< PreviousModern Drummer July 2022 78 IN MEMORIAM Alan White June 14, 1949 - May 26, 2022 A lan White is best known as the drummer for the legendary English progressive rock band Yes. But his career was much more than that. Before his days with Yes, Alan contributed his groove to recordings by John Lennon, George Harrison, Gary Wright, Joe Cocker, and others. His recordings outside of Yes would constitute a wonderful career for any other drummer. However, the fact that Alan White took over Bill Bruford’s drum chair in one of the most influential rock bands ever and made it his own, while playing on over 40 of their recordings, will remain as his crowning musical achievement. Alan White began piano lessons at the age of six and began playing the drums at age twelve. His drumming career started at the age of thirteen. Early on he played locally with bands such as The Downbeats, The Gamblers, Billy Fury, Alan Price Big Band, Bell and Arc, Terry Reid, Happy Magazine (later called Griffin,) and Balls with Trevor Burton and Denny Laine. In 1968, Alan briefly joined Ginger Baker’s Airforce. In 1969, Alan received what he thought to be a prank phone call from John Lennon. Lennon was calling to ask Alan to join the Plastic Ono Band. The next day Alan found himself heading to Toronto for a concert with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, and bassist Klaus Voormann. The under-rehearsed and loose live recording entitled Live Peace in Toronto, and the DVD John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band Sweet Toronto would make waves and cause a stir, but Alan White held it all together. White would play on John Lennon’s later recordings Imagine, Sometime in New York City, and on Lennon’s singles “Instant Karma!” featuring White’s rollicking fills and a strong shuffle, and “Imagine.” White also played drums on George Harrison’s epic recording All Things Must Pass, playing on the song “My Sweet Lord,” and sharing the drum duties on the rest of the record with Ringo Starr, Jim Gordon, and Ginger Baker. Alan met songwriter Gary Wright (of “Dream Weaver” fame) on the George Harrison sessions for All Things Must Pass. Wright would call Alan to play of several of his recordings throughout his career. Alan’s playing with Gary Wright is some of his best (yet forgotten) drumming of his pre-Yes days. Alan appeared on the records Extraction from 1970, Footprint from 1971, the later Headin’ Home from 1979, and Who I Am from 1988 (playing double drums with Jim Keltner.) Alan’s playing on these recordings is exemplary. The best songs from these records are “Get on the Right Road,” “I Know a Place,” “Two Faced Man,” “Keep Love in Your Soul,” and “Voices.” These songs (and more) can be found on The Best of Gary Wright: The Dream Weaver. In the early 70s while living with Yes’ producer and engineer Eddie Offord, Alan found himself sitting in with Yes at a rehearsal before recording with Joe Cocker on his record Something To Say, and it’s subsequent tour. On the Cocker record White found himself splitting drum duties with Jim Keltner and Conrad Isidore. In 1972, Bill Bruford would quit Yes immediately after the recording of Close to the Edge, and a week before an ensuing tour. Yes, Jethro Tull, and America all asked Alan to join their bands at the same. Alan chose to join Yes. Alan spent the next three days learning the music from Close to The Edge and departed with the band on a 10-month tour. Performances from this tour were captured on the live recording Yessongs. Upon the tour’s completion, Yes recorded their next studio offering called Tales from Topographic Oceans. During his tenure with the band Alan White did over 3,000 concerts with Yes. The most remembered Yes records that featured Alan’s drumming are Yessongs, Tales from Topographic Oceans, Relayer, Tormato, Going for the One, Drama, 90125, Big Generator, Talk, and The Ladder. Alan’s early drumming highlights with Yes include “Roundabout” from Yessongs, “Going for the One” from Yesshows, “Does It Really Happen” and “Tempus Fugit” from Drama, and “Gates of Delrium” and “Sound Chaser” from Relayer. After the ongoing upheaval in the membership of Yes, and prior to the recording of 90125, White attempted to form a super-band with Jimmy Page and Chris Squire called XYZ. Upon its demise, Alan formed a band called Cinema with Chris Squire, Tony