Name – Keith Moon | Born – 08/1946 | Nationality – British | Genre – Rock
Keith Moon is a drumming legend for sure. Famous for his crazy, and animated drumming style as well as his fun-loving and enthusiastic personality.
However, it is often his personality that people remember when they think of Keith. After all, he did make a pretty big impression.
His exploits include drinking huge amounts of alcohol, not going to bed for days at a time, taking off all his clothes in airports and on tv, trashing hotel rooms, throwing tv’s through windows, and being generally ecentric and quick witted.
But, his playing and contribution to music shouldn’t be underestimated. He redefined what a being a rock drummer was all about with his patterns, fills, and rolls. His creativity pushed the boundaries, and he wasn’t afraid to do or try anything that came to mind.
When he was aksed to give advice to people taking up the drums, Keith Moon famously said “Learn Guitar“. Let’s have a closer look…
Biography
Keith Moon was born on August 23 1946, in Wembley, England. He was brought up in London and was joined by a sister, Linda, when he was 3. At age 12, another sister, Lesley, came along and it was at this time that Keith’s musical ability and Hyperactivity was noted by his school teacher.
A year later at age 13, Keith Moon joined the sea cadets and put his musical talent to good use by taking up the trumpet. He didn’t stick with it long though, and was quickly drawn to playing the bass drum. He soon became obsessed with everything and anything to do with drums.
Keith later mentioned that his drumming heroes at this time included Gene Krupa, Jo Jones, and Buddy Rich. He loved the seeing the the stick twirling, and showmanship that these and other players used to wow their audiences with. Something that Keith wouldn’t lack in years to come.
A couple of years later in 1961, Keith Moon got his first drum set – a pearl blue Premier. He practiced playing by himslef for a year or so and learned the basics. Then in 1962, he managed to get lessons from The Savages wild drummer, Carlo Little, after seeing him play at the Oldfield Hotel music club.
Later that year, with some drumming technique under his belt, Keith decided he wanted to join a band. He found an oppotunity with a group called The Escorts.
A member of the band recalled how outrageous Keith’s playing style was, and what a great character he was too. He also described Keith as being a mad genius because he was thrashing around all over the drum set, but it somehow worked.
By the end of the year, Keith was ready to move on, and had responded to an ad to become the drummer for The Beachcombers. When playing with the band, Keith played his set so furiously that it had to be secured to the stage with ropes to stop it moving mid-gig. He was developing an increasingly manic stage presence that was thrilling to see and it was getting him attention – something he enjoyed.
By 1963, Keith Moon was getting heavily into surf music and would import American records by The Beach Boys, The Chantays and others. While playing with he The Beachcombers he worked answering phones and processing sales orders. But, working a 9-5 job wasn’t for Keith, and he was eager to play drums for a living.
During early 1964, London based band The Who were going to sack their current drummer Doug Sandom because an interested record company wouldn’t give them a deal without a better drummer in place. The group already had a following and needed a replacement quick.
Keith Moon and a friend went to see the band play one evening at the Oldfield Club. Apparantley, Keith’s friend went up to the club’s promoter Richard Barnes and said that Keith could do a better job on drums. Richard surgested that Keith went up and played a song after the interval. The Who couldn’t believe it when Keith went up wearing an all orange suit, orange shoes, with his hair dyed orange and pounded the drums in his crazy style. He was in.
He played for both The Who and The Beachcombers for two weeks until The Beachcombers found a replacement. As much as Keith seemed to fit with The Who, his dad Alf, wasn’t at all happy that his son was playing with this much wilder band.
But, that didn’t stop Keith. With The Who, he followed guitarist Pete Townsend’s example by smashing up his instrument after gigs. It soon became a feature of their shows, and got them noticed. Big time.
As the band progressed and grew in popularity, they began a residency playing at the now famous Marquee Club in London.
It was shortly after this that they signed a record deal and started there ascent to the top of the rock ladder.
The piercing vocals of Roger Daltrey, and intense guitar playing of Pete Townsend, were matched by the crazed, enthusiastic style of Keith’s drumming. And, it was all held in place by John Entwistle’s solid bass. A brilliant combination.
