CANYON DRUMS CAPTURES THE SPIRIT OF THE WILD WEST
Instrumental drum recordings are not the easiest thing to track down, in fact the only other one that I have in my collection that
fits that description is a Ginger Baker one from the 80`s by the name of `African Force`.
For those who are not aware, Ginger Baker was the drummer in prototype heavy metal band Cream from the 60`s, with Eric Clapton out front playing guitar.
It is a blinder of an album, a bit too spacy in parts, but the use of traditional African percussion on the album by session musicians adds a world muse flavour to Baker`s stoic drum bashing.
I most definitely want to add some more instrumental drum stuff to my collection. Just haven`t got the time, let alone the money, to fetch everything I want in the name of import music, but guys like Jeff
Porcaro out of Toto and Denny Carmassi out of Heart/Montrose ect. surely must have made some `experimental stuff` on their
own which featured only them and their drum kit.
The big four to me as far as drumming goes is John Bonham out of Led Zeppelin, Ginger Baker, Jeff Porcaro and Denny Carmassi.
Ginger Baker is arguably the greatest drummer of all time. Of course there are about a dozen on the fringe who I probably dont even know yet, but I am going to dig a bit deeper to try and make a few more drum album discoveries very soon.
The one drum album I do have, besides the one from Ginger Baker, is one which I can guarantee you is as rare as rocking horse chit, well at least in Australia.
When I was in the US for a holiday in 1999, I bought a CD on the spare of the moment while visiting the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
I felt sorry for the decrepit looking Indian chap who was probably relying on my five bucks to buy his next loaf of bread.
The CD I bought was `Canyon Drums` by cult Comanche Indian drummer Peter "Wyoming" Bender. I am only telling you what is written on the sleeve now, because I wouldn`t have a clue about any of his other music.
Although the album was recorded in Berlin and features some not so traditional world music keyboard textures to give it more of a mod-con feel, Bender`s mystifying and broadscape drumming, together with some magical native American flute in the mix ensures the album loses none of its traditional inspiration against the soundtrack like backdrop.
The last sentence is my own words by the way, I dont want to be seen as slagging off an album sleeve and not having even listened
to it properly.
The truth is I have listened to the album about ten times since 1999, but i should have listened to it more that`s forsure. There is eleven songs on here, with very Indian titles such as `Spirit Mountain`, `Aw-bi-zha-ye (Through The Air)`, `Dedication to King Joseph`, `Flying Tomahawk` and`Return to Tatanka`.
One might say that the songs are a little repetitious and the same thing over and over, but even still, it makes fantastic back-
ground music for a party, which is a problem for me because no chick will give me an excuse to put on a barby with a bit of Mr.
Bender playing in the background.
My favourite tune is probaly `Aw-bi-zha-ye`, it really is breathtaking and it makes you feel like you are smack bang in the middle of the Grand Canyon or floating ten feet off the ground through Monument Valley with zero gravity.
Another spooky tune which is probably my second favourite is called `Dont Ever Smoke the Wrong Pipe With the Wrong Man`.
The opening track `Rugged Roads` is certainly not rugged musically. Like all the other ten tracks, it rollicks along with the hypnotic genius of Wyoming Bender and a bit of world music chucked in. Peter "Wyoming" Bender has recorded soundtracks for a number of European films.
In the 60`s he even worked ever so briefly with Alex Korner, the man largely behind the formation of Cream, Blind Faith and
the Spencer Davis Group.
Bender`s recording career would not appear to be illustrious, and even though in all honesty I haven`t attempted to track down any other stuff he recorded over the years, I dont like my chances of actually finding
a CD featuring Bender which is still being circulated.
About as much chance as finding a 1930 penny. Obviously it must have been meant to be that I bumped into an Indian guy at the Petrified Forest in April 1999.
The Petrified Forest National Monument is great by the way, I would recommend to anyone to visit the park, as well as Mesa Verde and Monument Valley if they ever go to America.
Oh yeah, and dont miss Bryce or Zion National Park either. Visit them all, and have Canyon Drums playing in the car. It makes really good cruise music.
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