What is going on? This is John Lawyer of Tantric
and you are listening to My Weekly Mixtape with
Brian Colburn. Let's get this party started.
Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me once again for tonight's collaboration
is John Laurie, drummer for Tantric. John, thank
you so much for joining me tonight again, man.
I'm so excited about this episode. You have no
idea. You were my guest earlier on episode nine,
the greatest drummers of all time. So I thought
for a logical follow -up, let's talk about the
drummers that we both consider underrated. Now
that right there is a loaded question. Because
if you really think about this, there's somebody
on this earth. I haven't met them yet, but there's
somebody who thinks Neil Peart from Rush is underrated
in some facet. So the word underrated could really
mean anything to anyone. So I'm very curious
to see where this playlist kind of heads tonight.
You know, I was thinking about the same thing.
And then I was thinking, you know, with the last
episode, we're talking about. songs that like
any drummer would would definitely say like this
is top this is it this is you know hot for teacher
if you're doing this sort of podcast topic of
best drummers of all time you almost feel like
you have to say those songs and for me personally
of course like hot for teacher but what about
all these other drummers facet that nobody talks
about or those drummers that get overshadowed
by someone else in the band that might be the
ripping guitar player or the ripping vocalist
and it's like oh well then there's this guy and
it's like no but did you listen to this did you
listen to this drum track this is a crazy topic
so i'm very very excited to talk about it Well,
let's not waste any more time and get right down
to business. Tonight, as I mentioned earlier,
John and I are curating an underrated drummer's
mixtape, and we're going to use that old cassette
deck approach. John, as my special guest, will
begin Side A with his first song choice, and
then I'll add a song that I feel best follows
up his choice. We'll then flip -flop choosing
songs until we've mapped out 10 songs for Side
A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial flip
and we'll map out side B, only this time I'll
kick the side off with John choosing second.
Our overall goal for this episode is to craft
the best underrated drummer's mixtape possible
through only 20 songs. At the end of the show,
you can take our conversation to the next level
by visiting the episode page at myweeklymixtape
.com to give our final mixtape a listen via the
embedded playlist. And finally, if you like what
you're hearing on the show, you can help me out
by either telling a friend, leaving the show
a five -star review wherever you're tuning in,
or becoming a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com
forward slash myweeklymixtape. And a few of the
Patreon mixtapers chimed in with drummers that
they feel should be used to kick off an underrated
drummer's mixtape, and I want to give a shout
out to a few of those. Ben from the Too Vague
podcast chimed in with Alkaline Trio's Glenn
Porter and the song Cringe. Jason Donchus chimed
in with a few. Blackberry Smoke's Britt Turner
and Collective Soul's Johnny Robb, which he calls
the Kings of Groove. And something you might
be familiar with, he also added in Matt Tall
of Days of the New and the original Tantric drummer,
saying that these are massive grooves with tasty
fills and a unique sound. Cactus Pete chimed
in with Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Now, he made our greatest drummer's mixtape without
giving away too many spoilers. But Cactus Pete
is not sure that Chad Smith gets the recognition
he deserves and thinks that when you listen to
the Chickenfoot album, he was able to spread
his wings musically more and have that bigger
sound. So I think that's an interesting concept.
Seeker went with Cram from the Aussie band Spiderbait,
who also doubles as their lead singer. Sean Faust
chimed in with Scott Travis of Judas Priest,
saying the Painkiller album makes a very impressive
announcement that he's the new drummer. And finally,
David Lee Smith chimed in with Montross' Denny
Karmasi and Space Station No. 5. Now, John, with
those picks out there to ponder over, I'm going
to officially press the record button on our
mixtape and pass the mic to you. Why don't you
dive into the song that you chose to kick off
side A? Now, with all of those out there, I'm
going to choose off of their album, All the Right
Reasons, Nickelback's Follow You Home, Daniel
Adair as the drummer. So everybody that hates
Nickelback, just stop to listening. But. I will
say this. For one, I really wanted to talk about
him last podcast. Daniel Adair is the drummer
that kicked it off for me as a drummer. Seeing
him live for the first time, it was my first
concert ever. Seeing Nickelback was my first
concert. And so, you know. I had back and forth
on should I be a drummer? Should I not? You know,
my brothers all pick guitar. So I was like, ah,
what am I going to do? And if it wasn't for Daniel
Adair and seeing him play live, I wouldn't be
a drummer. Definitely. So Follow You Home, though,
kicks off this record with this crazy double
bass pattern. And you don't expect that from
Nickelback, right? And at this point in their
career, they already had the most. played song
on radio. So it's like, what else are you going
to do? This is a new drummer coming into a new
album. How do you kick it off? And this song
does exactly that. So it's a great groove. It's
a great tune, but that double bass intro just
solidifies it as, okay, this guy can play all
the ballads, but he can also do this. So. 100
% agree on that one. I think I've said before,
and I said this on the last drummers episode.
Metallica's Black Album had this drum sound that
was just so massive and so signature. And I feel
like Nickelback in their heavier songs tries
to incorporate that really larger than life drum
sound. Because when you listen to the opening
drums on Follow You Home, it almost sounds like
you're in a cathedral with them. And they're
just so loud and so big. That the song has nowhere
to go but heavier from there. And the pattern
that he's playing with the double kick really
drives it home that people don't realize Nickelback
is, first and foremost, a meat and potatoes hard
rock band. And a song like Follow You Home shows
that they can do it just as well as any other
hard rock band on the planet. But for some reason,
the ballads are what give them That whole soccer
mom hate that I feel like is truly unjustified.
So I love the pick. Yeah, it's just a great tune.
And he's one of those drummers, he's been on
a ton of stuff. So he was in Three Doors Down
initially. So before Nickelback, he was in Three
Doors Down and he was on most of those hits from
their earlier records other than the first album,
which is Brad Arnold playing drums. But Daniel
Adair is just one of those prolific rock drummers
that's been around since the early 2000s. And
he just keeps showing it time after time on all
the Nickelback records that he can hold back
and play. a groove no problem not play any drum
fills keep it simple and then he'll let loose
on tracks like this and then shows like okay
yeah all right this guy can actually play well
following that up i want to go with a track two
that stays heavy but has a groove that is undeniable
from a drummer that has done so much Yet people
don't talk about him as much as I think they
truly should. And that drummer's name is Mike
Borden. And I am going to go to 1992's Angel
Dust, Faith No More, Midlife Crisis. That drum
beat is so tribal and so infectious, but the
song is heavy to the point where when Disturbed
covered Midlife Crisis. I love disturbed, but
it didn't pack the punch that the original did.
People don't realize Mike Borden is everywhere.
