Greg Webster / Ohio Players tribute and “Laid It” drum cover
One time for the great Greg Webster, original drummer and last surviving founding member of the mighty Ohio Players, who passed away last week. I was fortunate to interview Greg for my RedBull Music Academy (Give the Drummer Some) column in 2016 – great spirit, great musician. Greg had a shuffling, swinging style that made the band’s early Westbound and Capitol releases groove so hard. He had a killer left hand and light touch – these things appealed to me early on and continue to inspire me and drummers everywhere till this day, whether they know his name or not. This tune (“Laid It”) has the tricky intro with the accents in free time, which Ohio Players did A LOT of early on. (Peep “Singing in the Morning”). Tempo changes, passages coming and going at a moment’s notice, trading fours in the middle of a ballad…a testament to long hours of rehearsal, dedication (I was told Sugarfoot slept in bed with his guitar) and the genius of Junie Morrison as a key composer. Woodshedding to these albums helped me when I started touring with (singer) Ben Pirani, who used a lot of sudden accents in the live show. Indebted for life to Greg for his contributions and sharing his stories. Here’s me having fun to The Players. Soulful journey, Greg.
