Tonight’s mystery artists have a drummer that is master of what is called open-handed drumming allowing him to incorporate more melodic motifs to songs. Think you know who he might be or the band he plays for??
This particular drummer is largely considered a session musician according to Wikipedia. He has played with artists such as Jeff Beck, Deep Purple, Tears for Fears and Tony Iommi to name just a few you’d know. However, the bulk of Jimmy Copley’s time is spent playing for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Copley is considered master of the open-handed drumming. This drumming technique employs a method of playing the drums without crossing the hands when playing the hi-hat or ride-cymbal and snare drum simultaneously as opposed to the more traditional way of playing drums. This allows players such as Copley to play more freely and also to incorporate more melodic motifs to songs. Other open-handed drummers you may have heard of include Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, Scott Travis of Judas Priest and a host of others.
Here is our featured song, penned by Bruce Springsteen but brought into the light by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

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