# The drum fill **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 24, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002 "2017-07-24T03:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/1 "2017-07-24T03:14:49Z")
Possibly a dieing art form that ranges from tasteful to overblown, depending on how well it fits in with whatever musical context it’s in. (So, for example, doing Niel Peart-like fills on a six-tom kit for your basic MOR band…just a tad overblown). Feel free to post any that’re off the top of your head. Two of my favourites are actually in the same song - the [title track](https://vimeo.com/142512117) off King Crimson’s _Court of the Crimson King_ album. The first fill, at 7:54, is just awesome, plodding bombast, and the other one, at 9:03, is spiffy as all get out, especially with it ending on that floor tom flourish. Unfortunately, because it’s not a youtube video (vimeo), I wasn’t able to “left-click-copy at the current time”, hence the manual cueing directions. \*Small gripe - the _COTCK_ that youtube _did_ have was [not a complete recording,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHJ7An2CMB4) so, as I, Milt Trugood…well, a word or two was in order at the top of the comments section. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/2 "2017-07-24T05:47:30Z")
I hope drum fills don’t die as art form! As a bass player, I’d never know where I was in the song without them. Pretty much anything with Ty Segall involved has what I think of as tasteful drum work, with what I feel are suitable fills. [Fuzz’s Fourth Dream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcNY7yw_ZI0) has him channeling Bill Ward, and throwing a nice fill in whenever he can. Charles Moothart plays on his latest, record, and I love his playing on it. [The Only One](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR-U6fsrLTA) lets him show off. King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard currently has a two drummer setup that has lent itself to both of them to throw in fills when the situation fits. [Melting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtwKOuHA_tQ) is probably my favorite drum work by them at the moment. Of course, my favorite might be Nick Mason, [One Of These Days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT84nxO1HrE). Most of the first half of the song is fills, and he smoothly transitions to a fill when he drops a stick at 4:31. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/3 "2017-07-24T11:50:41Z")
I was interested to learn that you can detect Ringo Starr’s left-handedness by how he rolls into his fills, with toms early in the fill rather than snare. Two fills I like: one toward the end of the Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” (Stewart Copeland), and another toward the end of Elvis Costello’s “Peace, Love, and Understanding” (don’t know the drummer). Not long enough, or single-drum enough, to be called “rolls,” but this thread seems to be about fills, too. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/4 "2017-07-24T13:20:30Z")
In \*\*Golden Earring’s \*\* Radar Love, at 2:30 in, the drummer starts a fill beat that is used for a bit. I love it, bu am not sure it counts as a fill: [Golden Earring - Radar Love (1973) HD 0815007 - YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf53Pg2AkdY) **The Who** , **Keith Moon** , Won’t Get Fooled Again, 7:30 coming right before Daltrey’s greatest rock scream. My personal favorite is **Bernard Purdie** on \*\*Aretha Franklin’s \*\*Rock Steady, at 2:30 in: [Aretha Franklin - Rocksteady - YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0) so syncopated. I would add a shout out to the band **Jet** , a little band that I seem to mention a lot here. Listen to the drummer Chris Cester on Cold Hard Bitch: [Jet - Cold Hard Bitch - YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jZjziFmy-o0) he does a Phil Rudd (AC/DC) simple beat, but slips in fills throughout that just work. I like the one around 2:30, I think. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/5 "2017-07-24T13:27:31Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > In \*\*Golden Earring’s \*\* Radar Love, at 2:30 in, the drummer starts a fill beat that is used for a bit. I love it, bu am not sure it counts as a fill: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf53Pg2AkdY](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf53Pg2AkdY) > > **The Who** , **Keith Moon** , Won’t Get Fooled Again, 7:30 coming right before Daltrey’s greatest rock scream. > > My personal favorite is **Bernard Purdie** on \*\*Aretha Franklin’s \*\*Rock Steady, at 2:30 in: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0) so syncopated. > > I would add a shout out to the band **Jet** , a little band that I seem to mention a lot here. Listen to the drummer Chris Cester on Cold Hard Bitch: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jZjziFmy-o0](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jZjziFmy-o0) he does a Phil Rudd (AC/DC) simple beat, but slips in fills throughout that just work. I like the one around 2:30, I think. Wait - were they all around 2:30?! Ah, no, the Jet one is closer to 2:50-3 minutes in. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/6 "2017-07-24T13:59:17Z")
