O-Lugs,

I appreciate your forthright comments.

They do not surprise me.

If I had to relive that judgement call today...I would not have modified the originality of this kit.

I unfortunately did not have a collector's focus on vintage drums back in the

80s.

Photo #1&2 ....1964 they were original.

Photo #3 .... 1980s they had been modified.

David

Thanks Hoppy for your suggestions and comments.

I stopped playing about five years ago, and I am waiting to see if my two grandsons are interested in driving their parents crazy.

In the meantime these drums sit in my basement for them to beat on.

However, if I ever find a funky old B3 Hammond player that is interested to "boogie" I will dust off these old ludwigs.

I still listen to Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, and Jack Mcduff....and they still get me cranked.

( Click on images to enlarge them.)

Many people have done these things and came to regret them later. You're in good company! Fortunately, most of these conversions don't change the vintage drum sound and, to many, that's all that matters, anyway.

HA! Love those band pics...

Nothing will get the grand-kidz more interested in the drums than seeing Grandpa laying down some FAT backbeat!!!

There's gotta still be some good B3 players B3 based bands out there just looking for ya!

Have you checked out Soulive?

Hoppy,

Photo #1 below- My oldest son who is now 36..never got hooked on the drums.

Photo #2 -His two boys...my grandsons....it may take a while and a lot of noise to find out if these guys will take over these old Luds???

Photo 3, 4, 5, (Athens 1967)

The last time I played with a great B3 player--The Galaxy Lounge at the Athens Hilton (Greece) in August 1967.

Since then Vangelis has written the film scores to "Chariots of Fire”,” Blade Runner"

"Alexander", " 1492 Conquest of Paradise”, and many others.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7X_7IDXupU&feature=related[/ame]

A great experience.

Aside from being a very talented and successful film score writer ,Vangelis is very funky/jazzy and an all around incredible keyboard player….and a pretty capable percussionist.

Vangelis is on the B3 in the photo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vangelis

Demis Roussos is on bass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demis_Roussos

I always enjoyed playing with a good B3 player; I would like to think it might happen again someday.

I live in Montreal and there aren’t a bunch of these old guys floating around…that I know.

David

(Click on the images to enlarge them.)

I remember Vangelis from the Bladerunner soundtrack mostly.

Gotta love that 60's fashion...Thanks for sharing the pics...

Hoppy,

The view from the Galaxy Lounge of the Acropolis was quite special.

In those days there were a lot of European\ British bands that came to Athens to work as there were some huge outdoor clubs.

Many of these visiting musicians dropped by the Galaxy Lounge to jam...it was a bit of a musicians meeting place.

Vangelis was very interested in Afro Cuban stuff at that time and with his two “juiced” Leslie speaker cabinets pumping….the place used to rock.

David

The photos below show the view from the Galaxy Lounge...a jam session and one of our two vocalists.

Man, there is nothing like a B3 behind a man..or woman...that can wail on it and knows how to work the Leslies. Brent Midland was one of the absolute best B3 men on the planet.

The band I was with back in the early 60s had the wonderful experience to work on the same bill at the Esquire Show bar in Montreal with the J.C. Davis Band and the King Curtis band.

This club featured two bands alternating on the same stage.

I don’t know if any of you remember the drummer Ray Lucas that worked with King Curtis…he did most of the sessions on Roberta Flack’s recordings as well as on many other artists’ recordings.

(Stanley Turrentine, Aretha Franklin,Donny Hathaway etc.)

Ray had one of the most interesting styles of that period IMHO (for this style of music)…he played a black Gretsch kit with the 20” bass drum and he had the most delicate sounding cymbals I had heard at that time.

If there was ever a drum kit I would have liked to have owned it would have been that Gretsch set.

His drums with his technique sounded fantastic.

He had a finesse that I had not seen before with an interpretive style that was truly unique.

I don’t have a good photo of him during that period.

J.C. Davis (tenor sax) led the James Brown Band for a number of years before he went out on his own. His front man …a vocalist was a fellow named “Little Charles Walker” taught local vocalists how to dance….a la James Brown foot work.

Cornell Dupree was the guitar player with the Curtis Band at that time.

A truly great band with superb players.

Bernard Purdie also recorded some stuff with King Curtis....a very talented drummer.

A Whiter Shade of Pale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXAQc47hA5A&feature=player_embedded#

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEYg16GtL8&feature=related[/ame]

The video below shows a younger Bernard Purdie.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Loy55z4GpA&feature=related[/ame]

Montreal musicians learned how to play funk R&B by going to the Esquire Show Bar back in the 60s and listening to these guys….many local drummers from that period owe their introduction to this style of drumming to these bands and that club.

David

Photo #1 J.C. Davis-(click on the imagae to enlarge it.)

Photo #2 King Cutis

Photo #3 J.C. Davis and Charles Walker. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Photo #4 An old friend from London (a pretty lady) that used to dole out the money to Tom Jones and Englebert Humberdink-ex Barkleys banker that worked for MAM Agency that managed these two artists. (1966)

Great stories, Thanks for the tip on the two groups, you're right they were loaded with talent. That was really great music! Just spent the last 2 hrs. on U-tube with these groups and followed up with James & Bobby Purify, Mary Wells and the Chi Lites. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening.

Thanks Guitar Dude Man

Wow David, those are some great pics and a great story! I love seeing this stuff. It's too bad the kit was drilled as it is beautiful! I know you said the set was bout around 1963 but it looks as though it might be a 1960 or 1961? Does it have date stamps? What color is the interior? Do you really have a WFL Chrome super 400 with it? That drum is very valuable and rare. Thanks for all those wonderful pics!