He's played with Jerry Cantrell on the degradation
trip album. He played with Ozzy. He did the re
-recordings of blizzard of Oz and diary of a
madman in 2002. He did the undercovers album,
black rain down to earth. He toured with Ozzy
for years. He's played with corn. He's played
with Primus. People don't talk about Mike Borden
enough. And Faith No More is such an underrated
band overall. I know they sell out arenas, but
people don't realize just how prolific this band
is. And Mike Borden is such a huge part of that.
So I'm going to follow up Nickelback's Follow
You Home with Faith No More's Midlife Crisis.
love it that's a great pick and mike borden has
been everywhere like i was just once you said
his name i immediately thought ozzy re -records
and also uh to that point the black album sounds
carry through into that song for sure but the
tribal drum beat is yeah undeniable well where
do you go from here uh Underrated, and again,
like I mentioned at the very beginning, there
are these guys that get overshadowed by somebody
else in the band. I was thinking about this because
we didn't talk about them last time, but I'm
going with Five Minutes Alone by Pantera, Vinnie
Paul. That's my favorite Pantera track because
of how heavy it is. Far Beyond Driven, that's
probably their heaviest record. So one, I think
Vinnie Paul is underrated because Dimebag Daryl
is always the guy that got the spotlight. Vinnie
Paul has been through a bunch of different things,
even into bands like Hell Yeah. But he's always
that guy that is the pocket groove guy. So he'll
do these things that are super flashy and whatever.
But if you listen to the very middle, the very
breakdown of Five Minutes Alone, it's just kick,
snare, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. It's like
not this over the top part, but it's so heavy.
And the way he played was just that massive drumming.
So Vinnie Paul. Absolutely love it. I mean, he
did some amazing stuff. You think about Damage
Plan. You think about all the stuff he did with
Hell Yeah. Hell Yeah's last album that they put
out with songs like 333 and Oh My God. His drumming
never. lost a step. And it is such a bummer that
he passed. I got to see the Pantera reunion project
open for Metallica and MetLife stadium. And I'll
tell you, Charlie from anthrax is holding it
down with a lot of respect. And Charlie is literally
one of the founders of the blast beat. So to
me, Charlie was like, an influence to Vinny and
now he's paying tribute to him. And you really
hear the intricacies of what he's doing in Pantera
because some of the stops and the fills surrounding
dime bags, guitars. If you think of a song like
Walk with the guitar solo, some of the stops
and nuances that he does to let Dime solo over
it, it's actually a lot more complicated than
the riff makes it seem. And I'm so glad that
you brought him up because he is just such a
big part of what I love so much about metal music.
And I'm so sad that he's no longer with us. So
amazing pick. Yeah, for sure. Well. You used
a word when you talked about him and I have to
follow up that word because you talked about
groove and Vinnie Paul brought a groove to Pantera.
I am going to go with a drummer that I feel has
one of the most undeniable grooves on a hard
rock album ever. However, the problems he's had
in his life have overshadowed. This brilliant
drumming effort. And I'm going to go back to
1987 and I'm going to go with Steven Adler from
Appetite for Destruction. And I'm going to go
with Rocket Queen, because when you think about
a swagger to the drums, this song has such. a
groove to it that even when Matt Sorum joined
and Matt Sorum is another drummer that could
be discussed at some point tonight because of
the stuff he did with the cult velvet revolver
and with guns and roses. But when he played Steven
Adler era songs, they were extremely tight, perfect
for the use your illusion tours. But the groove
was slightly missing. And every time I watch
Guns N' Roses perform now, even the drummer they
have with them now does a fantastic job. But
there's something about the nuances that Steven
brought to those songs that I think make Appetite
for Destruction the classic album that it is.
So I am going to follow up Pantera and Vinnie
Paul with Steven Adler, Guns N' Roses, Rocket
Queen. That's a great, great choice. And I've
been thinking about it because I've had kids
that they want to learn Welcome to the Jungle
or whatever. And so many of those grooves off
of that record were so hard to replicate live
because it's not him. It's not the guy that wrote
it. Matt Sorum did a great job, like you said,
and for a number of years. But those grooves
that he created for those songs are undeniable.
And there is one part, though, we talked about
it beforehand, not off camera. We talked about
it with those moments where you're like, did
he mean to do that? At the very beginning of
Sweet Child of Mine, he starts on the hi -hat
and then goes to the ride. Yep. Like first note
in. And I'm like, was that intentional or not?
Anyway, sorry to get off topic. But Stephen Adler,
fantastic drummer. Great choice. Underrated for
sure. Well, now following it up, what do you
got? I like all these choices, and we've kind
of gone to a... We started pretty darn heavy
and then worked our way to the lighter side.
This one came to me very last minute, but I'm
going to go with Steve Smith from Journey on
Separate Ways. Ooh. We didn't talk about Journey
last time, and it's very rare that anybody even
brings up Steve Smith. But listen to this song.
The drum fills in the very middle or towards
the end of it, that whole drum break section,
that thing is nuts. And that fill going into
the second chorus, the ba -da -ba -da -ba -da
-ba -da -ba. Someday love will find you. He's
playing all of these crazy... fills throughout
it, but that chorus is just straight kick, snare,
kick, snare, kick, snare, driving the whole show.
You know, he's been prolific on a ton of other
Journey tracks, you know, but I feel like this
one really showcases all of his drumming. And
let's just be honest, when people think Journey,
they think of Steve Perry or Arnell's voice,
because that's kind of a signature. They think
the opening piano to Don't Stop Believin'. and
then you automatically go to the guitar sound.
I mean, that is Journey. Neil Sean, but you don't
think about the fact that these drums, Journey
was a progressive band in the 70s, and the timing
and the complication in these drums, even though
the songs don't necessarily give off the complexity
that is happening, the nuances, like you talked
about, really shine through. Yeah. And I think
following that up, I'm going to go even a little
lighter than Journey. But with a band that I'm
nervous, I'm actually nervous to say this one
because people are immediately going to yell
and they're going to go, oh, come on. He should
have been included on The Greatest Drummers.
And I agree. Yeah. However, when you're in a
band and the bass player and lead singer is Sting,
you are overshadowed. And Stuart Copeland is
one of the greatest. groove, punk, rock, reggae,
jam, whatever you want to call it, drummers that
I have ever heard. He makes The Police, an already
excellent band, better. And the song I'm going
to go back is off of 1979's Regatta De Blanc,
and I'm going with their massive hit, Message
in a Bottle. Most people don't think about what's
happening. in drums in that song because you're
so fixated on the lyrics and the guitar work
his drumming in that is insane it's obscene what
he's doing in that song going from double time
and the random hi -hat bells that he's ringing
in the middle like he is flailing around that
drum kit like animal from the muppets yet he
never overplays the song no He knows exactly
how to play for the song, but still keep it complex
and nuanced. And that thought process is why
he had no problem stepping into Oysterhead with
Trey Anastasio and Les Claypool and making that
so unique because he could follow. Those guys
who are top tier in terms of where is their mind
going musically, he's able to keep up with it.