Can a repeated element be a right and proper fill? Or does it have to be a one-off? For instance, Steve Gadd’s snare work in Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”? Or Alex Van Halen’s iconic fill in “Jamie’s Cryin” (the part sampled by Tone Loc for his “Wild Thing”)? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/7 "2017-07-24T14:02:18Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I was interested to learn that you can detect Ringo Starr’s left-handedness by how he rolls into his fills, with toms early in the fill rather than snare. “Come Together” would be another example of a classic fill if repeating elements can be included. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/8 "2017-07-24T14:10:48Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > My personal favorite is **Bernard Purdie** on \*\*Aretha Franklin’s \*\*Rock Steady, at 2:30 in: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0) so syncopated. Sweet, and new to me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/9 "2017-07-24T14:11:49Z")
Hmm, I’ve never really though about this, but one that immediately comes to mind is that little paradiddle fill (or whatever it is exactly) from “Sultans of Swing”. [Example here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Zpmaz2OKE&feature=youtu.be&t=262), right after the word “ring.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/10 "2017-07-24T14:36:28Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Can a repeated element be a right and proper fill? Or does it have to be a one-off? > > For instance, Steve Gadd’s snare work in Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”? Or Alex Van Halen’s iconic fill in “Jamie’s Cryin” (the part sampled by Tone Loc for his “Wild Thing”)? Yeah, I guess we should define “fill” by the OP. I would call Steve Gadd’s part simply the main groove/beat of the song. Alex Van Halen’s tom roll is definitely a fill. Purdie’s “Rock Steady” part is more a “break” to me (a la the break in “Funky Drummer” or “Amen, Brother.”) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/11 "2017-07-24T14:38:20Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Sweet, and new to me. Rock Steady is so fucking elemental and good. As Obama has said “You can’t do any better than starting a party with Rock Steady.” True, that. Glad you enjoy it. ETA: **puly** , the minute you said is was after the word “ring” the fill popped into my head. Yeah, perfect. As for break vs fill, can’t argue. I’m not up on my drum lingo - heck, the first “fill” I cited from Radar Love isn’t a fill at all, but I love when it shows up in the song. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/12 "2017-07-24T14:57:00Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Rock Steady is so fucking elemental and good. As Obama has said “You can’t do any better than starting a party with Rock Steady.” True, that. Glad you enjoy it. > > ETA: **puly** , the minute you said is was after the word “ring” the fill popped into my head. Yeah, perfect. > > As for break vs fill, can’t argue. I’m not up on my drum lingo - heck, the first “fill” I cited from Radar Love isn’t a fill at all, but I love when it shows up in the song. Can we include the drum break from Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend”? Although that’s perhaps more a solo, but it’s not really a solo. I’d say it functions essentially in the same way a break does. But, anywho, I guess that’s hair splitting. I’ve also always loved the drum fills at the end of phrases in “Just Like Heaven” by the Cure, particularly the one with the toms leading into the snare & crash on two. Subtle, understated, but I just love the displacement of the crash there and the way the toms & kick roll into it. (Actually, rather than explaining it, it’s the one that kicks off the song, and is sprinkled throughout.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/13 "2017-07-24T15:03:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Can we include the drum break from Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend”? Although that’s perhaps more a solo, but it’s not really a solo. I’d say it functions essentially in the same way a break does. But, anywho, I guess that’s hair splitting. > > I’ve also always loved the drum fills at the end of phrases in “Just Like Heaven” by the Cure, particularly the one with the toms leading into the snare & crash on two. Subtle, understated, but I just love the displacement of the crash there and the way the toms & kick roll into it. (Actually, rather than explaining it, it’s the one that kicks off the song, and is sprinkled throughout.) Oh man, I LOVE Girlfriend (except for that pesky last, stalkery line in the lyric). 