Don's Drums

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Soda's post about Glenn's equipment reminded me of something I thought about a while back. I don't remember ever seeing a picture of Don drumming with the Eagles with anything other than gold colored drums. Am I right about this?

[Freypower]

This is one of the oldest screenshots I have (1974) and they look gold here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/ozeagle/1970s%20Screen%20Shots/PEF10.jpg

[DonFan]

Well, this thread just goes to show how non-observant I am about equipment. All the times I have watched Don, I have never noticed what color his drums are. Guess my attention was focused elsewhere. :blush:

[freyfanatic]

I love Don's drums, I tried to have my set exactly like his, but I failed at it, they turned out to be black and much more smaller than his... :roll:

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Yeah - I remember when I visited the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame a couple of years ago, they have the drums Don used on at least the first couple of albums (maybe more, I can't remember) there, and they were gold. I had remembered that his drums were gold the two times I'd seen them play live. I started taking notice, and meant to post something a while back. I don't recall ever seeing a picture of anything but gold drums.

[Maleah]

At least you phrased it "Don's Drums" instead of "Don's Equipment" ;) :twisted: just kidding Soda :D

[Freypower]

In the interests of research I had another look at the BBC performance. Here the drums are red.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/ozeagle/1970s%20Screen%20Shots/BBCPEF8.jpg

[glenneaglesfan]

In the interests of research I had another look at the BBC performance.
I like the way you put that, FP! Nice picture. I'd never noticed the colour of Don's drums either.

[sodascouts]

Maybe those were provided by the BBC! lol

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I'm just getting around to responding to this, but I had to go back and check my BBC DVD. Oh what a chore! :wink: But, here we go again talking about color and lighting in DVDs. Sometimes in the DVD, the drums look gold and other times they look a redish brown. However, I think Don's drums in the show are the same ones that are in the HOF. If so, they are a dark gold color. This would be supported by the display write up, which said he used the drums for the first few years of the band's existence. Quite honestly, I remember thinking they were a pretty awful color, which is one reason I remembered them. Thankfully, he has switched to a lighter, and prettier color of gold.

[Freypower]

Trivia... the DW on the drums stands for Drum Works. The factory is on the Pacific Coast Highway. I know this now because Neil Peart of Rush also gets his drums from there.

[glenneaglesfan]

I'd wondered what DW stood for. Thanks, FP.

Here's a nice view of the gold drums, and love that expression!

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c96/Glenneaglesfan/regatta1.jpg

Lol, I've just noticed the caption! "Don Henley: spots dismissed Eagles guitarist Don Felder lurking under the floor tom."

[Brooke]

Haha! Funny, gef!

Don't you wonder if making that face "helps" the drumming? :P [/i]

[sodascouts]

lol GEF! And hey, the face just shows he's getting into it. We love it when the guys do that. ;)

[Maleah]

LOL! That caption is too funny!

Soda.......LOVE the AV!! :shock: :D

[Freypower]

That is one of my favourite photos of Don EVER.

Drummer jokes (courtesy of Neil Peart):

How many drummers does it take to change a light bulb?

1 to change it and 4 to wonder how Neil Peart would have done it.

(He tells that one because it reminds him of the 'high standards' to which he aspires, etc. He comes across as slightly egocentric despite his efforts).

How do you get a drummer off the porch?

Pay for the pizza.

What do you call a drummer in a three piece suit?

The defendant.

What do you call a guy who hangs around with musicians?

Yes, you guessed it, and I heard Glenn tell that joke in Australia in 1988.

I think this is my favourite:

How do you know the stage is level?

The drummer drools from both sides of his mouth. :twisted:

[glenneaglesfan]

Lol, FP! I hadn't seen those jokes!

This is Don's eye view of his drums, and this set appears to be white.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c96/Glenneaglesfan/DZ002894.jpg

[timfan]

Look at the pile of drumsticks!! I wonder if they use all those in one concert!! :shock:

[Brooke]

And look at the crowd! Can you imagine what it must be like to play in front of that many people? And to think....they all came to see us! :laugh: "Let's see, xxx,000 people x xxx.00 per ticket = $$$$$$$$$$$! YES!" :P

[Ive always been a dreamer]

lol, Brooke! Hmmm - it's a wonder all of the guys "equipment" isn't shaped like $$$$ signs. :wink:

And thanks GEF - that's the first pic I remember ever seeing of anything other than gold drums. Do you have any idea when and where this was taken?

