Billy 'Boomer' Cobham

Yesterday peterc promised Clintuplet some tales of Cobham. With all due respect to your work load, p.c., I'm kinda anxious myself.

Sorry. Things were a
little touchy there,
for a moment...

I went to the record
store, hunting down
the leads I got from
Alison. There was the
"Spectrum", "Cross-
winds", "Total Eclipse",
"Shabazz" releases, al-
ong with the Mahavish-
nu Orchestra albums
that I needed to get
a hold of. I was not
prepared for the as-
sault that was and
still is MO.

She just opened the
door for me. Of course,
upon entering, I fell
flat on my face and in
a kind of worship...

[img]eek.gif[/img]

A few months later, I
learned of a new rel-
ease, with George Duke,
recorded live in Europe.
WRVR was a jazz-radio
station that had just
started to feature new
albums and talk shows
with the artists. They
were taking calls. I
had to call. I kept cal-
ling and calling and
caling... There was no
way I was going to get
through and then sud-
denly someone picked
up. I was stunned!

"Hello... Hello..."

"Uh... Hi. Is this Billy
Cobham?

"No, it isn't... Billy..." [img]graemlins/whatever.gif[/img]

Someone else picked up.

"Hello... Hello..."

"Uh, is this Billy Cobham?", I stuttered.

"Yes, it is..."

"I just have to tell you that I have never
heard anyone play the drums like you and
can you tell me if you use mostly doubles
or singles on Shabazz, for example?"

"Mostly singles."

"Mostly singles?! Are you sure?!"

He laughs. "Yes, I think so..."

"Do you give drum lessons?"

"Yes but I'm pretty booked, in and out of
town a lot. Listen, I will be up at the
Sam Ash in White Plains this weekend. Why
don't you come?"

"Thank you, Mr. Cobham. I really, really
appreciate it."

Well, that was the first
time I talked to him. He
doesn't remember it.

...there's more...

[img]cool.gif[/img]

In the summer of 1973 I got to see the original Mahavishnu Orchestra perform in a movie theater in Dallas. For some reason the Majestic or Esquire (can't remember which) were hosting rock concerts. Beck, Bogert and Appice (accompanied by Screamin' Lord Sutch on vocals) had just warped the boards there a few weeks before but that was nothing compared to Mahavishnu.

This was the age of real long hair (for men and women) and there was McLaughlin looking like a freshly-barbered banker dressed in John Lennon white wielding a Jimmy Page doubleneck. The air was thick with hemp and I kept one eye on the fleet fingers of McLaughlin and the other on the man in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt behind a clear Fibes drumset with two bass drums. I couldn't remember any drummers but Ginger Baker, Carl Palmer and Carmine Appice playing doublebass back then. His kit was a sight to see.

Every song the band played was at least ten minutes long and, for all intents and purposes, it sounded like the same song being played again and again (but that may have been the additives in the air I was compelled to breathe.) But I will never forget Cobham's ultra-hyper rolls: all the way down and all the way back up the toms for an unrelenting 90 minutes. It was almost tiring to watch ol' Boomer giving those poor Fibes some stick, almost like he was madly battling the steering wheel of a giant bus. The band played so fast by comparison Blink sounds slow.

Producer Ken Scott played Terry Bozzio some unreleased tapes of the Orchestra during the Missing Persons days. They were unreleased because the MO's tempos were so speedy Columbia didn't think the tunes commercially viable. That's how they played the night I saw them: going for baroque at 250 BPM.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 03:59 PM: Message edited by: Five Eight ]</font>

Peter, your "stuff" is great...I'm sitting on seat's edge...keep em comin' [please]...
Don't ever perm. log off of here upon POD, do ya hear me?! [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]

Saw BC w Jazz Is Dead here last yr...it was VERY cool...& altho I'm more into the "mod/contempo" guys like VC, DW, DC, VD, WK, OH, GN, ET, CW, GH, & even TW [i consider him The Forefather of mod. "fusion" drumg], I would be a malpracticed-[los-]lobotomy survivor if i didn't apprec "Boom-Boom" & his contrib. to drumming & music, even still today [he, along w Lenny, was also 1 of the "4fathers"]...