3 minutes in: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n12OBlcHx9E](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n12OBlcHx9E) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/14 "2017-07-24T15:07:14Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh man, I LOVE Girlfriend (except for that pesky last, stalkery line in the lyric). I never really thought about that line that much, but I kind of like how it gives an edge to an otherwise joyful happy tune. After all, from what I understand, Matthew Sweet was not in particularly great spirits when he wrote and recorded this album. IIRC, the original title of the album was supposed to be “Nothing Lasts.” ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/15 "2017-07-24T15:08:48Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vdkmhquF60o/hqdefault.jpg "Bloc Party - Banquet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkmhquF60o) Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong put fills inside fills. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/16 "2017-07-24T15:31:31Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > My personal favorite is **Bernard Purdie** on \*\*Aretha Franklin’s \*\*Rock Steady, at 2:30 in: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EXJx2NnnxA0) so syncopated. > . Yes. That was cool. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/17 "2017-07-24T15:53:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I never really thought about that line that much, but I kind of like how it gives an edge to an otherwise joyful happy tune. After all, from what I understand, Matthew Sweet was not in particularly great spirits when he wrote and recorded this album. IIRC, the original title of the album was supposed to be “Nothing Lasts.” Ah - interesting. Yeah, it’s so fun; that last lyric (“and I’m never gonna set you free”) I simply choose to believe it doesn’t exist 😉 **Isamu** - I know, right? Purdie is just so good. I know \*\*pulykamell \*\*sings the praises of Zep’s Fool in the Rain because Bonham is using Purdie’s Shuffle. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/18 "2017-07-24T16:09:42Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > **The Who** , **Keith Moon** , Won’t Get Fooled Again, 7:30 coming right before Daltrey’s greatest rock scream. How about Keith’s drumming in [Underture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E1Q9IW0S64)? I don’t know how much of it qualifies as “fills” but I think that song is one of his finest moments. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/19 "2017-07-24T18:19:45Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Ah - interesting. Yeah, it’s so fun; that last lyric (“and I’m never gonna set you free”) I simply choose to believe it doesn’t exist 😉 Yeah, I just looked it up, and the album was written right after his divorce. And I did remember correctly that it was originally titled _Nothing Lasts_, but,apparently, it was retitled due to the objections of Tuesday Weld, the actress/model on the cover of the album. That I did not know. I thought it was the record label who urged him to retitle it. [Relevant bits here](http://www.spin.com/2011/10/matthew-sweet-looks-back-20-years-girlfriend/). > [@](#): > > It was hard to get Tuesday Weld to approve it, because she was a recluse and eccentric, but we finally got her approval. However, at the time, the album was called Nothing Lasts and the label got the idea that they should get a hold of Tuesday Weld and tell her that’s what it was called. Which of course just made her feel like, “What do you mean ‘nothing lasts’ with my photo?” So I changed the title to Girlfriend at the eleventh hour, so we didn’t have to mess with the Tuesday Weld photo. It was a better title for it because it was so much more positive, you know? The other thing I didn’t know is that apparently Tuesday was only 13 or 14 in that photo, at least according to Sweet. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002/20 "2017-07-24T18:44:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Hmm, I’ve never really though about this, but one that immediately comes to mind is that little paradiddle fill (or whatever it is exactly) from “Sultans of Swing”. > > [Example here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Zpmaz2OKE&feature=youtu.be&t=262), right after the word “ring.” I also like the ending of [“Down To The Waterline”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIu6dc7ajMU), a little fill at the 3:34 mark and then a bigger one 12 seconds later. Helps the song go out on a nice flourish. Another Keith Moon one (or five, really): the opening minute and a half of [Young Man Blues.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1CJuzpuca4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-drum-fill/792002.md?page=2)