. different styles. to compare is to miss the point. listen to live at leeds. inspiring.

[MrThreshold2009]

@knightm27 Grohl and Peart are as dull as dish water. There's nothing more tedious than a technical drummer, and I marvel at the weirdos who rate them. Grohl in particular is thoroughly overrated.

Reni, from The Stone Roses ("like ten Keith Moons in one") took Moon's drumming to its natural next level.

[jaqua524]

@MrThreshold2009 no..there is no "like keith moons" no one played like keith

[jaqua524]

what song is it at 1:20..please

[entopic]

@jaqua524 happy jack, live london coliseum 1969

[cranie4]

Keith was the engine of The Who. To hear how big a part he played in their power listen to "Face Dances".

My favorite Keith bit is the last 3 minutes of Bargain. I think that is clearly the left foot leading.

[IlOvMuSiCmAn]

hahaha 9:16 to 9:25

[lebarosky]

This is a brilliant video thank you so much for posting it.

[905Alive]

having said that, what he laid down in the studio was ungodly, but live?? after 72 or so he just lost it, drugs and booze were taking their toll, he was fast/slow, and didn't seem to remember key parts, the band stayed clear of Quadrophenia after the horrific tour for that album, leaning instead back on Tommy, in fact on this 75 tour not one Quad song was played,

[905Alive]

, in fact on this 75 tour not one Quad song was played, Keith didn't care about drums, never played/practiced when the Who wasn't, and just wanted a lot of drums to show off, not because he "was going on a journey"

[905Alive]

Rob Lab is so full of crap, making a huge dissection out of Moonies playing, my comment in the high rated says it all, Moon played what came natural to him based on those influences, I just heard a bootleg of a concert in 75, he sucked, he was probably wasted again and was allover, he played most songs the same, couldn't play Dreamin From the Waist for shit, the most important lesson any drumme can take from Moon is stay AWAY FROM DRUGS

[nucleardude11]

give it up bonham fans, moon is the best drummer ever

[lebarosky]

that double machine gun blast at the beginning of can't explain reminds me of john coltrane on kind of blue. all of a sudden there is this riff that blows the piece out of the water into another space entirely.

[nedrabbit]

5:37 -- I didn't know there as ANY video for the Leeds show. Is there more?

[camerooniepooniepoo]

7:25, which show?

[camerooniepooniepoo]

2:53, shit drummer!

[FlyntStormhammer]

@camerooniepooniepoo

you are a complete fag...

[The4thGuy]

@camerooniepooniepoo How?

[expenguin67]

6:49 - 7:04 A genius at work.

[DElasee]

0:18 where's that from?

[expenguin67]

"... like Jackson Pollack practicing [trying] staying within the lines". Well put Mr. Ladd, well put.

[student702]

He was better than Mitch Mitchell and great in 200 motels. Who the FUCK is Rob Ladd?!?!?!

[superlou1s]

While entwistle often kept time with his base, Keiths drumming was almost more of a lead instrument than pete's guitar. He wasn't just a rhythm keeper,

[905Alive]

what Keith taught us was 'take the bloody rule book and burn it"

Keith was really into Gene Krupa, he also like DJ Fontana, Elvis's drummer, but Keith was ultimately influenced by a man named Carlo Little, drummer for the Savages, he changed drumming, put it upfront with a huge bass drum sound, Keith picked up on it

[cranie4]

@905Alive I have always imagined what Carlo might have told him at that lesson. He went in a barely capable player and came out with the secret to his style. I can only imagine it was something like "Anything goes, as long as your foot eventually comes down on 1" :) Carlo deserves a LOT more credit and thanks for what we got with Keith.

[905Alive]

@cranie4 --definately, when I go to shows I am watching the drummer, picking up what I can to add to my rep, sometimes it is just a little thing that can make your drumming stand out, for Moon it was usually bass drum 1234, wild jazz fills and rolling cymbals throughout, for Bonham it was being extremely tight and a more Ringo simple style with the bass drum, Ringo really deserves more credit, listen to "hard days night", it is the most copied rock beat ever

[mikuz007]

@905Alive more like blow it up in a car that was put under a bed in a hotel

[tripnixon]

telsport, indeed. why keith moon is and will always be the best: he taught us that every portion of the kit was just like 6 strings/12 strings on a guitar, 4/5+ strings on a bass... it was all there to keep meter and ALSO provide notes to the song. hands down in agreement that the dude in the green shirt puts it together without "being keith", ya know?

[telsport]

I am especially happy when I run across a video in which I receive incisive expert commentary as given by the fellow in the green shirt. Expertise with demonstration ...and without condescension.

