For the first decade, Jethro Tull had a hard time keeping a drummer. The life expectancy was short and this type of a situation was even made fun of in the movie Spinal Tap. In 1984, luck would change for the band and they would acquire one of the most prolific drummers and intellectual minds of the twentieth century. Doane Perry would become the big foot behind the bass drum for over a quarter century, unable to be knocked down from his mountain. He became the king on the drum riser.
He has appeared on over 100 successful records within his musical career in various different roles that have received gold to multi-platinum status. Doane has worked with Liza Minnelli, Lou Reed, Pat Benatar, Bette Midler, Todd Rundgren, Stan Getz, Anouska Shankar, Peter Cetera, Dweezil Zappa, David Foster, Teo Macero, Kitaro, Jon Anderson, Dionne Warwick, Laura Branigan amongst dozens of others and many other accolades that fill his resume. He has done commercial jingles, movies, television shows, many records and tours with major artists and has been a sought after drummer for years before landing a spot in one of the most intricate progressive rock bands.
Doane began playing piano at age 7 and then picked up drums at age 11 when he was introduced to The Beatles. His first drum kit was a collection of upturned trash cans. His dad must have seen the determination and decided to split the cost of $36 for a Sears & Roebuck snare drum with him. He told Doane that once he came up with $18 he would pay for the other half. His dad also made him his first hi-hat. It was a contraption made from a curtain rod with two tiny cymbals on top that was attached to a small piece of homemade furniture. After playing his make-shift drum kit for a while he finally was able to step up to a full Sears & Roebuck kit. He learned that if you put good heads even on a cheap drum kit, you could make it sound OK. Later that kit would be traded off in a deal as he traded up to his first professional Slingerland kit. He continued to absorb all the musical knowledge that he possibly could.
As he progressed as a drummer he couldn’t be brainwashed within his playing style or stylistically tied to just one drummer. He was influenced by some of the classic rock drummers such as Ginger Baker, John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Moon but he didn’t learn from just these iconic musicians. Intricate jazz style drummers such as Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Max Roach and ironically Clive Bunker, who was the first drummer in Jethro Tull, were also big influences on him.
Perry started working as a professional drummer almost forty years ago. While he was still in high school he started to get his feet wet with some weekend music jobs. Once he was in college his musical experience continued and flourished as he devoted his time to studying music of all styles, from classical to jazz and everything in between. He traveled and took his school work with him, continuing with his studies while on the road. However, he was in and out of college due to not being able to be in two places at once. His work was being done, but for some things he was required to be in the class room. It just wasn’t possible to be at school and be a working musician.
One thing is for sure, Doane has been able to survive in the music industry for quite a long time. How has he been able to do it? Doane explains, “Some people had a steep trajectory upward and then crashed and burned. I had a much slower, steadier climb. I stayed away from the typical trap of drugs and alcohol, to which many great musicians succumbed.” He also practiced many different drumming techniques, learned to sight read, which enabled him to interpret many styles of music more immediately and served to make him a more well rounded, responsible musician.
Humble statements come from Doane concerning how he achieved his musical ability. “I feel more like an eternal student of music. I record nearly every Tull show and listen back to it, mistakes and all.” He will listen to all the elements within the recording, paying close attention to the smaller details. “Very often it’s harder to play slower and quieter than louder and faster. You learn what not to play. The space between the notes is just as important. Any musician will tell you that”
Doane was asked if he still gets nervous before a show. Showing his more human side he responded, “Yes, even after all of these years. Playing live is a nightly proving ground. A bit of butterflies can be a good thing to keep you on your toes. You want to play as well as you can. Being prepared helps counteract that, although it would feel strange not to feel a bit of nerves before a performance. There is a fine line between being relaxed and complacency and I can say with the benefit of some experience that complacency does not often result in a great performance. However, after it’s over, more times than not I feel dissatisfied rather than satisfied. But every once in a while when you really do get it right, there is tremendous satisfaction, until you are faced with the next performance! I think it is just the nature of the beast – whether playing live or recording. All I can do is to keep trying harder”. He has become his own music critic.
As could be imagined, duplicating and interpreting previous Jethro Tull drummers is a tough spot to fill. Doane had to adjust his playing style to make certain Jethro Tull songs familiar, but had some difficulty duplicating everything. He had to take more time duplicating Barriemore Barlow’s drum pieces due to the idiosyncratic style involved within the pieces Barlow played on. Ian and Martin couldn’t have asked for a better person or more capable musician to fill the mighty percussive shoes of the previous drummers.