And to me, no matter how amazing he is and how
he should be included on every best drummers
list, I still think he's underrated. I 100 %
agree because. You've got to approach it from
a couple different angles, but to the average
listener, if you asked anybody outside of the
music world, like, hey, do you know who Stuart
Copeland is? They'll go, I don't know. If you
say, who's Sting? The guy's one word. That's
his name. It's just Sting, right? It's like you're
not going to get as many people recognizing Stuart
Copeland outside of the music world. Now, to
drummers, to me growing up, a funny story about
Message in a Bottle. I had to learn that song
note for note because I had a drum teacher that
we were going over a bunch of songs like that
and some police tunes and Message in a Bottle
came up. So I like kind of like half -heartedly
played it at home. I'm like, I kind of got this
groove. Here we go. It's Message in a Bottle.
Like, you know, who cares, right? It's not going
to be that hard. And then I came in and played
it like the next week in my lesson and my drum
teacher's like, nope, nope, totally wrong. Totally
wrong. And I was like, What do you mean? Like,
I'm kind of doing it right. And he's like, no,
we're going to learn this thing note for note.
And we did. And I didn't realize how much was
going on in that song until I broke it apart.
Stuart Copeland's a reggae drummer at the end
of the day. He's a reggae drummer that knew how
to play punk rock of the time. So it's like doing
that and adding that into a song like Message
in a Bottle or any of those other police tunes.
You don't realize that. the snare and the bass
drum in reggae music land together. So it's like
one and a two and three and four. And there's
never a bass drum on the one. So Stuart Copeland
was the king of adding that into music that should
have had that bass drum on the one. So a message
in a bottle. Great choice. All right. Well, what
do you got to follow that up with then? Because
now we've gone from like heavy and we're kind
of trickling this set list down here on the side.
I had to for this slot, but I have to bring him
up because again, it's like, how could you not
say him in the first episode of Greatest Drummers
of All Time? And in my heart, I was sad because
we didn't talk about him because he is like the
second biggest influence on my drumming. Bill
Ward from Black Sabbath, symptom of the universe
off of sabotage. Listen to that drum track. I
like I can't pick a Bill Ward song, a favorite
Bill Ward drum song because it's too hard. But
if you want to look at his chops as a drummer,
Symptom of the Universe is the song that I'm
still working out to this day because it is so
fast and so complicated. He takes these long
drum breaks over top of Tony Iommi's. And he's
just doing these. crazy, rudiment drum fills
over his kit all throughout it, and then straight
into a straight groove. I love Bill Ward. He's
one of my favorite drummers of all time, and
I was so sad that we didn't put him on the greatest
drummers list, but I do think because of Ozzy
and Tony Iommi, he doesn't get the credit that
he deserves. Bill Ward is one of those drummers
that, I mean, Black Sabbath invented or was part
of inventing heavy metal music. And just think
about the title track from their debut album,
the song Black Sabbath. The way that he's using
drums to almost give off a horror vibe, the rolls
and the fills where they're not on the beat,
but they're meant to be like swells with Ozzy's
vocals. Think about at the time when this album
came out, there was nothing like that at all
because it was heavy, but there was this tinge
of psychedelic in it. But then there were these
creepy lyrics. And then when they got heavier
and heavier, there was just something about his
timing. He's a human metronome for one. And then
on top of that, just some of the unique complexities
that he brought to songs making the drums musical.
For example. war pigs how often is a hi -hat
a musical instrument where i and you know what
i mean by that obviously it's a musical instrument
because it's the hi -hat but played in a musical
sense because i don't care who you are if you
walk up to somebody and be like hey people know
what song you're talking about Yes. That is how
musical of a drummer he is. So I love, love,
love the pick. And now coming out of Sabbath,
I'm going to bring it up a couple decades. Sure.
And I'm going to go with a band that, again,
is hiding in the shadows of one of the best of
all time. And I've mentioned the name before
because Stuart Copeland sat behind Trey Anastasio
and Les Claypool in Oysterhead. Tim Herb Alexander.
sat behind Les Claypool in Primus. And in Primus,
everything is being overshadowed by the bass
and by Les' unique vocal delivery. However, you
take a song like Over the Electric Grapevine
from 1995's Tales from the Punchbowl, Tim Herb
Alexander makes that song amazing because you
need to keep up. with wherever Les' head is going.
And not only did he keep up with it, he was in
unison with this weirdness that was happening
in the middle of the song. And the drum fills
and breakdowns in this tune are absolutely sick.
I could even go with the hit from that album,
Winona's Big Brown Beaver, that was all over
the radio. If you listen to the drums on that,
it's a little more refined, but the fills complement
the bass runs that... Les is doing. So he always
knew exactly where Les was and where he needed
to be. And over the electric grapevine, to me,
is his shining moment of a drum track. And Primus
obviously deserves some recognition because you're
keeping up with Les Claypool. So over the electric
grapevine. That's a great choice. And I think
Primus in general is so out there, even from
a drummer standpoint. So to try to play that.
from my perspective is like, I'm not him at all.
I've tried to play Primus songs and I can't do
it. Also to your point, how often is a instrument
like a hi -hat, a musical instrument, the ride
bell on If you start that, you know, on that
ride cymbal back there. People are going to go,
oh, that's Primus. It's just a great, great little
nuance. But yeah, great choice. Love Primus.
All right. You have one pick left for side A.
So what do you got for it? All right. I was again
going. It's been cool because we've kind of been
like, you know, back and forth. It's like a good
old tennis match here. I want to pay homage to
the guy that. gave me a job, basically. And one
of the harder jobs I've ever had to do was figuring
out his drum grooves. And we mentioned him earlier,
but Matt Tall from Tantric, the original drummer
of Tantric, their song Live Your Life is such
a great drum groove. It's my favorite drum groove
out of all the Tantric songs that I get to play
every time. Funny story about this tune. I learned
it when I was going out with the guys the first
time. And I was like, yeah, I've got this groove.
All right, cool. It's an interesting hi -hat
pattern. I'm like, I think I got it. Two years
later, I listened to it with good headphones
through like a good system on CD. And I'm like,
oh my gosh, I've been playing this groove wrong
for two years. And it's the littlest nuance on
the hi -hat. I was doing like 30 second notes.
He was doing 16th note triplets on this part.