Nice video, instructive and entertaining.

Tom in Utica NY

[4rainbowed]

The more I watch this, the more Steve Jones disgusts me.

[telsport]

Did Jones have a band which toured with the Kinks ?

Tom

[rudiefailed]

i love the pistols but steve jones is so wrong. moony could walk into any band that had passion and heart. he would sound wrong in a band that is technically perfect and play exactly how they do in the studio. but this is real music!!!! long live rock!

[leone7227]

totally agree with ya, rudie!

And a "punk" cat like Jones ought to know. But then, he was really just a Swindler with the rest of the boys, wasn't he? ;-)

[mileslong2sf]

I saw him a couple of times back in the day at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit where they did the American debut of Tommy. That crazy, drunk little machine was a powerhouse! ... never be another Keith.

Like the man said, "The Jimi Hendrix of drums".

[mileslong2sf]

A terrible soloist but the best rock drummer of all time is Keith Moon. My criteria for the best drummer

is how he drives the music and how he effects the other musicians. Keith's genius was not technical and not soloing but what he did for the musicians around him. If you study Moon's playing you'll see how he used the drums to highlight and inspire and drive others in the band with his hyper aggressive, controlled chaos without ever losing structure. The rest of my comment is in the next post.

[thewholive78]

best drummer on the planet was.

[soltisimba]

I only got to see him once, Fillmore West, August 1968 and he was absolutely brilliant. But what blew me away was that he was stone cold drunk when they came out and he played out of his mind -- perfectly. Best rock band I ever saw.

[chrisismename]

comment from bremerton!

[magisci]

Moon's drumming was clearly influenced by Sonny Payne (an early jazz great) in regards to his showmanship (twirling his drum sticks and bouncing them off of his drum heads). Moon played jazz like rhythm and tone patterns that accented the Who's music perfectly. Tony Williams, the jazz fusion great, when asked which rock drummer he admired and would like to emulate, he named Keith Moon saying that "He's totally free man, totally free".

[magisci]

He may not have used high hats in the latter stages of his career but he definitely used high hats during the Quadrophenia show (at Cobo Hall, in Detroit). Listen to Tommy. He's definitely using high hats on some of the songs. Look at the early film recordings of the Who performing. Moon is clearly using high hats. So much for Moon never using high hats. I believe that Moon stopped using high hats because he came to realize they were not essential to his playing style or the music of the Who.

[BrasilNYC2007]

On Who's Next and Quadrophenia you definitely hear a hi-hat. I would highly recommend Tony Fletcher's biography for anyone interested in Moon. The part where they talk about making Who's Next and producer Glyn John's demanding that Keith use some restraint and how that worked effectively. As far as myself, Moon inspired me to play, and I can sit down and play along with Live at Leeds and I'll tell you it is a real challenge physically and mentally.

[drummer78]

Keith used hi-hats throughout his recording career (1964-1978). He used them live when he first joined the band, on through 1965 and some of 1966. His hi-hats appeared live again in 1973.

[905Alive]

@drummer78 , as to all the hi hat comments, he used them, many times live he did not, for whatever reasons (probably broke a few) although they were mostly Petes songs and if pete wanted a hihat in a spot like WhoRU, then it was there, its kinda sad to se people like Camine make erroneous staements

[magisci]

When I was at the University Of Denver, one of my friends lived in the same apartment building, in London, as Keith Moon. He said he practiced all the time. He said it was relentless and unbelievable. So much for him not practicing. Also, a British drum tech that I know told me that both Moon and Mitch Mitchel (of the Jimi Hendrix experience) took drum lessons from the same instructor. Jim Marshall, the creator and founder of Marshall amps.

[drummer78]

I didn't know Jim Marshall was a drummer. I do know that Keith took lessons from Carlo Little of Screaming Lord Sutch's band.

[magisci]

I've seen Keith Moon perform several times. In Detroit at Cobo Hall (Tommy, Who's Next & Quadrophenia shows) and in Pontiac, MI at The Silver Dome (The Who By Numbers show). The most impressive thing about his drumming is its fluidity, appropriateness, speed and uniqueness. Every time I saw Moon perform, his ability seemed to have diminished. He playing was simply brilliant during the Tommy and Who's Next shows. Less so during the Quadrophenia and Who By Number Shows.

[alejandroarevalo]

the best

[towser06]

nobody plays like keith, it´s impossible...the drummer sounded shitty imitating Moon..it´s a special Moon style of drumming..wouldn´t work in any other band.

[stewielad]

Mrs Moon uses one of his Pictures of Lily drum kit floor toms as a telephone stand..classic!