Add edit: Nice story too, 5...was typin my 1st response when ya sent yours...

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 01:41 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Sorry guys, it's Friday
and the markets are always
weird on Fridays... a lot
of tension and a lot of
hand-holding...

Now, I didn't have a car,
of course. I had to get my
brother to borrow my Pop's
car in order to take me
there. I was going to see
and talk to Billy Cobham,
the greatest drummer in
the world!

Well, when we got there,
it was a hard time park-
ing. I didn't put the two
together. I walked into
the store and there were
100's of people there! I
couldn't see sh--! I was
SO disappointed! I was
hoping to have a chance
at an intimate experience
and look at this!

[img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]

He had the North Drums
and was demo-ing them. I
could barely see over all
the taller people. I was
hoping to get a look at
that snare...

Well, it all went into
the toilet... I got in
line and got his auto-
graph in the HERD of
people. This sucked!

I walked away from the
hoola-baloo and wandered
into an adjacent room,
where there were kits
and practice pads set
up. My brother tried to
console me. I thought
I'd take it out on a
kit but wouldn't dare,
while they were just
next door. I went to a
practice kit (pads) in-
stead and started do-
ing some rolls...

This guy walks in and
I'm thinking I'm going
to get thrown out of
the place. IT WAS HIM!

"Do you mind if I try that."

I just handed him the
sticks. They were Pro-
Mark 808's, if you re-
member.

He gave a display that
I will never, ever for-
get and I will try and
describe it here, for
you, hoping that I do
it half-justice.

First, he did his sign-
ature single-stroke roll,
with 10-1 inch elevation
and then stopped.

My eyes were bugged out!

[img]eek.gif[/img]

He handed me one stick
and then took the other,
in traditional-grip but
his hand was a little
over the head, if you
know what I mean and
then, with his index
finger, proceeded to
bounce the stick on the
head at 300bpm and then
moved over to his mid-
dle, then ring and then
pinky and then finally
the thumb(!) and to add
insult to injury, he
threw the stick over to
his right-hand and did
the same thing!

He then stopped, smiled
and said, "Keep playing."

He rocked me forever!

[img]eek.gif[/img] [img]eek.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 02:01 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>

Great story...that guy's something else. WOuld have BEEN AWESOME to have seen MO live back then.

Billy is inhuman. A cybernetic organism.

I recall an unpleasant experience concerning Billy at a drum clinic more than 20 years ago. Over it now, but was steamed for the longest time. This is not unlike some of your travails, Pete, with Tony Williams.

Clutching the Aug-Sept '79 issue of Modern Drummer (Boom's first cover story) I eagerly made my way to a Cobham clinic. Couldn't wait to see The Man and get his autograph on my magazine. They handed out slick 8x10s of Billy at the door and I slid mine between the pages of the MD.

Cob sat down behind his triple bass Tamas and threw down a long solo. So far, so good. When the Q&A portion of the program began a teenager next to me asked: "After playing such a big kit for all these years, do you ever think about going back to a four piece?" An intelligent question, I thought, but Billy's reply dripped with sarcasm: "Yeah, that's all I do is sit around the house all day thinking I ought to go back to a four piece set." The crowd laughed and I could see the kid next to me was crushed.

I had a question all ready and BC played me for a laugh too. My question: "I heard a song the other day on the radio where you played a great roll with your feet as a fill. Lee Ritenour was on the record but I've looked through all your records and Ritenour's and can't find where the two of you played together." For months I'd wanted to ask Cobham that and I had only gotten the phrase 'heard a song on the radio the other day' out of my mouth when Billy interjected with his prior sarcasm, "Oh, that's nice." The crowd laughed and I felt like a fool but, undaunted, finished asking my question. Once Cobham heard me say Lee Ritenour he started saying "Sonny Rollins" over and over before I was through talking. Again the crowd howled. I held my tongue but felt like telling him, "Forget it, I'll NEVER buy another record you're on."