And I was like. I can't believe that I've been
playing this so wrong. That's the genius of Matt
Tall. Hugo, my singer, he always said that Matt
was one of those guys that was, he was so out
there and so eccentric. He's got so many funny
stories about this guy, but he could never play
the same thing twice. He was always this jam
band style drummer, but the grooves and the things
he created for these tantric songs that I've
had to learn off the first two records are my
absolute favorite. tantric songs out there it
was jam band style stuff it was out there playing
verses on the ride playing choruses on the hi
-hat having hand drums where usually we hear
it drummer perspective so we'll hear hi -hats
in the left and we'll hear rides on the right
tantric was flipped so hi -hats were on the right
Rides were on the left. It was crowd perspective.
Just those little things about his drumming style
and what he carved his sound as, I've really
modeled a lot of this career being in Tantric
off of Matt Tall. So I have to throw him in there.
I have to give a lot of respect to that. Just
like Patreon mixtaper Jason Donchus said at the
top of the hour, you also have to think about
the stuff he did with Days of the New. Let's
just use Touch, Peel, and Stand, for example,
which... He has that jam band style, but the
nuances, because when you're playing in a band
that's primarily acoustic driven like Days of
the New, you could easily overplay those songs
and take them out of the element. But he knew
how to fall into where it needed to be for those
tracks and keep that sound really engaging, but
not in a showboating kind of way. Just take the
verse of Touch, Peel and Stand. And that's my
example here. And I feel like it's a perfect
spot to put in here. And speaking to the guy
that has to play them every night, I think it's
amazing to hear that because there's probably
no other person on this earth that could speak
better to the experience of what it's like to
play these songs because people are in the crowd
expecting a certain vibe and you need to capture
that. And there's got to be a challenge in that,
I'm guessing. The biggest compliment that I ever
get is the people that come up and go, dude,
you sound exactly like the record. I don't want
to sound like John Laurie. John Laurie's got
his own sound. John Laurie will put his own sound
on whatever tantric record comes in the future.
But I want to do the job of the songs that these
people all know from 20 years ago. They don't
want to hear John Laurie's interpretation. So
I got to put a lot of credit to Matt Tall because...
these songs have one, they've made me a better
drummer and a better performer and all of that,
of course, but it's given me the job to do something
justice that people grew up with. And to get
that compliment, you know, every night of somebody
saying like, dude, you really do those songs
justice. That is like above. I don't want to
hear John Laurie's a great drummer. I want to
hear John Laurie's doing the right job. amazing
and i also love the fact that you took the liberty
and played double bass throughout the entire
song of breakdown because that's unexpected where
it's just the entire time really create yeah
i wanted i wanted my artistic freedom on that
so i was like oh blast beats is that here's here's
the song everybody knows and you drop into a
blast beat yeah see if i was if i heard that
i would go like man why you gotta show off like
that you know it's like I don't want to hear
that. If somebody were to come in and do any
sort of song by another drummer, it's like, you've
got to do it right. Whether or not you're better
than that, like we talked about with Pantera,
for Charlie to come in and do the songs the way
that Vinny did them, that takes a lot of credit.
You have to do these songs that people are expecting.
They expect it to sound a certain way, and you
have to do that. Well, closing out Side A, we've
stayed on kind of the heavier rock side of the
spectrum here. But because you went with Tantric,
I feel like I have the perfect closer for this
side. And it's a band that when you mention the
name. I don't think this name comes up until
maybe third or fourth in the band's notoriety
rankings. Musicians and drummers will immediately
say, yes, I know why you picked this. But the
average music listener, when I say the band name,
might raise an eyebrow. And the band is Alice
in Chains. But I am going to go off of 1994's
Jar of Flies with no excuses. Following up Tantric,
I don't think I can with a good conscience follow
it up with a song like Them Bones or Man in the
Box, but No Excuses checks off all the boxes
that musically flows from Tantric into Alice
in Chains, as well as kind of across this entire
side of a mixtape that we've made here. But Sean
Kinney's drums in that track, where it's, you
know, it's so rhythmic that jerry cantrell's
acoustic guitar and then you have the two -part
harmony that alice in chains is just known for
i mean that is probably the number one thing
people think about is lane and jerry cantrell's
vocals harmonizing over each other but You take
any other type of beat and you put it into No
Excuses, and that song's not a hit. Sean Kinney
is definitely an underrated drummer, and that's
what I'm going to go to close outside A. Love
it. I had an Alice in Chains song on my list.
I had Sean Kinney on the list. I had Wood, but
that's just because I love that drum intro. And
again, he was the type of drummer where he was
busy enough, like you were talking about, with
that song specifically. It wasn't that he was
just keeping a straight groove. But he was adding
his flair into it, but it never overshadowed.
It never took the spot of like, oh, you're just
listening to Sean Kenny's band. You still were
like, oh, Jerry Cantrell, you know, Elaine Staley.
You're thinking those two guys. But the background
that he was able to provide for a lot of Alice
in Chains songs, even to this day, he's like
still crushing it. Yeah, Wood was also on my
list, but I think coming out of Tantric, I just
feel like from a musical standpoint, No Excuses
has a little bit more of a vibe to kind of close
out. Starting with Nickelback, I just felt like
No Excuses was a better bookend on this instance,
but Wood is an incredible song. Well, there you
have it, folks. That concludes side A of our
greatest underrated drummer's mixtape, which
consists of Nickelback, Follow You Home, Faith
No More, Midlife Crisis, Pantera's Five Minutes
Alone, Guns N' Roses, Rocket Queen, Journey's
Separate Ways, Worlds Apart, The Police, Message
in a Bottle, Black Sabbath, Symptom of the Universe,
Primus, Over the Electric Grapevine, Tantric,
Live Your Life, and Alice in Chains, No Excuses.
Head to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the
songs we've discussed in this mix through the
playlist embedded on the episode page. Now, John,
before we flip things over and start Side B,
it's been a pretty busy year over at the Tantric
camp. And now Tantric is a part of Creed's Summer
of 99 Cruise, which is on sale right now. More
importantly, have you ever played drums on a
boat before? Yeah. I mean, first off, it's my
first cruise that I've ever been on. Never been
on a cruise my whole life. Uh -oh. Yeah, I know.
I know. It's like, oh, hey, where's John? We're
supposed to be playing right now. Oh, he's over
the side barfing. But, no, I... When I got this
call, I said, no way. Like, first thing, you
know, Creed, we've played with Scott Stapp a
bunch. And years ago when we were playing together,
I approached Scott and I was like, hey, man,
you know, this is a great package. It was us,
Hinder, Drowning Pool and Scott Stapp. And so
I was like. we should do this more often. He's
like, you know what? We should do this more often.
