Drums
My Drum Kits
My First Kit
My first ever Kit was a White Olympic Kit made by Premier Drums. As I got to know more about drums I moved on to a Silver Glitter Ludwig Kit which I used in the early days of the Small Faces. It was actually the kit I used for our first TV appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars.
After this kit I then had a black Ludwig Vintage Kit as well as an 18 inch bass drum Blonde Ludwig which is basically a small Jazz kit.
The black Ludwig was a very special kit as it was owned by Brian Bennett, drummer with the Shadows. He recorded most of his early hits on that drum kit.
My set-up during the Small Faces and the early days of the Faces was:
- Bass Drum: 14x22”
- Top Tom: 9x13”
- Floor Tom: 14x14”
- Snare: 5.5x14”
The Faces
When the Faces started up I was still using the black Ludwig for a short while before alternating between a number of different kits including Ludwig, Premier and Yamaha.
Some of my most famous kits in those days were my liquorice allsorts kit, tartan kit, white yamaha and premier kits and 3 different variations of the Blonde Ludwigs. I had a combination of kits as it was nice to have a change and they were all good for different things.
In 1973 when the Faces went to Japan, Yamaha gifted me with a load of drums meaning I’ve been endorsed by them since that day. The longest I’ve ever been endorsed for!
I also did a lot of session work and for this I would use the kit I was playing at that time but mostly in the early days this would have been my black Ludwig. This was the kit I used when playing on sessions for Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry.
The Who, The Law & The Jones Gang
During my time in the Who I used a white Premier Kit and then a black Yamaha kit. The black Yamaha kit is what I used for the majority of my time in the band. My set-up was bigger during this time because it suited the arrangements of the songs. I was also gifted a gong which was often used in my set-up.
I continued to use my black Yamaha kit during my time in The Law as well as in the early days of The Jones Gang. As well as using a few parts from my other kits. I’m currently using a Yamaha PHX Series Hybrid Shell Construction but I’m sure they’ll be plenty more to come.
It’s important to note that the drum stool is equally important as the drums. For instance, now I use a BC2 by Porter and Davies. This is connected to the mic inside my bass drum which send a pulse to the stool which actually goes right through your body and it’s instant. There’s no delay whatsoever with it.
I also have a KELLY SHU in my bass drum to hold my mic which gives absolutely no vibration. This is a piece of equipment I highly recommend.