loved the the drums in Hound Dog. gave the song real force.
Rolling stone magazine ranks him as one of the best drummers. here's a little piece from the article:
On hundreds of early Elvis Presley recordings, Dominic Joseph "D.J." Fontana was the cutting edge of rock & roll drumming, making hillbilly music swing at a time when country and bluegrass groups were shunning drums altogether. He pioneered a litany of oft-imitated licks from the jumpy snare hits of "Blue Suede Shoes" to the waves of punchlines that made "Hound Dog" howl. "He had incredible technique and fast hands, so he could deploy those Buddy Rich press rolls whenever he wanted to. He played like a big-band drummer — full throttle," Levon Helm once said. "Now Elvis had a real foundation, some architecture, and he made the most of it. D.J. set Elvis free."
Had the honour of spending an hour or so in his company and was a true gentleman with many many fascinating stories to tell.Also saw him at the 100 Club too,where he played on a guitar case and stool and it sounded great. True legend of the music scene
Comments
loved the the drums in Hound Dog. gave the song real force.
Rolling stone magazine ranks him as one of the best drummers. here's a little piece from the article:
On hundreds of early Elvis Presley recordings, Dominic Joseph "D.J." Fontana was the cutting edge of rock & roll drumming, making hillbilly music swing at a time when country and bluegrass groups were shunning drums altogether. He pioneered a litany of oft-imitated licks from the jumpy snare hits of "Blue Suede Shoes" to the waves of punchlines that made "Hound Dog" howl. "He had incredible technique and fast hands, so he could deploy those Buddy Rich press rolls whenever he wanted to. He played like a big-band drummer — full throttle," Levon Helm once said. "Now Elvis had a real foundation, some architecture, and he made the most of it. D.J. set Elvis free."
Had the honour of spending an hour or so in his company and was a true gentleman with many many fascinating stories to tell.Also saw him at the 100 Club too,where he played on a guitar case and stool and it sounded great.
True legend of the music scene
Was the last of the original 4 band members remaining and what a great band they were.
RIP