Roger Hawkins: Anything But Typical

Click on the image to hear Roger Hawkins playing drums on Percy Sledge’s 1966 classic, “When a Man Loves a Woman”

If you’re like me, it can be frustrating to hear drumming that is predictable and monotonous. This is the case with much of popular music. Here, however, I want to showcase Roger Hawkins playing “anything but typical” on this iconic recording. Let’s jump in.

• For the intro, Hawkins plays straight 8th notes on the hi hat, but plays a cymbal on the first beat of every measure that adds color.

• At :13, Hawkins surprises with a 3-beat triplet pattern as an intro to the first verse.

• He plays the ride cymbal throughout the verses and bridge, which is rare.

• At :48, he inserts a crash on the first beat. The sound of the crash is hard to describe, but it sounds wonderful.

• At 1:02, he precedes the crash with a snare hit on beat 6.

• At 1:13, Hawkins hits the snare on beat 4 and brings back the triplets from the intro on beats 5 and 6.

• At 1:14 The bridge has a highly-distinctive (and somewhat busy, but tasteful) ride rhythm where he plays a dotted 8th and 16th note pattern. (I’ve played a lot of 6/8 ballads, but never this pattern.)

• Also at the Bridge, Hawkins — really the producer — raises the volume of the bass drum so we can hear the a punchy16th note into beats 1 and 4.

• At 2:11, Hawkins plays something traditional — simply playing on beats 1-6, but then leads into 2:26 doubling up that pattern with 16th notes on beats 1-6. This works especially well as a prelude to the terrific trumpet part that comes in.

The irony is that Roger Hawkins played on the Bob Seger hit, “Old Time Rock & Roll,” a song I would be happy to never hear again, but that would mean never attending another wedding. On that song, Hawkins’ playing is about as bland as it gets. Plus, the sound of the drums has that dull thud common to the 1979 era. Of course, a session drummer like Hawkins has his sound largely determined at the discretion of the recording’s producer and engineer, and the playing style mandated by the recording artist.