John robinson drummer biography

INDEPENDENT "THE WORLD'S MOST RECORDED DRUMMER"

John was born in Creston, Iowa in 1954. John is solid as the Rock Of Gibraltar, and when I see his cases in the studio, I relax and know it is going to be great.

and 2 p.m. Musicians have a tendency to get stagnant if they don’t push themselves. Then I was musical director for John Fogerty in 1986, which was very strange because he was going through a transition, and he was also getting sued, so we couldn’t play any Creedence tunes, which was really disappointing. So when you’re playing drums, you have to always stay in a meditative, relaxed state—and stay focused.

The charts for records aren’t as complicated as the ones you’ll come up against on a film score.

I know if I do big band stuff, a lot of the cats want me to push ahead of the beats. Advertisement

MD: You are one of the few drummers who have balanced studio and road work successfully.

JR: The longest tour I did was in 1980, headlining with Rufus & Chaka. He makes any piece of music sound great, and he makes any bass player sound great—even me.

He has that uncanny foresight to know what’s coming and play it perfectly despite never having heard it before. John’s unique, one of a kind. It’s almost like I’m painting with oils—like actual physical art. Quincy Jones has rubbed off on me in a lot of ways. Advertisement

MD: What’s a typical day in the studio like?

JR: For a 10 a.m.

To this day, JR adds his magic on many hits, movies and jingles with his recognized sound employing great time, great songs and great groove. Certain drummers who have been in rock bands through their whole career have only done one thing, and that’s great for them.