I use these drums in the parades on Beale Street for the funeral procession of famous Memphis musicians who have gone on to the great gig in the sky. The different musicians from the Beale Street clubs and others from around the city get together in an ad hoc New Orleans style marching band in front of the Hearse, playing “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” at a mournful tempo for one block and then breaking into a joyous, fast paced “When The Saints Go Marchin’ In” when we pass B.B. King Boulevard. Recently, drummer Howard Grimes passed away (see article) and we had an abundance of drummers for the drum line.
The snare is a late thirties to early forties Ludwig & Ludwig 15” x 12” single tension marching snare I bought on Ebay. The original white paint had to be touched up and I added plastic heads, wire snares in stead of gut, and a modern leg rest and strap. Otherwise it’s all original. The bass drum is a WFL 10’” x 28” single tension Scotch bass that someone traded into my George’s Drum Shop in the 2000s. The Kadinsky painting on one head was done by DrumArt.com and the school logo is on the the original calf head. The wire on the Kadinsky side is used to hang the drum on the wall in my music room. The drum is used more as a picture frame for the art than it is played. I saw this original painting at the metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York City in the 2000s and thought it looked like a drum set. This drum was hung on the wall of my last drum shop in Copley Ohio. The old single tension drums are a lot lighter and easier to carry than the heavier dual tension drums with lugs.
Below is the Beale Street marching band; “The Mob”