Kaye, and Trevor Rabin. Some of the work done with each of these bands wound up on the reformed Yes’ album 90125. The epic 90125 recording and subsequent tour, inspired an entire generation of drummers with the songs “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” “Changes,” (with an introduction written by White,) “Leave It,” and the instrumental “Cinema.” That success and influence continued with Big Generator. This record featured Alan’s song “Shoot High Aim Low,” his strong contributions on the song “Big Generator,” and the hit “Rhythm of Love.” During his career Alan White was also known for creatively assembling odd and unusual drumsets that gathered mismatched pieces, colors, and sounds. However, Alan made them all work to musical perfection. In 1973 Alan even played on American Jazz legend Eddie Harris’ recording EH in the UK. In 1976 he released his solo recording entitled Ramshackled, and in 1977 he assembled the band White with some musical colleagues from his past. Possibly the most interesting recording of Alan White’s career (outside of Yes,) is the 2011 recording that he did with Tony Levin, and David Torn, called Levin, Torn, White. As he did throughout his entire career, Alan’s finds a terrific balance of holding things down, and stoking the musical fire under his bandmates. Modern Drummer sends our heartfelt condolences to Alan’s bandmates, friends, and family: wife of forty years Rogena, and children Jesse and Cassi.Cast your vote for your favorite drummers today! Vote now at moderndrummer.com/rp Take part in th 44th Edition of the Modern Drummer Reader’s Poll. This year features the trailblazers that have had a tremendous impact on our drumming community throughout the last year, influenced by your voices on social media and the like. In addition to the iconic physical award that each drummer receives for winning, we are also giving them an NFT of their award and making one of each of the NFT awards available to the public later in the year! This year marks a level of inclusion that was previously not possible, but it is now so please vote, have fun and thank you for participating! Modern Drummer July 2022 80 Joey Kramer’s Aerosmith Nine Lives tour kit T he Drum Workshop Collector’s Series kit shown here was created for Joey Kramer’s use on Aerosmith Nine Lives tour. The tour ran from May 1997 to July 1999, and included dates in North America, Canada, Japan, and 14 European countries. This kit includes an 18x22 bass drum; 7x10, 9x12, and 10x13 rack toms; 11x14 and 13x16 floor toms; and an 8x14 snare drum. The drums feature Maple shells covered in a custom purple satin flame wrap. All the stands and drum hardware have been given a white powder coated finish. The bass drum head features a graphic of a dog and human face, along with the signatures of all the Aerosmith members. The snare drum head is stamped with the Aerosmith logo and carries a hand- written salutation from Joey to Drum Workshop founder Don Lombardi: “To Don, Keep Rocking, Joey Kramer.” This kit is featured in the book Crash: The World’s Greatest Drum Kits, available at moderndrummer.comSince 1977, Modern Drummer has been the world’s foremost community builder and a cutting-edge influence on all things related to drums & drumming. A place where young drummers find and follow their drum heroes, gear manufacturers, educators & retailers while actively participating in the drumming community to share their knowledge. To grace the pages of Modern Drummer Magazine is a coveted achievement that even the most iconic musicians hold in highest regard. Modern Drummer is the heartbeat and center of the drumming community. Now Modern Drummer is expanding our community for drummers, fans, beat- makers, music creators, NFT collectors, and yes, even gamers! It's called the Modern Drummer Club (MDC) and begins with our Discord at https://discord.gg/drums. The MDC Discord channel is a place to talk drums, learn & collaborate with others, share ideas, and provide musical feedback. The club represents Modern Drummer's foray into Web3 with a membership token that enables members to participate and be privy to the latest Modern Drummer NFT drops, contests, games, meet & greets, and rare live drum experiences. To learn more and join the conversation, join the Discord and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/drumsnftNext >