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Keeping Time With Elton
Percussionist Nigel Olsson bangs out a few stories at Berklee.
(July 7, 2000)
by Rob Hochschild
There is a sequence of drum fills near the end of Elton John's "We All Fall in Love Sometimes/Curtains" that ranks among the most cathartic moments in pop history. Pianist/vocalist John is sometimes singing, sometimes screaming the words "Love to love today" repeatedly while drummer Nigel Olsson pounds out one powerful drum fill after another, each one building on the previous one, as the two-act song moves to its close. It is a brilliant fusion of songwriting, arranging and pure musical emotion, one that provides the perfect end to John's 1975 classic album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
Fortunately, it was also the tune Olsson elected to play from the CD for 35 Berklee students when he gave a talk on campus last month.
"On that tune, you've got every single fill I've ever done," Olsson said with a chuckle during the Studio A clinic. "And I should mention that that was one take, I promise you," added Olsson, who also sang backup vocals on the track.
As one of Elton John's chief musical compadres since the early 1970s, Olsson added his signature drumming style to landmark albums like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Honky Chateau, Tumbleweed Connection, and Caribou. He has also participated as a drummer, percussionist, or vocalist on recordings by the Spencer Davis Group, Leon Russell, Linda Rondstadt, and on the original soundtrack recording of the Who's Tommy.
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| Music Production and Engineering Assistant Chair Rob Jaczko (left) invited Olsson to speak at Berklee and moderated the clinic. |
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"The way Elton plays the piano makes the whole sound of the band open up," Olsson said of the pop icon. "It was great to play Elton's ballads, since I'm a balladeer myself. I would tend to hold it back. When you have beautiful lyrics and songs to play with, as a drummer, you have to hold it back."
Olsson sprinkled his clinic with several stories from the days when his running buddies were fellow drummers Ringo Starr, from the Beatles, and the Who's Keith Moon. He also answered questions about his drumming and producing techniques.
Near the end of the two-hour clinic, Olsson summed up his entire music-making approach in one sentence:
"If it's not coming from your heart, it's not coming from anywhere."
Music Production and Engineering Assistant Chair Rob Jaczko, who is also a drummer, arranged the clinic after meeting Olsson's brother Kai, a guitarist who happens to live next door to Jaczko. Among the list of producers that Jaczko has talked to recently about doing future clinics at Berklee are Tchad Blake (Pearl Jam, Bonnie Raitt) and Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd's The Wall).
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