After over a quarter century being a member of Jethro Tull, Doane cannot pick just one Tull song as a favorite, as it is just too hard to make a choice. As the songs range widely in styles, from “Slipstream” to “Black Sunday”, two of his favorites, it’s impossible for him to pick just one song as they are all such well written pieces. However he is partial to many songs off of the album Roots to Branches as this was a collection of works to which he had actually contributed quite a bit more.
Currently Perry is working on a CD with Vince DiCola for a collaborative project called Thread. This will be the second CD released by this duo. They actually have one piece of music that is about fifty-eight minutes long. “It organically grew from a fairly short piece of music into a longer and longer one and the story grew along with it and we couldn’t nor did we want to condense it. In this instance this extended form felt natural and completely right to us” says Doane. For this new music being created, the keyboard and drum parts are completely done. There are a few more sections to finish rough mixes on and then they will send them off to a few musicians of their choice to help complete their musical masterpiece. The earliest anticipated release time will be in the late fall or winter of 2010. With Doane involved in this project, it’s a guarantee that it will be something worth hearing.
He has acquired many drum sets over the years and has been fortunate enough to be able to pass along his wealth. He donated some drum sets to be auctioned off for charity and gave a few others away. If he isn’t using a kit he will try to pass it along to a music school.
On November 26, 2005 Doane was getting ready for a Jethro Tull concert at Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Center. He sadly received a call informing him that his long time, very close friend and former Jethro Tull drummer, Mark Craney, had passed away. The band received the news before the show and they decided not to mention it that night because of Doane’s connection with Mark. He didn’t want to come unglued on stage, being reminded of the loss of his dear friend. Perry pulled himself together and gave a tremendous performance, as he always does. Doane wrote a long remembrance, which is still on the Jethro Tull website, about the loss of the former Tull member and friend to the “Doanut”, as he was affectionately called by Mark. Mark Craney had suffered enough within his life from several compounding medical issues and his suffering had at last, finally ended. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him, musically and personally.
Doane Perry has developed his dynamic ability, learning to be a hard hitter or gracefully play with finesse. He has been able to have a lifelong career and always plays with complete perfection, although he would probably disagree with that assessment. His percussive abilities are guaranteed to put on a great show every time. Whenever you see the big guy in concert with the rest of Jethro Tull, you will see the best performance possible. No one can give a better show than Doane Perry. He truly is a percussive genius.
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Equipment used by Doane Perry while in Jethro Tull:
Premier Series, Signia Series, or Genista Series birch drums which consists of 18x24 Bass Drum, 16x18 and 16x16 Floor Toms, 12x14, 10x12 and 8x10 Rack Toms, 5x14 Wood Hooped Snare Drum or 7x14 Wood Snare with die cast hoops, usually fitted with a 42 Strand snare on the bottom. He uses all Remo heads, Paiste cymbals in sizes; 20” medium heavy ride, 20” flat ride, 18”, 17”, 16” full crashes, 10” and 8” splashes, 18”, 16”, 12” thin chinas and 1 pair 14” heavy hi-hats and 1 pair 13” heavy hi-hats. Premier concert Glockenspiel.
List further includes 2 tuned Wuhan temple bells, Rhythm Tech hanging tambourine, double bass drum pedal, hi-hat and remote hi-hat are all from the Drum Workshop 5000 series, Sticks are either 5B Signature Series and a variety of different weighted Multi-rods, Brushes and Mallets by Pro-Mark, Pro-Mark. He wraps his sticks in gauze like tape made by Stick Handler which enables him to keep a fairly loose grip even when he sweats. Roland Dr. Beat Metronome for counting off tempos and a small, yet powerful device known as a Beat Bug by L.T. Luglock. Shure in ear monitoring system.
Comments
Awesome Drummer! Saw him at Riverport in 1999 with Tull on the Dot.Com tour. Never seen a better drummer ever!
Great writing, Great Drummer.....You truly
caught him on paper. I know, because I'm
Doane's wife. Thank you for this wonderful
article.
Heather!!! If your daughter is who I think she is.... it's Shilah. It's Pamela.... I worked with her at WEA many years ago. I visited your house many times and was able to meet you and Doane several times. Would love to get in touch. HOw do we do that?