[timfan]

I'm not GEF but the pic is from the corbis site and according to that site the pic is from July 1980. It doesn't say which concert the photo is from tho :?

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Thanks for the info, tf. :)

[DWDrummer]

Just to clarify things, the redish drums and the gold drums from the 70's were ludwig drums, and if im not mistaken the white ones from 1980 are made by TAMA. His drums for Hell Freezes over up until long road out of eden were DW customs in natural finish, and now for long road out of eden they are still DW in the same layout but with a metallic blackish-purple color. Hope that helps!


Travis

[DonFan]

Thanks Travis, and welcome!

[sodascouts]

Thanks Travis for the information - and welcome!

[DWDrummer]

No problem thanks for the welcome

[Glennsallnighter]

Welcome from me too Travis :D

[DWDrummer]

Thanks again! a little more information about the drums, as of now, Don's set doesn't have near as many drums as he did from 1978-early 1980 his set now seems to match with the white tama drums from the 1980's photo, this set also appears in the music video from The Long Run. Don used and still uses Paiste cymbals, his current set up consists of, 22“ x 16“ bass drum, 12“ x 9“, 13‘‘ x 10“, 16“ x 13“, and 18“ x 14“ Fast Tom Toms, and either a Ludwig supraphonic snare drum or a DW edge snare with an 8“ Line Splash, a 16“ Line Mellow Crash, an 18“ Line Full Crash, a 16“ Fast Crash, a 20“ 2002 Ride, a 14" hi-hat and a 13" hi hat, Don also uses Regal Tip Drumsticks with 5B heads

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Welcome DWD, and hope you stick around here on The Border. I just realized that you are a fellow Virginian. I am from the Richmond area. Did you get to see the Eagles in Charlottesville this past May? Wow - you sure do know your drums. Thanks for all of this info. How did you learn so much? I take it that you may have played a time or two yourself. :wink:

[DWDrummer]

Thanks and yes i did see them in Charlottesville and it was the best night of my life. im 17 and i was really surprised to see alot of people my age there, i was really impressed with Don's vocals i think more than anyones. yeah i play drums here and there and ive read most of the drumming information online or heard it in interviews, except for his drumstick brand....theres a piture of his sticks in the concert program and i had been curious as to what brand he used, i really hope they film a dvd of the one of the LROOE concerts like they did for farewell 1.


Travis

[glenneaglesfan]

Hi DWD and welcome to the Border! Thanks for all your knowledge about Don's drums. I'm always fascinated by the instruments and kit the guys use. I'm so glad you enjoyed the concert, and that so many young people are getting into the Eagles' music. We have several younger members here, so we span several decades. My two sons are just a little older than you!

[DWDrummer]

yeah after listening to the radio for a while Anything by The Eagles is Really refreshing

[Mrs Henley]

Welcome DWDrummer!!!! Enjoy!

[DWDrummer]

Also, from the very beginning up until 1980 don played with "Concert Toms" standard toms, only shallower with only the batter head. The particular set he used didn't even have hardware for mounting the resonate head. The best example of the way they sound right of the top of my head would be right after the "but you just can't kill the beast" line in hotel California, the concert toms make more of a "barking" noise than a standard tom with both batter and resonate heads


Travis

[DWDrummer]

Well while roaming through pictures today on the inter net i noticed that during most if not all of the long run era, Don Henley actually had 2 separate drum sets on stage. The smaller, less complex white TAMA drums can be seen in a picture posted on this topic by Glenneaglesfan. In the corner of the photo i also noticed the edge of the larger red-ish Ludwig drums. the 2 drumsets can be seen also in this photo "https://eaglesonlinecentral.com/images/liveinsert2bdetail.jpg" with the large ludwig set behind Don Felder, Tim, and Glenn and the small white TAMA set is directly behind Joe. Also in this photo "https://eaglesonlinecentral.com/images/eaglesHerring.jpg" Don is playing on the large Ludwig set (just thought i'd add that i think this might be while playing The Sad Cafe', seeing the saxophone) and then you can faintly see the white set behind Joe. I thought it was interesting but i have no idea what he used the white ones for as i have never seen a picture of him playing on them live.