I was like, all right. So then this Creed thing
came up. I was like, I'd like to hope that I
said something that was like, hey, Tantric's
still here. But yeah, I am just beyond blessed
to be a part of this. It's Creed. Three Doors
Down, Vertical Horizon. It's just like a bunch
of groups that I grew up listening to from the
early 2000s. And I don't know, there's really
no words. And then we got picked up for a second
cruise. So right after those five days on that
first cruise with Creed and Three Doors Down
and us and everybody else, then we go two days
off and we have to head to Orlando and then we
pick up the... Same crews again, slightly different
lineup, Daughtry's on it and a couple other bands
like Jimmy's Chicken Shack hops on. Nice. Yeah,
so all of these bands are coming back and it's
like one big nostalgia trip, but I could not
be more excited. And with that, we're hoping
to bring a new record on the horizon and hoping
to do some recording going into October and such.
So it's like things are moving, things are happening.
I couldn't be more happy. Awesome. Well, I'm
going to give you one bit of advice. If you happen
to have one of the sets that are outside on a
cruise ship, you probably won't have an overhang.
So my old hard rock band 20 years ago opened
for Zach Wild's Black Label Society at the Stone
Pony on the summer stage. And our drummer made
the mistake of putting suntan lotion on his forehead
before we went on. And in the middle of the first
song, it leaked into his eyeballs. And he basically
spent the whole song screaming. He kept the beat
the whole time. So kudos to him for that. But
that song was never more intense. He was hitting
the drums like he wanted to murder them because
his eyes. So at the end of the song, a bottle
of water flew over my head up to him. He caught
it, poured the whole bottle of water over his
face, looked at us and gave us the thumbs up
and just said, go, keep going. So don't put any
suntan lotion on a. Above your cheeks. Yeah,
that's it. That's it. I'll just burn from the
top. Yeah, there you go. Oh, my gosh. That's
too funny. Well, I am looking forward to hearing
more about this cruise. We'll let people know
at the end of the episode where they can find
out more. Now we're going to flip over to side
B and kick off our underrated drummers mixtape.
And when I think about classic drum songs, I've
said a million times over on this show. I know
I've beaten it to death, but. The Cars self -titled
album is my favorite album of all time. And when
people think about The Cars, they think about
Rick Okasik, his vocals, his production, Benjamin
Orr, his vocals, his bass playing, Greg Hawks,
the keyboards. You talk about Elliot Easton's
tasty guitar riffs. But behind all of that, the
iconic drum sounds of David Robinson. And I'm
going to go with, because we're starting off.
Side B, I'm going to go with the song that starts
off Side B on my favorite album of all time.
From 1978's The Cars, I'm going with the track
You're All I've Got Tonight. Now, I've said this
before on the show. The drums he plays on this
song are absolutely thunderous. In the 1990s,
for the Bullet With Butterfly Wings CD single,
Smashing Pumpkins covered this song. And it introduced
a lot of nineties kids to this song. They didn't
know it was a cars cover. As soon as I heard
the drum beat, I'm like, Oh my God, they're doing
one of my favorite car songs. I respect smashing
pumpkins version, but it will never be as heavy
as the cars because David Robinson's drum sound
on that track is just another level. If you play
it on a good stereo, the wall shake just from
the drums. And that to me really says all I want
to say about it. So starting off with a little
bit more of a classic rock tinge here, David
Robinson, the cars, you're all I've got tonight.
Yeah. David Robinson. I was going to say the
modern lovers comes to mind as well, but I mean
the cars. Yeah. Again, you don't think about
him at all. He's very much a background drummer,
but thunderous for sure. And a great choice to
kick it off. I don't know. Because now you went
with the classic rock thing, which is fine. That
totally works. All right. I'm going to pick somebody
that was on your show that I love the episode
for. And we talked about him previously off camera.
But Huey Lewis in the news. You think about Huey
Lewis. You don't think about anybody else. But
Bill Gibson on one of my favorite songs ever
is couple days off. That is a great. drum song.
The only thing I want everybody to go and listen
to is the very middle of the song with that drum
fill. The way they go into the solo section is
fantastic. When I first heard it, I'm like...
Are you kidding? This is a Huey Lewis and the
News song? Because everybody thinks about him
as, well, nobody thinks about him. That's why
he's on the underrated drummer's playlist. But
at the same time, it's like he had to do such
a job of being the background character to a
front man and being a part of the news. And then
to do a track like this, when I first heard it,
I was like, no way. If you're a fan of drummers,
I highly recommend you go back and check out
the Huey Lewis in the News episode with Bill
Gibson. So many great stories. Such a great guy.
Amazing drummer. I mean, he is, again, a human
metronome. And the grooves that he brings to
that band are undeniably underrated because the
news isn't the news without Bill behind the kit.
It's as simple as that. The thing that blew my
mind about that episode with him was that Tell
Me a Little Lie was like just a throwaway tune.
Dude, I swear to God, I literally hung up the
session with Bill and called my parents because
that was one of their favorite songs with me
as a kid. And I'm like, Dad, I got to break your
heart here. Tell Me a Little Lie by Huey Lewis
and the News was apparently a throwaway track.
And he went, you got to be kidding me. We always
talked about how this song wasn't a hit single.
And apparently. Wow. That's nuts. Anybody that
hasn't listened to that episode, you have to
go back. It is just a great episode overall for
drummers. And just, you know, like you said,
little tidbits of information. But that blew
my mind. I was like, especially for a second
song off a record, you're like, oh, well, they're
just bringing out all the A material first, you
know, and then the B sides are all the B sides.
I can't believe that that was just a throwaway
tune. Blew my mind. Same here. Well, following
up Huey Lewis. Hmm. All right. I'm going to go
back a little bit. I'm going to stay in this
kind of classic rock thing we got going here.
And I'm going to go with a band that is basically
God's gift to studio musicians. They are the
ultimate studio musicians band. And I don't think
people talk about the drums in this group enough
because they're so busy talking about the other
sums of the parts. But I'm going to go to Steely
Dan and 1977's Asia. I'm going with the title
track, Steve Gadd. I mean, to me, when you think
about Steely Dan, they're the ultimate musician's
band. They don't have a ton of songs where everybody's
up singing and dancing. Like the people that
I know that really love Steely Dan are either
obsessed with music or musicians. They have,
you know, Ricky Don't Lose Your Number and some
other songs that were big radio hits. But when
you listen to the rest of their albums, it's
a musician's cornucopia of just awesomeness.
