Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit

The drum kit has provided the pulse of popular music from before the dawn of jazz up to the present day pop charts. Kick It, a provocative social history of the instrument, looks closely at key innovators in the development of the drum kit: inventors and manufacturers like the Ludwig and Zildjian dynasties, jazz icons like Gene Krupa and Max Roach, rock stars from Ringo Starr to Keith Moon, and popular artists who haven't always got their dues as drummers, such as Karen Carpenter and J Dilla. Tackling the history of race relations, global migration, and the changing tension between high and low culture, author Matt Brennan makes the case for the drum kit's role as one of the most transformative musical inventions of the modern era. Kick It shows how the drum kit and drummers helped change modern music--and society as a whole--from the bottom up.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction: Hanging around with musicians Chapter 1: Clever drummers, primitivism, entrepreneurialism, and the invention of the trap drummer's outfit · The transatlantic slave trade · The snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals come together · The birth of highbrow and lowbrow music · Being a drummer in nineteenth century America · Tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs · The trap drummer's outfit Chapter 2: Noisy drummers, ragtime, jazz, and the avant-garde · Ragged time · "Instruments of a lower order" · Trap drummers, sound effects, and moving pictures · Noisy women, immigrant cultures, and Tin Pan Alley · The birth of jazz · Quiet in the studio! · Drums and noise conquer the classical world Chapter 3: Studious drummers, selling drum outfits, standardization, and stardom · Fakers versus readers · Selling the drum kit · The drum outfit travels the world · Cymbal making and the invention of the hi-hat · Swing bands and star drummers · Slingerland and the standardization of the drum outfit Chapter 4: Creative drummers, artistry, virtuosity, and playing time · Prodigies and showmen · Bebop and the melody of the drum kit · Drummers and drum makers in dialogue · The rise of the backbeat · The drum kit in Britain and the birth of beat groups · The recruitment of Ringo · Theorizing creativity on the drum kit Chapter 5: Working drummers, musical labour, role playing, and authorship · The job of a session drummer · The job of a rock star drummer · The globalization of drum kit production · Credit where credit is due · Song authorship and getting paid Chapter 6: Indispensable drummers, drum machines, and record production · The drum kit on record · The multi-track recording studio · Diasporic drumming practices and dance records · Rise of the machines · From the margins to the centre of the mix · Drummers as producers · Augmenting the drum kit and drumming without drummers Conclusion: The tyranny of the snare drum Endnotes References Index

About the Author :
Matt Brennan is Reader in Popular Music at the University of Glasgow. He has served as Chair of the UK and Ireland branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) and published several books in the field of popular music studies. His previous monograph, When Genres Collide, was named as one of Pitchfork's "Favourite Music Books of 2017."

Review :
"The most comprehensive book on the topic. Compulsory reading for the inquisitive drummer." -- Bill Bruford "An incisive argument for the drum kit's recognition as a revolutionary musical invention." -- Financial Times, Best Music Books of 2020 "A wonderful book. The act of striking something is innate in all of us, whether drumming our fingers on a table or negotiating a full blown drum kit. Kick It is a fascinating read which has ignited many more layers of appreciation and knowledge towards my understanding of the emergence of the drum kit and its players." -- Dame Evelyn Glennie "Brennan pulls off something remarkable: he makes a deeply investigated and well-sourced history of musicians and drum manufacturers a page-turner. Don't be afraid of the Oxford University Press imprint - the book is short on jargon and blather. Like the geniuses who manage to make limb independence look easy, Kick It consolidates the myriad threads that contributed to the creation of the modern drumkit and makes it swing." -- Modern Drummer "If you're really interested in drumming this is the one book that you need... It really is an amazing work, focusing in detail, not on the wider range of percussion since the dawn of time, but on the actual role of the drum kit and the players - both professional and amateur - who have brought the instrument from a shadowy platform at the back of the stage to front centre. Not only is it a scholarly work intensively researched, but in the great tradition of the characters in the book, it retains that sense of humour that, in my experience, makes drummers the very best company!" -- Nick Mason, drummer for Pink Floyd "Essential reading for every drummer, and every other musician who fancies himself one ... well-researched, entertainingly written, and greatly enjoyable." -- JazzTimes "An absolutely brilliant book. Kick It is not only a welcome addition to the existing references on our instrument but is so incredibly well researched, thought out and balanced - it brings an entirely new and fresh perspective to the story of the drum kit. It will undoubtedly be an indispensable asset for anyone interested in this fascinating story, and for any curious drummer who wants to know where our instrument and our kind are headed - by knowing where we've been." -- Glenn Kotche, drummer for Wilco "The author's affection for the drums, the people who play them and who produce them, infuses an abundance of ideas and makes a virtual avalanche of details easier to process ... Brennan captures the essence of significant styles of jazz, pop and rock without playing favorites or bogging down the narrative ... [and his] desire to leave no stone unturned makes for an exhilarating journey." -- All About Jazz "An inspiring reminder of how the drums (and drummers) have helped shape creative culture over the last hundred or so years." -- Mark Guiliana, bandleader and drummer (David Bowie, Brad Mehldau) "A delight ... Brennan illuminates the undeniable: to talk about the history of contemporary music is to talk about the history of the drum kit." -- The Wire "This is a fascinating and insightful book, reflecting upon how society, culture and ideologies play out in popular music and the rhythms that we take for granted." -- Karlyn King, University of Birmingham, Popular Music History "Brennan's well-researched narrative gives drumming and drummers the respectful attention they deserve." -- Fiona McQuarrie "An utterly fascinating book. Brennan illuminates how drums and drumming have evolved in response to a wide range of societal influences, including trade, migration, and artistic innovation ... and his writing is crisp and engaging. Fear not, non-drummers; you definitely don't have to be a drummer to enjoy Kick It. Anyone who loves music will come away from the book with an enhanced appreciation for how drums and drummers contribute to shaping our favourite songs. Four stars." -- Shindig! "A compelling exploration of the place of the drums in popular music. Four stars." -- Record Collector "Kick It is an amazing piece of drumming literature that helps us all understand the origins of our amazing instrument!" -- Bart van der Zee, host of Drum History Podcast "A remarkable book. Every drummer with a sense of self will enjoy the cultural context this book provides, and every drummer with a collection of books should add this invaluable reference tool." -- Rob Cook, author of The Ludwig Book and The Slingerland Book and founder of the Chicago Drum Show "With a winning mix of erudition and enthusiasm Brennan argues convincingly that drummers are the dynamic core of music history. And in offering an exemplary case study of the drum kit, Brennan shows that musical instrument research should be the dynamic core of music scholarship. Kick It is an enthralling read." -- Simon Frith, Emeritus Professor of Music, University of Edinburgh