Dear Ndugu,
With your passing at the age of 65, the world is going to feel empty but we shall have our heart set on remembering you because your art is immortal. We are far from being done with listening to your groove since you left your mark on the history of music through chopsticks and bass drum.
It is no coincidence that you were among the most popular studio drummers for professionals really appreciated your talent. By the way, I shall forever keep Bruce Swedien’s words in mind, in the documentary « King Of Sound » we screened for the first time last November : « The drummer that we chose to play this piece of music (« Billie Jean ») was Leon Chancler, or as he was known in the industry, « Ndugu ». Unbelievable drummer ! Powerful sound that would groove for ever ! »
You have such a rich discography emphasizing your versatility in soul, funk and jazz that led you to collaborate with various artists like George Duke, John Lee Hooker and Santana, not to mention Quincy Jones. The latter’s musical world also allowed you to cross the paths of people like James Ingram or Franck Sinatra, but please, don’t blame me if I particularly remember your collaborations with Michael Jackson. Far be it from me to try to eclipse those other works, but I hope that you felt all the affection I have for the musical world of the leader of the Jackson 5.
Since I was a child, I have scrutinized the King of Pop’s albums booklets so many times that I could not ignore your existence. On « Thriller », it was John JR Robinson’s unavailability (after he had previously played on « Off The Wall »), that allowed you to take part in the best-selling album of all times when Quincy asked you to play on Soul and Funk tracks while Jeff Porcaro would play on Pop and Rock tracks and some ballads. Today I realize that both drummers on that mythical album are no longer with us, now that you have joined Toto’s one who had been waiting for you since 1992.
So we can hear you on « Hot Street » and « Baby Be Mine », the first two songs of the album sessions, even though the first one remained a demo and never made it to the record. Of course, I am not going to rewrite HIStory – I am nobody to dare challenging the choices that were made on that perfect album.
« Pretty Young Thing » and « Thriller » complete the list, and regarding the title-track, I trust your confidences more than the booklet that does not even mention your presence. The anecdote you told me about your performance on the intro of the song made me rediscover it after playing it thousands of times. It saddens me all the more to know that you will never tell those studio stories again that were so exciting to hear…
« Again, there was no Pro Tools, so we couldn’t move things : it had to be plain, precisely with the drum machine. Let me give you a tip : if you want to hear the drums by themselves, in the intro to Thriller, there are about two bars done with my drums without the drum machine and you can hear the contrast in sounds. There are two other bars coming together and by themselves. »
Not to mention the legendary « Billie Jean » – think about the fact that most people on the planet went crazy with this song on the dance floors ! From the beginning, you had felt something special with it, as you told me. It was a very moving moment :
« I feel like I’m a part of history. I feel great to have been associated with one of the biggest pop song records in the history of music. The night that we recorded Billie Jean, there was something special for me because that was my ex-wife’s birthday and I had a birthday party going on at home that I was late getting to because I was recording Billie Jean ! Then, when I got home, people were saying : « Well, you’re late to the party ! » And I said : « Yes… but I think I’ve just recorded one of the greatest things ever in my life ! » I had that feeling, you know, it just felt that special to me because there was something hypnotic about that song !… »
There was the feeling, of course, but it was all about your technique too and that’s why I also really appreciated listening to your account about the equipment you used for this legendary hit :
« Because I was doing sessions, I had three drum kits. The drum kit I used on that session is in a museum called Rhythm Discovery in Indianapolis : it’s a special made Yamaha drum kit. I had two kits made from this Brazilian wood called Jacaranda wood, so it’s an all wooden drum kit. I had some prototype drum EQs on the snare drum which is more like a marching drum which gave it that top muted sound. The rest were just my normal drums with the Paiste cymbals that I used on most of the record scores : the 602 and 2000. For Billie Jean, I actually took the tom-toms off the drums and I only recorded with kick drums, snare drums and hi-hat. Bruce Swedien put me on a platform and he put a special blanket muffler over the bass drum and stuck the microphone inside. He would bring up a lot of his own equipment, like microphones, to the sessions, so that was part of Bruce’s arsenal. The drums were recorded on a 16-track machine, so I had maybe 3 to 5 tracks of bass drum and 3 to 5 tracks of snare drum. Then you could hear each track differently because Bruce used a few different mikes and that’s how he got that sound. Then he blended that with the sound of the drum machine. So I was playing along with the drum machine as well. »
Basically, we can say that Westlake Studios were your playground with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and Bruce Swedien in 1982 – something that you would confirm five years later with your performance on « I Just Can’t Stop Loving You » for the « Bad » album. The iconic ballad of the record allowed you to prove that your technique was also effective through sharpness and subtlety and also to ward off fate of not doing it on the previous album sessions.
So it could not be otherwise that you are credited on the « HIStory » album compilation since you are precisely the first musician to be heard on the intro of « Billie Jean ». With this in mind, I decided to ask you to take part in my book « Let’s Make HIStory ». Getting the opportunity to follow the original concept of the album in a book seemed like a dream to me and you made it happen when you agreed to talk to me. And I have often told people about this approach during the promotion of the book by illustrating it with that amazing experience I had with you.
It goes without saying that I will always remember the emails we sent each other to carry out the project, and our unique phone conversation. As agreed, Laetitia and I called you one day through Skype, but when you didn’t answer, we decided not to panic and we took the initiative to call you directly on your cell phone. There, you thanked us many times for doing so because you just could not seem to log in. Well, it was definitely up to us to reach you since you were taking of your time between two courses at university where you passed on your passion for music to younger generations. And then I met a man who was as kind and benevolent as he was gifted.
Once the project was finalized, it was an honor to send you a copy of the book at your private home and to receive a picture of yourself with it in return. I am well-aware that this is just a drop in your fabulous career but I am proud anyway to have been able to collaborate with you and touch on HIStory…
Hats off to the artist !