So I'm going with Asia. Nice. Great. great choice
and this is this is really interesting first
off that drum solo in asia is like the drum solo
tons of drummers try to do that and he'll talk
about it in interviews and go yeah i mean it's
kind of like this or like it's a little bit of
that and you're like you don't know that note
for note like all of us are trying to learn it
note for note and you're just up here like like
you're just uh improvising the whole thing it's
like it's crazy And he's a drummer that's been
in a ton of stuff. Prolific studio drummer. Doesn't
get enough recognition for sure. I'm going to
do something maybe unprecedented. Maybe I shouldn't,
but I'm going to do it anyway. Because off of
Steely Dan's album Asia. is another drummer that
doesn't get enough recognition. In the drumming
community, he doesn't get enough recognition.
Well, he gets enough recognition in the drumming
community, I should say. In music as a whole,
this guy has been in everything. He's one of
my favorite drummers, Bernard Purdy on Home at
Last with the Purdy Shuffle. So this drummer
is so prolific in the drumming community that
he has a shuffle named after him. The Purdy Shuffle.
And every drummer from Jeff Porcaro in Toto to
John Bonham from Fool in the Rain off of In Through
the Outdoor, everybody's been trying to figure
out the Purdy Shuffle. And I've been so blessed
to have the opportunity to do a clinic with him
last year in November, where it was the Bucks
County Drum Company Drum Clinic of the Year.
And it was out here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
In this drum clinic, it was... Me, Kevin Sofera,
who's a local guy to New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
and Bernard Purdy doing this drum clinic. And
to watch Bernard talk for an hour and play. He
was playing and talking about how to do grooves
and how to be just, it's the light touch on the
drums. This guy is pushing like close to 90 now.
And he's still playing with just as much funk
and taste and groove. It's like, I wish that.
I could achieve that level of groove in my life.
And then the coolest part was after he started
his little clinic and I was done and I'm like,
oh, man, like I really kind of I wish I did better
because that's just what musicians do. We always
are so hard on ourselves. And he got up there
and he was playing and he stopped for a second.
He's like that young guy. He was all right. And
then he kept grooving. And I was like, oh, no
way. And then. Later on, I went and said, Mr.
Purdy, I just want to say I am such a big fan
of yours and everything that you've done. And
he's like, you, you, you are good. Keep doing
it. And I was like, to hear it from him? Are
you kidding? I could have died there. Struck
me down with lightning. I'd be fine and happy.
But yeah, Bernard Purdy, home at last. Steely
Dan. I first want to applaud you on the incredible
way you were able to find a loophole. in the
we don't choose bands a second time but this
is about the drummer not about the band so i
applaud your loophole for that bravo obviously
the purdy shuffle like to me i had a hard time
between asia and home at last because of that
reason but that drum solo in the middle of it
was like i think i'm gonna go with that one but
you nailed it and i love it as long as i'm able
to do that You know, we didn't talk about the
rules. I make up the rules as I go along. We
are fine. So following that up, you took a liberty.
So I'm going to take a liberty. And the liberty
I'm going to take is I'm going to use a drummer
that we included on our greatest drummer's mix
and also include him on our most underrated.
Because depending on who you ask. I feel like
this one would be that instance. And that is
Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the Jimi Hendrix
Experience. When you're behind Jimi Hendrix,
who's the greatest guitarist of all time, arguably,
you need to bring something unique and special
to the table. But when people talk about Jimi
Hendrix Experience, who are they talking about?
Talking about Jimi. Talking about Jimi. And he
stayed in that. kind of behind the spotlight
at all times but when you think about the grooves
that he brought to the songs he is the canvas
that jimmy was allowed to paint his musical wizardry
over and to me that speaks to the fact that it's
underrated because anytime you mention the jimmy
hendrix experience no one's going oh dude mitch
mitchell they're not And they should be because
without that iconic drumbeat, Manic Depression
is not the song that it is. I've seen bands cover
this song. They don't capture the groove. They
don't capture the uniqueness about the song.
I did have the chance to catch the Experience
Hendrix tour when Mitch Mitchell was still alive.
I want to say it was back in 2007. And even with
his health not being as good and him being up
there in age. He still sat down on that kit and
it was just riding a bike for him. And he still
had that magic to what he brought to the band.
So you pulled a little bit of a loophole. I'm
pulling one, even though he was featured on our
greatest drum tracks mix, which I'm not going
to say the song. I want you to go back and listen
to the other episode. Yeah, go listen. I'm not
going to say what song, but it's not. The one
I picked for tonight, which is Manic Depression.
Manic Depression is a great track. And that to
your point, exactly what you were saying. He
is so overshadowed by such a guitar monster.
You know, he's just that's Jimi Hendrix. It's
always going to be Jimi Hendrix. But he was such
a jazz drummer, too, because there was no rock
yet. They were inventing it at that time. So
all of his fills were these like tasty jazz licks
around a straight. feel and so it's really interesting
to try to play those songs and that's what us
modern drummers miss out on is most of us don't
grow up starting off with jazz we start off with
rock we start off with motley crew or whatever
all these straight feel bands to where it was
already ironed out but if you start off with
jazz like a guy like mitch mitchell You're going
to be playing that way in this straight feel
context. And that's exactly what he did. And
he did it perfectly. And I try to play those
Jimi Hendrix songs. I just I don't have the feel
for it. I didn't grow up with it, but he did.
And that's what makes him such a prolific drummer.
Well, we're kind of staying classic rock on this
side. So now I'm curious to see where you go
from here. I'm curious to see where I go to.
And I have to go with him because, again, overshadowed
by Guitar Monster. I'm going to go with Frank
Beard from ZZ Top on the track Just Got Paid.
Yes. I love ZZ Top. I think that they're one
of the best blues bands of all time, one of the
best Southern rock bands, one of the best rock
bands of all time. And even in their age, they're
still going. Frank Beard is still playing just
as good as he did back then as he is now. The
one thing he always had was that Texas blues
swagger to how he played. Things were shuffled.
Things were just bluesy. Even on Eliminator,
when things started to get a little bit more
straightforward MTV style. they were still able
to maintain their blues -ness about them. But
he's always overshadowed because everybody thinks
of Billy. Everybody thinks of him. So it's like
Frank Beard is just as big a drummer as Billy
is a guitar player. And Just Got Paid is a drum
-driven song. Make no mistake about it. I know
the riff is what people think of, but if you
just played a straight beat to that song... Cause
Mastodon did a cover of just got paid. Joe Bonamassa
has done a cover of just got paid and they're
all great, but they're not ZZ tops because there's
this little bit of what he's doing with the brush
on the snare on top in between the hits where
it's. And again, I'm not a drummer, so I might
totally make this sound, but he's hitting it
on the two and four, but he's also kind of dragging
it on the threes and the ones and kind of. giving
it that groove that if you just play it on the
twos and fours you lose that feel because the
song is bluesy and heavy but it also has a vibe
to it and i feel like those nuances are overlooked
yeah there and that's what made him one of at
least my favorite drummers was all of those ghost
notes and all of that additional material into
these grooves his hi -hat work on just got paid
is just something to look at so if you're a drummer
you have to go and check out this track if you
haven't sat down and listened to it you know
everybody thinks lagrange and all these other
bigger zz top songs but listen to just got paid
and you won't be disappointed couldn't agree
more and i think i know what i'm gonna follow
that up with we're staying classic rock it looks
like on this side and i have to go with one that
My parents owned on 8 -track when I was a kid.
