In this 1981 interview with Jools Holland, Stewart Copeland gives us a quick history lesson about the backbeat of drums in popular music, starting with early jazz, to Motown to funk.
Taking things a step further, Stewart demonstrates how reggae music uses the backbeat and completely flips it "upside down", placing it on beat 3 with the kick drum.
Not only is this a great primer for the basis of reggae drumming, it also gives an inside look into how Stewart's own "style" has been heavily influenced by the music of the West Indies and South America.
172 Comments
The video was actually part of a longer video shot by Channel 4 in the U.K. while The Police were in Montserrat recording the album “Ghost In The Machine”. Jools also interviews Andy Summers about his use of effects in building his riffs and solos, and discussing songwriting with Sting.
it’s still a backbeat on 2 and 4, but half-time. the fact that the hihat isn’t half-time means it stays buoyant and light. love it!
Where are the loop loft Copland Loops????
My first time seeing the Police (with The Specials opening), I found myself mesmerized by Copeland. While there are no passengers in a trio, his drum fills are what made The Police’s relatively simple song structures so spacious.
My grandfather was a band leader in the 30s, he insisted that “Reggae” was the name of a dance, before it referred to a style of music.
Check out Quest Love documentary about funk music where it touches on the origin of the reggae beat. The beat on 3 represents the protest march that they did where they would take big steps landing on the 3 according to the documentary.
I’ve seen him play polo in Potomac a long time ago.
Wow…Stewart makes it look so easy! I Play the drums myself, and wish I could drum like him. A fine musician and good bloke.
This is over simplified but…
Lloyd Knibb invented / championed “one drop” back when Studio1 was trying to reconcile r&b and Jamaican Mento. Over the years, ska slowed down, and Rocksteady (proto-Reggae) hinged itself on one-drop and “rockers”, which continued to evolve into “steppers” and rub-a-dub.
Party on.
-Sean
The ‘one-drop’ beat he’s playing (and thim thordberg – Hi Thim!) refers to is unique as far as I know. I share Stewart’s love of it. The beautiful – cosmic if you like Stewart – thing about it is that with the 1 dropped, it is never ending, it rolls without arriving, you could say it was an infinite groove, and the 70s drummers in Jamaica developed something utterly unique – especially with the cymbals also off the one and usually on the 4. Course, then Sly and Robbie came along and went boom whack. 80s reggae lost the one drop, and that unique style of often complex playing… These things happen, but it means that what the producers like King Tubby and the musicians were creating at the end of the 70s in Jamaica was very special.