Travis

[Prettymaid]

Drummer, do you play in a band ?

[DWDrummer]

No, after i become more experienced with drums id like too but right now im about to graduate high school then college so theres not much time to practice

[Freypower]

While this topic is going, I think it's a shame that we don't know on which songs Don plays drums on the new album. He is credited with drums & percussion, but where? I also think it is a shame that he is not playing drums on ANY new song when they perform live. He plays percussion on a couple of new songs. The only time he has been seen playing drums on a recent song since the reunion is in the video for Hole In The World.

[Brooke]

I agree Fp. I hate to think that he's just getting too old, but it almost makes you think that. Or there's some other physical reason. I know there have been comments made about his back problems, so I can only believe that therein lies the problem. Surely it's not just plain old laziness. That just wouldn't be tolerated.

I think, and someone alluded to this a while back, that this album was made a lot by "long distance". There weren't many, if any, actual "band" sessions, so, they are keeping it vague on who actually does what.

[sodascouts]

Thanks for the interesting facts, DWDrummer.

I hate to think of Don as someone who is too old and infirm to drum on more than a couple songs. He can be so fresh and energetic onstage. Still, I guess it's possible. :(

I've long suspected the uncharacteristic lack of individual song credits on LROOE suggests that there is something to hide, so to speak. While there's nothing wrong with using session musicians, when they begin to take over the majority of instrumentation, it makes the band as a unit look bad.

[DWDrummer]

I think it might be partially because of the back problems i think he mentioned in an interview that one of his shoulders had gotten higher than the other and he actually had to have therapy to fix it! so i think that may be part of it, but as far as the live sound goes Scott Crago is an amazing drummer, and keeps the songs simple and sounding original.....I would love to see don behind the set for Long Road Out of Eden and How Long though........

[glenneaglesfan]

Don has always underplayed his talent as a drummer, but I agree with you, DW, if his back is that bad he has to protect it for those tracks he wants to play live. Scott Crago is indeed a very good replacement when Don chooses to come out to the front.

Don comes into the category of a top athlete, according to this article.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7518888.stm

[sodascouts]

Interesting! No wonder he was so skinny back in the day! ;)

[DonFan]

That was interesting, GEF--thanks!

[Brooke]

That was interesting! Thanks gef!

Makes me wonder even more why they are wearing suits or even the double layer of shirts!

[DWDrummer]

After finally resolving the internet troubles I'm back!, and i figured I'd update the drum info. The white ones in the post on page three and any other long run concert photos were never played by Don, the white set was for the backup drummer at the time Joe Vitale. I guess he would do the same thing as Scott Crago and fill in on drums when don wanted to go out in front with the others.

[amusefilms]

Hi Everyone
My name is Patrick (go by Pat) and this is my first post to this board!
How exciting to find it (searching stuff about Don Felder’s book).
I’ve been an Eagles fan since I was 14 years old (for the record I’m in my 40s now).
I used to play in an Eagles cover band – I played drums and sang (I was the Don of the group)- He and Levon Helm from the Band were huge influences on me. Anyone can tell you singing and playing the drums at the same time aint easy. I’ve always thought Don was an underrated drummer. He’s incredibly solid (saw them in ’77 & ‘79).
Actually, I’m posting with a question….What type of drums is he using now?
In the video “How Long” he has this really cool small kit. I really don’t play much anymore, so I’m a little out of it, but that set looked so cool. Was wondering if anyone knew any details about it.
Thanks again, and GREAT BOARD!!

[melrose]

Hi Pat! Welcome to the Border!

I'm not sure on the specifics of it, but he is using a Drum Workshop set. He is also using DW in the Long Road Out of Eden tour right now. I play the drums a bit myself, and I've never had the chance to work with this brand, but from what I heard in concert they sounded really great. I've always heard they are a pretty solid brand.

[amusefilms]

Thanks Melrose-I LOVE the look of his new kit (in the How Long video).
It's small yet looks really well made and solid. I've never seen anything like it.

[EagleLady]

Hi Pat, Welcome to the Border!