Featured drummers include Bobby Morris (Louis Prima), Dick Richards (Bill Haley and His Comets), Earl Palmer (Little Richard, New Orleans & LA studio), DJ Fontana (Elvis Presley), JM Van Eaton (Sun Records studio), Buddy Harman (Roy Orbison, Nashville studio), Jerry J.I. Allison (Buddy Holly and The Crickets), Hal Blaine (LA studio), Idris Muhammad (Curtis Mayfield, NY Studio), Sam Lay (Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chicago studio), Bernard Purdie (NY studio), Roger Hawkins (Muscle Shoals studio), Sandy Nelson (drum solo hits), and New Orleans stylists Smokey Johnson and John Boudreaux, along with British rock session players Brian Bennett, Bobby Graham, and Clem Cattini, followed by a younger generation of commentators who witnessed the rise of rock in their youth:
Jaimoe, Carmine Appice, Steve Gadd, and Jim Keltner. With interviews conducted by drumming great Steve Smith and Hudson Music founders Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel, and editing by noted drummer/historian Daniel Glass, this is easily one of the most important books on the history of drumming ever published. The included DVD contains excerpts from the actual interviews, and the text is presented in a coffee-table style with tons of rare photographs in a beautiful layout. The included DVD contains nearly three hours of excerpts from the interviews, taking the viewer on an engaging, informative, funny, and sometimes poignant trip through the history of rock music. The full interviews will be made available online via hudsonmusic.com. It should be noted that this book contains no music notation, which makes it accessible to an even wider audience.