Love it. And this song was so long that on the
8 -track, it faded out halfway through the song,
and then the 8 -track would flip to the next
side, and it would play the rest of the song.
And it always faded out during the song's drum
solo. Now, when I mention this song, this song,
it's kind of a love or hate with this song. But
I'm going to go with 1968 Iron Butterfly in Agata
DeVita. Ron Bushy's drums on that song. The drum
solo. I dabble with drums. I'm not great. I love
sitting down and practicing and kind of getting
a groove going and just having fun. I've played
drums for friends to jam for a night just for
the hell of it. I could keep a beat, but I'm
not anywhere near that I would ever play in front
of people. But I could do it and goof off and
have fun. The thing I always do when I'm warming
up is the drum solo. And it's this weird tribal
drum solo in the middle of this psychedelic acid
trip of a song where halfway through the tribal
beat. He starts adding the symbol in where it's.
And then it goes into this psychedelic trippiness.
So he changed timing a couple of times in this
drum solo and somehow brought them back to the
original opening of the song, which is 17 minutes
after. They originally started the song. The
radio version is only two minutes. So you can't
listen to the radio version because you're not
getting the Ron Bushy experience. You need to
listen to the full length version. And that's
the version I'm going to include on this playlist.
But the timing changes. There was not in 1968
and 1967, probably when they recorded this, they
didn't have the tools we have now. There may
have been metronomes involved, but a lot of these
bands recorded these tracks live. And to be able
to end at the same speed you started with 17
minutes earlier with timing changes is something
that to me blew my mind as a kid. And as I got
more and more into music and I got the CD event,
I got a DeVita where the drum solo never faded
out. It blew my mind even more. So I have to
give a shout out to this one. Iron butterfly
in a God of DeVita. Love it. This is that track
that musicians or. People that know that there's
a drum solo in that song, that's always the like,
well, do you know how to play the In a Gata De
Vida drum solo? It's like you're not a true drummer
yet unless you've played In a Gata De Vida the
right way. You can't just play the two -minute
version. No, no, no. You got to play that full
drum solo. And like you said, it's overlooked
because... it's iron butterfly. And that's like
the track. The radio version is what everybody
heard. Everybody heard the two minute version.
So then when you realize that there's a drum
solo attached to this thing, you have to go back
and listen to it. And he doesn't get enough credit.
That's for sure. And I'll tell you right now,
I miss drum solos and songs. I mean, like jam
bands will do it from now, you know, every now
and then, but think about the songs that you
hear on classic rock radio, Frankenstein by Edgar
winter group. obviously in a God of Davida radar
love by golden earring. Yeah. All these songs
had drum solos in it. The last time I heard a
drum solo in a song that was popular was a cover
of golden earrings, radar love by white lion,
where they did the video and they included the
drum solo in it. That is the last time I think
I've heard a drum solo in a rock track, but to
me, I miss them. And if they're done in the right
way, So iron butterfly definitely checks off
that box. Now you've got two picks left and I've
got one. So we're coming to the tail end of this
here. This might, I might have to flip just to,
to fit it in because I have to talk about them,
but. If we're talking about drum solos and we're
talking about guys that do them well, he's never
done one in a track. And to your point, I miss
that. Nobody does drum solos. And honestly, I
don't either. Right. It's one of those things
that even live, they kind of stopped happening
because it's just song after song after song.
And a drummer will get a break or I'll get these
like trash can endings where I get to throw out
all the drum solo material I know. And just like,
here it is. This is what I can do. And you get
those moments. But there's not a whole lot of
drum solo material going on. But one of my favorite
drummers of all time. the guy I've probably ripped
off a lot of my material from, off of a band
that you may or may not know, I know you know
them, but the listener may or may not know, is
John Fred Young from Blackstone Cherry. The song
is Blind Man. Yes! That is the song that... changed
the game for me as a drummer because at the time
I was only really listening to classic rock and
I was listening to things of that nature I had
Nickelback from when I was a kid not a whole
lot of modern bands did it for me to where I
was like like I need something else I need a
good musician behind the song too like I need
a drummer to aspire to be and when I saw the
music video for blind man for the first time
I'm like This guy hits hard, and in the song,
in the very middle, there's these drum breaks
where he's throwing in these crazy fills. I remember
being a young little John Laurie listening to
this song going, how do I do that? Like, what
can I do? And I have studied probably every single
Blackstone Cherry song that there is. I mean,
maybe not much of the recent stuff, but when
I was a kid... It was all I played. It was all
I listened to. When I saw that John Fred Young
was a showman, I was like, I want to be like
that guy. I want to be a showman just like that
guy. So I've ripped off probably so much of his
career, but he was just that drummer that changed
it all for me. So I have to bring him up. Absolutely
love it. You scooped me on the band and the song.
Because that middle part, the like, I can't even
do it with my mouth. The Muppets animal flailing
that he's doing. But it fits so well leading
into that guitar solo. It like amplifies it.
It gets you psyched for the rest of the song.
Criminally underrated. Blackstone Cherry is one
of those bands that every time they put out an
album, I buy it the day it comes out. Every song
on it, I'm like, this is fantastic. I've got
their live Blu -ray. I don't get how they haven't
made the jump to a larger status because every
album they've put out has had at least five or
six songs that I think could be smash radio hit
singles. Yep. And I just don't feel like they've
caught fire yet, but I know it's going to happen.
It's just a matter of when. And they do. They're
huge overseas. If you go to the UK, they're selling
out stadiums over there. They're huge over there
because rock music is still really big over there.
We're in America where rock music isn't as big
as it used to be. So harder to break out in that
market. But their vocals, their harmonies, their
musicianship, their live show, everything about
this band is fantastic. And like you said, I
still do it, too. I buy the record the day it
comes out and I listen to it all the way through
and I'll probably spin it for like, you know,
a month after it comes out and just play it till
the album just stops playing. But it's just one
of those bands that is so underrated as musicians.
But John Fred Young as a drummer, every time
I watch him play, I just go back home and start
practicing again because I'm like. I'm just not
there yet. He's just got it. And I'm lucky and
very fortunate to call him a friend and a mentor.