In 1965, their first album My Generation
During this time, Keith decided to expand his already large drum set from a single bass drum 7-piece to a bigger 9-piece with double bass drums, and he stopped playing hi-hats at all, instead using crash and ride cymbals along with the bass drums to keep a pulse.
A couple of years later, the young Keith Moon had now cemented his reputation as being one of the top rock drummers around, and The Who were hugely successful. He was now playing on a kit made for him by Premier – the famous Spirit of Lily set.
With success and money now his, Keith celebrated his 21st birthday on August 23 1967, He had a now legendary party with many friends and stars attending.
Keith claimed the event involved him driving a car into a swimming pool, and getting a lifetime ban from the Holiday Inn. Partly fact, partly fiction.
One thing for sure, was that he also tripped over and knocked out one of his teeth during the evening. He then spent the remainder of the night getting it fixed at a dentist. Nice.
Success with the Who continued, as they released Quick One
In Janruary 1970, Keith was involved in a tragic event – the death of his driver Neil Boland. A gang of Skinheads were attacking Keith’s Bentley, while Boland was outside of the car attempting to clear an exit. Keith, behind the wheel, hit the accelerator and accidently ran over Boland who was killed. After this, Keith became very depressed and said that he would always have Bolands death on his conscience. Many people have said that keith wasn’t the same again.
Later in 1970, the Who recorded the live album Live at Leeds
The album Who’s Next
And in 1972, he returned to acting in the movie That’ll Be The Day. Later, he also played the part of Uncle Ernie in a theatre production of Tommy.
With the world becoming more and more interested in the wild man of rock, the BBC recorded Life with the Moons in 1973.
This was Keith Moon telling a collection of jokes, doing routines, and playing a bunch of his favorite music. It all showed off Keith’s crazy and fun loving personality to an eager audience.
Later on in 1973, The Who released yet another album Quadrophenia
Keith continued his acting in 1974 by appearing as Uncle Ernie in the movie version of Tommy, and he was also in Stardust which was the sequal to That’ll Be The Day. It’s also about this time that Keith famously rented a beach house in Santa Monica with Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Harry Nilsson where Keith’s appitite for non-stop fun, and drink continued. His popularity in the US was something Keith liked to use to his advantage, and he loved the attention.
Following this, Keith decided to move out to live in Los Angeles permanently where he wanted to pursue his acting career further. The rest of The Who weren’t too happy about it as the distance made it difficult for the band to work. The other band members had all done some solo projects so Keith wanted to record his own solo album too, and in 1975, he released – Two Sides of the Moon
By the end of 1975, The Who had managed to get back together and released another album called The Who by Numbers
After having spent most of his time in the US getting hugely drunk, partying with his rock star friends, and spending a small fortune, Keith returned to the UK with little money left, looking overweight and a shadow of his former self. His out of control lifestyle had caught up with him and taken it’s toll. Sadly, in September 1978, after attending a party hosted by Paul and Linda McCartney, Keith Moon took an overdose of a prescription drug and died in his sleep. He left behind him a legacy, and an army of fans that is as strong now as the day he passed away.
Keith Moon was a great rock drummer, he is not only remembered as one of the greatest characters in rock drumming, but also as one the greastest characters in all of rock music ever. Truly unique.
Set-Up
Drums – Premier | Cymbals – Paiste
Keith Moon’s set-up has changed a bit over the years, but probably his most memorable set-up was a Premier kit made for him in 1965 – the famous ‘Spirit of Lily’.
It included two 14″x22″ inch bass drums, three 8″x14″ mounted toms, two 16″x16″ floor toms, a 5″x14″ Ludwig Supraphonic metal snare drum, and occasionally an extra floor tom, usually 16″x18″.
In 1973, Moon added a second row of tom-toms (first four, then six) and, in 1975, two more timbales to his set-up. This really made his set quite big, but it suited his manic style well.
As for cymbals, Keith often used two 18″ Paiste crashes and a 20″ ride. He stopped using hi-hats all together, and just used his cymbals and double bass drums to keep a pulse.
