Carl Palmer

Wikipedia:

Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950, Handsworth, Birmingham, England) is an English drummer and percussionist. He is credited as one of the most respected rock drummers to emerge from the 1960s. In addition, Palmer is a veteran of a number of famous English bands, including The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Asia. Every original song Palmer has played on features a cow bell.

Career

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown was founded by Arthur Brown, and their original drummer was Drachen Theaker. However, Theaker suffered from aviophobia, and this meant he could not tour with his bandmates when the time arose for them to tour overseas. Thus, Theaker was the drummer on the band's eponymous album, but afterwards, Palmer took his place, and became a permanent member of the band.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

After meeting up with a pair of other English musicians, Greg Lake, and Keith Emerson, the young musicians felt an "immediate chemistry", and by 1970, formed a band. In naming the new group, the trio chose their last names alphabetically as the band's name, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also shortened to ELP. It was arguably the most successful band in his career. Palmer remained with ELP until they eventually disbanded in 1980. They developed a sound that merged art rock, jazz, electronica, pop rock and classical music and found fans within their peers and the public alike. During that time Palmer released only one single of his own developing a solo career that he managed alongside ELP, and other future bands, for the remainder of his career. Emerson, Lake & Palmer subsequently reunited in the early 1990s and played the progressive rock circuit, especially in outdoor summer concerts, and released two new studio albums. In 1998, the members of ELP had a rather acrimonious falling-out and Lake left the band.

Reunions

Palmer later rejoined the newly reformed ELP in 1992 for Black Moon, In the Hot Seat, a box set, as well as several DVDs and the subsequent tours. A one-off ELP performance at the 2010 High Voltage Festival celebrated the 40th anniversary of forming the band.

Following the 1998 break-up of ELP, Palmer worked with Asia's John Wetton in the band Qango, and subsequently toured with his 'Carl Palmer Band' featuring Paul Bielatowicz on guitar and Stuart Clayton on bass. In addition to these tours, he has released four "new" albums, most notably Working Live Vol. I & II as well as an anthology album.

Recent years

In recent years, Palmer has performed a series of drum clinics across the UK, Europe and United States. Highlights of Palmer's live drum solo over the years have included the use of both gongs and tambourines, and also his ability to extract himself from his t-shirt while playing complex double bass drum patterns; the latter leaving him stripped to the waist to play the final part of his show. The removal of his shirt was a major attraction in Palmer's drum solos during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. On recent tours, however, his shirt has remained on throughout his performances. Palmer is a patron of the British 'Classic Rock Society' which promotes Progressive Rock concerts.

Palmer has been reunited with the original line-up of Asia since 2006. They celebrated their 25th anniversary, and have since released 2 new studio albums. Phoenix in 2008, and Omega in 2010. A live album and DVD from the 2006 reunion tour, entitled Fantasia was released by Eagle Rock Records. Asia are currently finishing their next studio album entitled XXX (30).

Influences

Having played with a variety of bands, including various anonymous schoolboy bands as a youth, Palmer's style was developed from a wide range of musical influences. Among Palmer's early drumming influences were Joe Morello, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Inspiration from their techniques can be heard in his own drumming style, which was initially influenced more from jazz than any other genre. Known for his technical prowess, another of Palmer's trademarks included solos in many of his performances. His later work in Asia saw a more basic approach, although he began to play double bass drums more frequently during that period, and was one of the first drummers to be inducted into the Modern Drummer Magazine Hall of Fame. Palmer was in the top 10 of Rolling Stones: 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.

Equipment

Drums

Stainless steel drum kit

In 1973, Palmer commissioned British Steel to design a custom stainless steel drum kit using one-half inch thick shells, the only off-the-shelf equipment were the hoops manufactured by Gretsch. He also had a jeweler engrave the shells with various animals. The kit, along with other percussion instruments and a rotating platform, had a total weight of approximately 2.5 tons and many of the stages on tour had to be reinforced as well as some venues cancelling the shows because of it. Also, the kit was electronically designed to be "synthesized" to sound like electronic drums.

Paiste brass drum kit

Palmer also used a brass drum kit manufactured by Paiste, which is built from 2002 model cymbal brass.

Ludwig Vistalite drum kit

He owns also a Ludwig kit with blue Vistalite shells.

Ludwig signature "Venus" snare drum

In 2011 Ludwig released his "Signature Venus snare drum", made of a green-lacquered brass shell with a 3.7" depth and a 14" diameter.

Cymbals

Carl is currently endorsed by Paiste and uses this cymbal setup :

Sticks

Pro-Mark produces his signature drumsticks. They are made of American Hickory, with a quite short length (15 7/8") and a diameter between a 5A and a 5B (0.579").