And they're just a great band that I just keep
praying that they'll get that top hit. They did
have a top country hit that was picked up by
Florida Georgia Line. So at least they had that.
At least the song got out there. It's not the
Florida Georgia Line song. Their version is not
as good as the Blackstone Cherry version by any
means. If you don't know Stay by Blackstone Cherry,
you have to listen to their version, not the
Florida Georgia Line version. But at least their
song got out there to the masses. Which is why
I feel like they just need it for them because
- Yes. I mean, really, Stay was everywhere in
Florida. I'm like, why isn't - Because back in
the 90s, there was an instance where I Swear
was a big hit for John Michael Montgomery and
then like - Within six months, All For One did
an R &B version and they were both hits. How
the hell did Blackstone Cherry's version not
explode at the same time? It forever baffles
me. Yep. So they have a touch of Southern rock
to them. So for my last song. I am going to go
back to classic rock, but I'm going to touch
on the southern rock that Blackstone Cherry brings
to their music. And I'm also going to go back
and give another shout out to Patreon Playlister
Seeker because he chimed in with Cram from the
Aussie band Spiderbait because he doubles as
the lead singer. Now, that's happened before
in bands, and I feel like I want to include a
singing drummer because to me, that is two parts
of the brain working simultaneously. to be able
to keep a beat and keep your notes, keep on pitch.
To me, that is underrated in and of itself. But
I'm going to go with the one that I feel did
it better than anyone else. And I'm sure somebody
can come up with an argument, but I feel like
one of the best to ever do it. I'll just say
that. So I don't say the greatest, but I'll say
one of. And I'm going to go with Levon Helm from
the band. And I'm going to go with 1969 self
-titled album Up on Cripple Creek. Again, this
is a swampy New Orleans rock tune. The groove
on it is so funky and so jazzy, but there's this
rock element to it. And as he's doing it, he's
singing the damn song at the same time. Yeah.
I can't stress enough. You've got your arms and
feet independently moving and you're singing.
I've seen a lot of drummers sing harmonies where
they'll go in and do a couple of lines here and
there. But to take the entire vocal melody behind
the kit and pull it off as flawlessly as he did
is something that I'll never forget. And one
of my favorite concert experiences of my life
was going to the Levon Helm tribute at the then
Izod Center in New Jersey. And we got to watch
band after band pay tribute to Levon Helm. And
it was just such an amazing night of music. And
Up on Cripple Creek, to me, is just a signature
band. So I could have went with the weight. I
could have went with. But I'm thinking drums
more than. the entire song, but up on Cripple
Creek's drums are just perfect. So that's my
last song of the night. I love it because that
is one of the hardest things. I try the harmony
thing for Tantric and I can only do so much.
That is a hard thing to sing. And his voice too,
being so soulful as it was. Maybe one could argue
it's not like this technically proficient. He's
not hitting like all these runs and notes and
whatever. But to do it and to do it so well,
very hard thing to do. And I love up on Cripple
Creek. You can't help but sing along to that
tune as well. So great, great choice. I'm pulling
it. and audible actually oh really you know i
have so many in the bank that's what still makes
this hard because we thought like the greatest
drummers of all time was hard doing this and
having to get underrated drummers it's still
i've got like i don't know 20 more on my list
that i that i could pull from and so it's still
such a challenge for me to actually choose the
last one but you said singing drummer and so
I want to keep it with that he is highly underrated
but Don Brewer from Grand Funk Railroad we're
an American band I feel like that caps it off
that is one of the best drum intros out there
another one of those things that if you start
playing that You don't even have to do the cool
stuff yet. You just have to play that cowbell
with that groove and everybody knows right away
what that is. The single pedal style. That's
one of those things that once I learned that
John Bonham and John Fred Young and Don Brewer
were all. single pedal guys i threw away my double
bass i'm like i don't need that i'm like i just
need to do single pedal so that was one of those
songs that for me growing up i'm like all right
i gotta go faster i gotta go faster but not there
yet all right next time so yeah we're an american
band and he's singing the whole thing so it's
like come on and it's also strangely poetic that
you closed with that and i'll give you a reason
why the greatest drummers episode you closed
and I'm not going to say what song but you closed
with the Beatles and Grand Funk Railroad one
of their biggest claims to fame was selling out
their appearance at Shea Stadium in New York
City faster than the Beatles and why you may
ask it's the talent of Mark Don and Mel and I
absolutely applaud the pick A perfect poetic
ending to our side B of greatest underrated drummers
mixtape, which consists of The Cars, You're All
I've Got Tonight, Huey Lewis and the News, Couple
Days Off, Steely Dance Asia, Steely Dance Home
at Last, We Allowed It, Jimi Hendrix Experiences
Manic Depression, ZZ Top, Just Got Paid, Iron
Butterflies, In a Gata De Vida, Blackstone Cherries,
Blind Man, the bands Up on Cripple Creek, and
Grand Funk Railroads, We're an American Band.
Head over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all
the songs we've discussed in this mix through
the playlist embedded on the episode page. Now,
John, we talked about the Summer of 99 Cruise.
Why don't you tell people a little bit more about
how they can learn more about that, how they
can get tickets, how they can come hang and anything
else that's going on in the Tantra camp that
you want to talk about and how they can get in
touch with you. Yeah. So summer of 99 cruise
is April. The first cruise is already sold out.
But as far as I know, the second. you can check
the dates on that, the one with Daughtry. That
one still has cabins available. So head on over
to summerof99cruise .com and you can catch them
there. And then on top of that, Tantric's got
dates all over the place. So we're touring through
October. We're doing a lot of Northeast stuff.
So if anybody's in the area, come on out. Hopefully
a new record soon. And then for me, I'm always
drumming and making nonsense content. So you
can go and see that. at Instagram at John's drum
studio, J O N S no H. We don't do that in my
family. And so John's drum studio, you can connect
with me there and on Facebook, John Laurie. And,
uh, yeah, that's about it. I got a lot going
on this year, but I'm very, very blessed and
very stoked. Well, I am very, very thankful that
you took time out of your crazy schedule to join
me again tonight. It's always a pleasure talking
music with you. Thank you so much for joining
me again on my weekly mixtape. Thanks, Brian.
Appreciate it. Remember, mixtapers, you can find
my weekly mixtape on all the social media haunts
at my weekly mixtape. You can also head to my
weekly mixtape dot com to check out the full
catalog of my weekly mixtape episodes. If you
like what you're hearing on the show. Let me
just scroll back. I'm sorry about that. If you
like what you're hearing on the show, you can
help me out by either telling a friend. leaving
the show a five -star review wherever you're
tuning in, or by becoming a Patreon mixtaper
at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape.
That's all for this week. Thanks again for listening,
and until next time, enjoy the tunes.