Tim Drummond
Encyclopedia
Tim Drummond is an American
bass guitar
ist who has toured and recorded with many notable artists including Conway Twitty
, Bob Dylan
, James Brown
, Eric Clapton
, Neil Young
, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Ry Cooder
, J. J. Cale, Lonnie Mack
, Miles Davis
, B.B. King, Joe Cocker
, Albert Collins
, Jewel
, Essra Mohawk
, and many others.
Drummond has co-written songs with many of the artists he has worked with, including: "Saved" (Bob Dylan
), "Who's Talking" (J.J. Cale
), and "Down In Hollywood" (Ry Cooder
).
Drummond often plays as part of the session rhythm duo Tim & Jim with drummer Jim Keltner
.
's band, Tim Drummond's short tenure was filled with controversy and rancor. As the lone white face on James Brown
's stage, Tim continued to be the focal point of threats and verbal abuse directed at him by racial and musical purists who liked their R&B black. Leaving the country didn't make matters any better. Dodging artillery fire during the Vietnam War
with his boss, Tim came back to the States with a bad case of hepatitis
, an illness that would knock him off the road before the end of the year.
Thankfully, the politics of race and his physical ailment did not affect his bass playing. A study in contrasts from his simple, bottom-heavy performance on "I Can't Stand Myself," Tim lays down a dynamic, high register bass ostinato in "Licking Stick" - a bass line that has humbled many aspiring funkaholics.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist who has toured and recorded with many notable artists including Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, J. J. Cale, Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack is an American rock, blues and country guitarist and vocalist....
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, B.B. King, Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Albert Collins
Albert Collins
Albert Collins was an American electric blues guitarist and singer whose recording career began in the 1960s in Houston and whose fame eventually took him to stages across the US, Europe, Japan and Australia...
, Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
, Essra Mohawk
Essra Mohawk
Essra Mohawk is an American singer-songwriter who has recorded a dozen albums, many receiving critical acclaim. Her best known songs are "Change of Heart" recorded by Cyndi Lauper and "Stronger Than the Wind," recorded by Tina Turner.-Biography:Mohawk was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, and many others.
Drummond has co-written songs with many of the artists he has worked with, including: "Saved" (Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
), "Who's Talking" (J.J. Cale
J.J. Cale
JJ Cale , born John Weldon Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and musician. Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has...
), and "Down In Hollywood" (Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
).
Drummond often plays as part of the session rhythm duo Tim & Jim with drummer Jim Keltner
Jim Keltner
James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
.
Time with James Brown
Symbolic of the troubled times that ran parallel with his occupancy of the bass chair in James BrownJames Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
's band, Tim Drummond's short tenure was filled with controversy and rancor. As the lone white face on James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
's stage, Tim continued to be the focal point of threats and verbal abuse directed at him by racial and musical purists who liked their R&B black. Leaving the country didn't make matters any better. Dodging artillery fire during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
with his boss, Tim came back to the States with a bad case of hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
, an illness that would knock him off the road before the end of the year.
Thankfully, the politics of race and his physical ailment did not affect his bass playing. A study in contrasts from his simple, bottom-heavy performance on "I Can't Stand Myself," Tim lays down a dynamic, high register bass ostinato in "Licking Stick" - a bass line that has humbled many aspiring funkaholics.