# Earliest rock band with two drummers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179 "2019-08-24T21:07:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/1 "2019-08-24T21:07:38Z")
The Grateful Dead started performing with two drummers when Mickey Hart joined the band in September 1967. Were there any earlier rock bands with two drummers? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/2 "2019-08-25T05:40:09Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The Grateful Dead started performing with two drummers when Mickey Hart joined the band in September 1967. Were there any earlier rock bands with two drummers? The only rock band I know of with two drummers was Adam and the Ants in the eighties. Significantly later than your example, so granted not much help to your question. Just thought I’d share. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/3 "2019-08-25T06:02:02Z")
Late 60’s: Mothers Of Invention sometimes (often?) had two drummers on stage. Early 70’s: Allman Brothers Band, two drummers. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/4 "2019-08-25T07:32:41Z")
Doobie Brothers had two drummers, but the Mothers predate them, and I’m pretty sure the Allman Brothers do as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/5 "2019-08-25T14:07:40Z")
There are TV clips of The Strangeloves (“I Want Candy”) from 1965 that show them using two drummers - one full kit and then a couple of extra drums. Not sure if that counts or if you mean groups with two full kits. Also not sure if this particular group used this presentation just for TV. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/6 "2019-08-25T14:30:09Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > The only rock band I know of with two drummers was Adam and the Ants in the eighties. I would have said almost the same thing, but about 38 Special (though I guess they started in the seventies). ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/7 "2019-08-25T15:04:10Z")
Also, going outside rock a bit, James Brown used two drummers in the 1960s. Not sure what year he started doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/8 "2019-08-25T15:07:38Z")
I have a Dick Dale album from the 90s where he has two drummers, but I don’t know if he had two drummers when he played in the 60s. Genesis toured with a second drummer after Peter Gabriel left – initially with Bill Bruford and then Chester Thompson for many years afterwards. But that wasn’t until '76 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/9 "2019-08-25T17:19:49Z")
Since it looks like this thread has already ever-so-predictably entered the “Name Any Band From Any Time Period That Ever Had Two Drummers” phase, after their initial formation in 1969 with drummer Richie Hayward (RIP, Richie) Little Feat added percussionist extraordinaire Sam Clayton to the mix in 1972, where together they would combine to drive the band to stratospheric highs at countless live shows in the following years. Little Feat’s live album “Waiting For Columbus” stands as testament of their amazing chemistry as a showband. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/10 "2019-08-25T17:53:26Z")
Since we’ve already gone a bit off-track… Santana used both a percussionist and a drummer as early as 1966. I’d consider a percussionist to be a drummer. So did Crabby Appleton, though that was in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/11 "2019-08-25T21:46:22Z")
Clear Light, 1967. Their drummers were Dallas Taylor and Michael Ney. “To fully appreciate the spectacular sound of double drumming in Clear Light, play this record at high volume.” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/12 "2019-08-25T23:37:59Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > Since it looks like this thread has already ever-so-predictably entered the “Name Any Band From Any Time Period That Ever Had Two Drummers” phase \… Well, it’s either that, or a thread with one “Nope” reply. Which would you prefer? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/13 "2019-08-26T00:13:35Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Clear Light, 1967. Their drummers were Dallas Taylor and Michael Ney. > > “To fully appreciate the spectacular sound of double drumming in Clear Light, play this record at high volume.” I used to have their first (only?) album. Didn’t care for it much. I was only interested because their bassist (Doug Lubahn) played for The Doors on the Strange Days album. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/14 "2019-08-26T01:20:32Z")
Eagles used two drummers on stage, but I don’t know when they started doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/15 "2019-08-26T02:22:35Z")
The Who, of course. I mean, I’m pretty sure Keith Moon counted as three drummers in and of himself. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/16 "2019-08-26T14:46:52Z")
And of course, while few (if any) Latin music acts had two trap-kit drummers, probably the majority had more than two people playing percussion. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/17 "2019-08-26T16:34:03Z")
There were two drummers on the Gloria session. Did they both play? Can you hear two of them? You have to decide for yourself. > **[Gloria (Them song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_(Them_song))** > > "Gloria" is a rock song written by Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and originally recorded by Morrison's band Them in 1964. It was released as the B-side of "Baby, Please Don't Go". The song became a garage rock staple and a part of many rock bands' repertoires. > According to Morrison, he wrote "Gloria" while performing with the Monarchs in Germany in the summer of 1963, at just about the time he turned 18 years old. He started to perform it at the Maritime Hotel when he returned to Belf... [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sDo-GA1hLk4/hqdefault.jpg "Them Gloria") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDo-GA1hLk4) "There remains some dispute about whether Millings and McCauley were miked up, but Alan Henderson contends that Them constituted the first rock group to use two drummers on a recording.[5] " ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/18 "2019-08-26T18:25:14Z")
April Wine ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-rock-band-with-two-drummers/839179/19 "2019-08-26T18:57:28Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > The only rock band I know of with two drummers was Adam and the Ants in the eighties. Significantly later than your example, so granted not much help to your question. Just thought I’d share. An earlier British artiste with two drummers was Glam Pop Rocker **Gary** **Glitter**. His twin drummer backing band went on to separate success as **The** **Glitter** **Band**. That was the early 1970s. Since **Glitter** was revealed as a child sex offender he tends not to be mentioned these days but he was a major artist at the time and was surprisingly influential. TCMF-2L