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Books

The poor drummer is music’s goalkeeper — you only notice him if he screws up

No wonder drummers seem to bang on a bit sometimes, says Andrew Petrie: it’s the only way they can register their existence

16 May 2015

9:00 AM

16 May 2015

9:00 AM

Born to Drum: The Truth About the World’s Greatest Drummers — From John Bonham and Keith Moon to Sheila E. and David Grohl Tony Barrell

Dey Street, pp.302, £16.99, ISBN: 9780062307859

Tony Barrell can’t play the drums, but he’s in awe of those who can. ‘A band without a drummer is like a rocking chair that somebody has cruelly bolted to the floor,’ he writes in Born to Drum’s introduction. ‘While it may appear to rock, it actually doesn’t.’ Those who thrill to the sounds of anyone from Black Sabbath to the Buddy Rich Big Band would agree, but Barrell also aims to reach readers to whom names like these mean nothing with an inquiry more psychological than musical, namely: who would be a drummer?

In his first two chapters, entitled ‘Into...

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