Later someone asked him about breaking into the industry scene and he pointed with each hand while answering in a wrinkled-nose-sort-of-superior-way: "Fly to LA or New York City, there's planes leaving everyday." At this late date I think maybe the guy was just having a bad day but I sat with a tight jaw through the whole clinic. I would've stalked out but I wasn't driving.

He played another solo before the autograph session and I stood behind him watching his feet. He was merely running-in-place (and slowly) while being seated, nothing to it. After the clinic he signed everyone's photo handout but I presented him with my MD; he looked at me like I had the plague. When I got home I tore that 8x10 to pieces and stopped just short of smashing all my Cobham vinyl. I hadn't been so mad since the time I was watching a Steps Ahead gig and repositioned my chair so I could see Erskine better when Michael Brecker, seeing what I was doing, deliberately stepped between me and the erskoman and remained there the rest of the show, obstructing my view. May the bird of paradise fly . . .

I kept my vow and never bought a single thing Billy was associated with until THE LOST TRIDENT SESSIONS CD appeared a couple of years ago. I couldn't resist that; a fourth Mahavishnu disk with the original line-up was like the Holy Grail. Listening to it I fell in love with his magnificent drumming all over again (and am glad I didn't trash Shabazz, Spectrum, Total Eclipse and seven or eight others.)

Brecker's never made another red cent off me though.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 03:24 PM: Message edited by: Five Eight ]</font>

Wow, that is some
story and you know,
I am not surprised
if it was that part-
icular time period
I am thinking about.

During that period,
Billy took over. He
was winning all the
polls. He was almost
an exhibition. It
was a kind of back-
lash against the
people that said he
would be nothing af-
ter MO and he proved
them wrong but time
did march on and
while the die kept
coming up 7's for
him, or so it seemed,
fate was cashing in
its chips and was
about ready to change
his life and he real-
ly has changed quite
a bit.

So has his career.

His clinics are very
different these days,
from what I hear. I
have not been to one
since that stint at
White Plains.

You know, I can't
blame you for feel-
ing the way you did
and you know, I think
that memories of neg-
ative impacts he's
had on youngsters has
caused him to take a
new outlook on stud-
ents. Of course, he's
older and that prob-
ably has more to do
with it than anything
else. He's not that
sarcastic fellow any
more. He's much more
thoughtful. I think I
can say he is a friend.

Under different types
of duress, you react
in different ways. He
had, as we all did),
his demons but it
looks like he has
come to terms with
them, unlike some
people I know, as
well as knew.

If I can say one
thing in his defense,
he has always been
the subject of the
same kind of treat-
ment, in a way.

The drum world has
always looked at him
as the speed demon
that was never tick-
eted, almost relish-
ing his decline on
the charts and in
his influence but
the truth is he was
different and what
he did caught people
off guard - something
harder to find out
there today. It was
radical, much like
Tony, in many ways.
They were rivals, I
think, both head-
strong, at times,
sitting on the same
throne.

It might sound like I
am standing up for some-
one. I am.

I owe a lot to Boomer.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 04:26 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>

Cobham talked trash to Miles while he was recording JACK JOHNSON, so I'm not surprised. Glad he's matured and I DEFINITELY don't want to put you or anyone on the defensive about this killer drum artist. Fame can make people ugly though. Imagine being a success as a young man or woman and reading all the laudatory comments made about you? Reminds me of Neil's comment about his general distaste for successful rock acts: "It's like their attitude is, 'Do you think I'm great, I think I'm great, too.'"

Boomer must've said ouch when he could no longer make a living in the US and decamped to Europe (where they appreciate artists.)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 08:20 PM: Message edited by: Five Eight ]</font>

5-8,

Actually, when he left
it was more for a life-
style change. He start-
ed to see life differ-
ently and it was out-
side of music. He grew.

You're so right about
what can happen to a
person - any person, if
the circumstances are
made combustible.

I appreciate your sens-
itivity to me and my
personal regard for him.

[img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 04:41 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>