Hey Doane and Heather, it's Shilah's old buddy Woody here. It's been ages....but great to see this well deserved article. Hope you guys are well.
A great article on a great drummer and a great man. Doane is the best Tull drummer ever--and with Clive Bunker, Barriemore Barlow, Dave Mattocks, and Gerry Conway in that group--that's quite an accomplishment. I've met him a couple of times over the years, and he truly seems to be a class act, too. Looking forward to the new release. I only wish he could convince Ian to do a new studio album...
Dan - you missed 1 great drummer within that group as well. Mark Craney was an awesome drummer as well, that Doane still to this day states Mark was better than he was.
Barriemore Barlow was the best Tull drummer according many other drummers in bands and session players . Doane is still learning "touch" and is doing well for himself but he admits he is no Buddy Rich or Barlow and he is one swell of a nice person. He has manners and can take abuse since he has worked with egomaniacs Lou Reed and Anderson.
Doane must have very little self-esteem if he works for that inexerable Ian Anderson. How can he drum for a front amn who sings so pathetically? Money, money, money, we guess.
Low self esteem? Are ya crazy or something? I've never met anyone so confident in all my life and highly intelligent. After appearing on so many albums over the years his head should be enormous. Why does he stick with Ian? Money? Maybe, but what about the fact that they may have become friends? How about the fact that Tull is some of the most difficult music to play? He is constantly being challenged musically. It keeps him sharp. He could go and play for some simple four/four timeing band, but musically he will never advance if he does that. Wish people would look at the entire picture. Ian still has some good vocals too him. Open your ears and see what he can do. What about him being the only rock flautist? What about the fact that he is on stage for 100 shows per year? For some people it is all about being able to perform too. Some people just love being in front of a live audience day after day.
Can't compare him to other drummers as I'm not an expert in this respect. All I can say is that he's my favourite Tull drummer out of the lot.
While I agree that Anderson's voice has suffered (though this may vary considerably from concert to concert), Tull is still a great joy to see. Whenever they're in Germany, I'm sure to be at some of their concerts... their musical performance is really excellent. Still my favourite band after all these years.
Yeah, keep going, Doane!
great drummer with a great band. first saw tull in 1970, see them any chance i get for a night of entertainment and fun. why does anyone need to see any deeper than that?
Doane is not only a great drummer, he and his wife Heather have always been very friendly to Jethro Tull fans. Both he and Dave Pegg were the most accessible band members, and Maart Allcock too while he was with Tull. It's great that Doane is still a member of Jethro Tull!
For great Tull discussions, join us at: http://thejethrotullboard.proboards.com/index.cgi
I met Doane last year, very nice guy, and he is great in concert, too. I seen Tull back in the day with Barlow, Barlow was awesome, but if any Tull drummer can fill his shoe's it's Doane. I know, I've seen him in concert several times, the man plays like a machine, only with soul. He belongs in a band like Tull, that's where the challenge is, and he's the man to fill it.
You know I can't understand why people bag Ian so much. He has his short commings, as we all do, but he has been the driving force behind the greatest progressive rock band of all time -- 43 plus years now. Look at all the bands from when Tull started in '67. Where are they now? Are they still selling out like Tull does? Have they made over 20 studio albums? Albums with such diverse music? And have those bands had the quality of artists in them that Tull has? I know the answers, I hope you do as well. In my opinion he is the greatest frontman R&R has ever seen. And there are a few artists that owe him a big 'thank you' for the careers they have had, (the money they made!), because Ian was wise enough to see their talent. Besides, if you have ever known a gifted person in your life then you know they are cut from a different cloth... it just comes with the territory. So please people, give Ian a break, he's a hard working gifted artist in a business full of airplay for mediocre, at best, talent.
Rock on, Doane... Tull could not ask for a better man on the skins, my friend.
Saw them in Stowe, VT. It was a good time.
I have played drums for 20 years and listened Tull almost as long. I think Doane is best drummer of the bunch. He is very powerful drummer, but same time he knows when to play less. It's very important to drive song and keep it breathing. That means, you should give other players a stage too. Barriemore played too much. Bunker was very good. Gerry was quite forgettable, not very imaginative fills & beats. Doane's fills & beats are always imaginative. Doane is one of the best in world. Like Neil Peart. Unforgettable.
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