If youve ever seen Simon and Garfunkle.. Concert in Central Park ... you can see the percussionist doing 50 ways in the back ground.

Session Drummer Hal Blaine

Hal Blaine was a session drummer who worked with Elvis on a number of his movie soundtrack albums as well as the 1968 TV special "Elvis".

Mr. Blaine had been known for his expertise with exotic percussion, so he was first brought in to work on the soundtrack for the film "Blue Hawaii" in March 1961. It isn't uncommon to have more than one drummer working on the percussion for an album, so Mr. Blaine joined D.J. Fontana on many more Elvis sessions in the 1960s. These soundtracks included the films "Girls! Girls! Girls!", "Fun In Acapulco", "Roustabout", "Paradise Hawaiian Style", "Easy Come Easy Go", and "Live A Little Love A Little."

Hal Blaine was born Harold Simon Belsky in Holyoke, Massachusetts on February 5, 1929. He began drumming professionally in 1948 and by the 1950s was working with the Tommy Sands band. He became a much requested session drummer in the 1960s, working with such artists as The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Sonny and Cher, Simon and Garfunkel, Johnny Rivers, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra and many others. He also became a big part of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound", working with The Ronettes and The Crystals.

By his own estimate, he has performed on over 35,000 recorded tracks. Forty of the songs he has worked on became #1 hits, while another 150 were top ten hits. Eight of them received Grammy awards as Record of the Year. Hal Blaine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Side Men category in March 2000.

He is today still very active in the music industry and has written his memoirs in "Hal Blaine and The Wrecking Crew" with David Goggin.

Steve Gadd of Rochester has played drums for Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Chick Corea, Frank Sinatra,  and hundreds of other musicians. Many say Gadd is the best there is. This weekend in Boston, Gadd was honored for his remarkable career.

The occasion was the American Drummer Achievement Awards  sponsored by the Zildjian Company, which has been making cymbals for 380 years.

Bill Cosby hosted the event.

Many of Gadd's admirers came to see him play. One young man flew to Boston from France and slept in the airport just to see Gadd play.

That kind of adulation and the tribute in Boston makes Gadd a bit uncomfortable. His comfort zone is behind his drums.

"The way you feel about me, that's the way I feel about you and I really thank you for honoring me tonight," he said.

Gadd is as in demand as ever. He's getting ready for another tour with Eric Clapton.

"I feel very fortunate to be able to work with people like that. I really like what I do," he said

One musician said, "No one lays down a groove like Steve Gadd."

Steve Gadd played drums on The Mickey Mouse Club in 1956. Then there was the many years playing in drum corps and Eastridge high school, the army band, and the Eastman School of Music. In the 1970's, Steve Gadd's almost indescribable talent really caught on.

His breakthrough work was with Steely Dan on the "Aja" album. He also played the unusual drum riff on Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover."

Gadd moved back to Rochester 16 years ago, where he and his wife have raised their two sons.

The big discovery on this song was Steve Gadd's drum part. It's probably what made it a hit. When Steve used to be in the studio, he used to practice these little marching-band patterns. It was like a little exercise for him. So I guess that's what it was. It's tricky; I've watched a lot of drummers try to play that. They never quite get it. It's very tricky.

Interviewer : Can you explain, did the song come first or did the groove come first, did he ( Paul Simon ) write the song around the groove or vice-versa ?
Steve Gadd : the song came first and we tried a few different ways and ended up with that feel.
I would just sit at the drums sometimes and instead of playing the hi-hat with my right hand, I would play with my left hand, and from playing be-bop, the hi-hat here is like if you play in 4 or you would play at different places. I was more free than just 2 and 4, so Fifty Ways is the result of using the hi-hat at different places : using the left hand and the hi-hat.

Interview of Steve Gadd.