On Stage No Name On Bass Drum Head.

[Medium B]

Hi all. I am a new member here but a long time Shadows fan. As a drummer I am also a big fan of the playing of Tony Meehan and Brian Bennett. Something I found interesting is that the band name name doesn't appear on the front bass drum head in any of the video clips I have seen. Brian and Tony both had their names on the drums but not the name of the band. I didn't know if it might have something to do with them sometimes backing Cliff? Anyway, no big issue, just a small mystery.

[Iain Purdon]

I’m not sure whether there are any rules for this. I can remember Ringo Starr (Beatles) and Mick Avory (Kinks) using the group name. Bobby Elliott certainly displayed his own name in the Hollies but was it always? I’ve seen Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones) sporting the maker’s name, ditto Dave Clark (DC5). But I’ve seen BB with a variety: maker’s name, plain blank head or “Brian Bennett!” Tony Meehan went simply for “Tony”, which I thought was cool.

[iefje]

Keith Moon used two bass drums and had "The Who" printed on them, each word on each bass drum.

[martcaster]

Can I refer you to this article https://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/B ... nnett.html About half-way down the page there is a photo of Brian with his Premier Aubrey Beardsley kit. On it is the only reference to The Shads I've seen on any of Brian's kits.

[Medium B]

Thank you Martcaster. What a great collection of pictures, and some really cool drum sets. I am a sixties kind of guy so my favorite Shadows tunes are mainly from that time period. Late fifties, early sixties - probably the golden age of pop music. Thanks for your reply.

[shadowriter]

Can I refer you to this article https://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/

Thanks Martcaster, just spent an hour browsing through some of the drummer's bio's. Including Sandy Nelson and D J Fontana. Makes for great reading.
Wonder if there is a Guitarist equivalent anywhere.

[drakula63]

I think it was pretty well standard practice for the drummer to have his name on the front bass drum skin... certainly this was often the case with the big jazz and swing bands. Brian and Tony were both influenced by this era (as were so many pop and rock n' roll drummers), so they just carried on the tradition. I remember seeing Cozy Powell playing a twin bass drum kit, with 'Cozy' on one drum head and 'Powell' on the other. I'm sure loads of rock and metal drummers did this. The 1975 Premier kit was the first (and only) time I have seen 'Shadows' on the bass drum head. Although, strangely enough, check out the front bass drum head on the mini-kit that the puppet Brian is playing in the 'Thunderbirds are GO!' film from 1966...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSQWvaln6mA

[Medium B]

Great clip. I had never seen it. I always liked the drummer having his name or initials on the bass drum. The Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich shield was cool. I also kind of liked when the sixties groups wore suits.