The Who: The Kids Are Alright (Drum Cover)

Today’s video features a song from another one of my favorite groups that is making their first appearance on the channel. The band in question is The Who. I’d like to give a special shout out to my good friend and frequent collaborator ‪@JacobKMusics‬ who suggested that I cover some Who songs and for selling me a fantastic set of Pearl Bongos, which will be seen in a video very soon.

This video is also in tribute to the one and only Keith Moon who was born on this day in 1946 and would be 77 if living today. We’ve all heard stories of Keith Moon regarding his rock and roll lifestyle involving trashing hotel rooms, drum kit destruction and even driving a car into a hotel swimming pool. The man was something else, but he was also a fantastic drummer who had his own unique style. He was also good friends with Ringo Starr, so much that he became the godfather of Ringo’s son Zak Starkey who also taught him how to play and bought him his first drum kit. Now Zak currently plays with The Who, so it all lines up. Unfortunately, Moon died too young in 1978 at the age of 32, just three weeks after the album Who are You was released.

The song for today’s video is “The Kids are Alright” from their debut album My Generation. The song was recorded in London’s IBC recording studio on October 13, 1965 with the usual lineup: Roger Daltry on vocals, Pete Townsend on guitars/backing vocals, John Entwistle on bass/backing vocals, and Keith Moon on drums. The song was not a major hit at the time, though it became very popular among the mod subculture in the 60s and is one of the group’s most popular songs. The song would also serve as the tile for the group's 1979 documentary.

Where do I have begin with the drum part? For the basic groove, it’s eighth notes on the ride cymbal and quarter notes on the snare. The bass drum pattern for the most part is consistent throughout the whole song, though it does change in some parts. The fills are not consistent however. Each fill in the verse share a common pattern, but each one is played a little differently. I’m taking a few liberties with the drum track. For the most part I tried to get as close as I could to the actual song, but I’m no Keith Moon, so there may be some parts that I am playing differently, particular the bridge and instrumental section, but the spirit is there. I will say playing this was a lot of fun. It was difficult and took a while, but it was nice to break away from the usual stuff I play and showcase a side of my drumming that doesn’t get seen all too often. Maybe I’ll do more Who covers from time to time.

I based my setup off of his 1965 Premier Single-bass drum kit which included one bass drum, two floor and rack toms, and one snare along with two or three cymbals. Although he is associated with using double bass drums, he can be seen using single bass drum kits in music videos and in the studio. This song also doesn’t require double bass, so why set it up. You can find all this information and details on what his sizes were on thewho.net website. To get this extended drum setup, I had to pull the hi rack tom, the bass drum, and the low floor tom from my old pearl drum kit. The tom and bass drum are what I use to simulate Ringo’s Hollywood Maple drum set, while the second floor tom makes its first appearance in a setup of mine. Since I’ve got the double rack tom setup, you can expect some later-era Beatles songs for the next few videos.

Happy Birthday Keith! Thanks for all the music and wish you were still here with us.

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https://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/d...