The music world is in shock. Taylor Hawkins, dead at 50, leaving behind a wife, kids, bandmates, family, friends, and fans. The Foo Fighters drummer shone with a musical intensity and a wild energy that made him a powerful drummer, a fun interviewee, and the best damned singer in Foo Fighters (sorry Dave, though Dave would probably say the same thing).
I've seen Hawkins play with Foo Fighters three times, and when you're not watching Dave Grohl, you're watching Hawkins. As many people have pointed out since his untimely passing, Hawkins was one of the few drummers in the world who could drum in a band with Grohl and make you cool with the fact that Grohl wasn't playing drums.
Here is a short list as a reminder of what we have lost. Vale Taylor Hawkins.
Drumming for Sass Jordan
Hawkins' first big-time rock gig was backing award-winning Canadian singer Sass Jordan around 1992. With her bluesy vocals and Slash-alike guitarist Stevie Salas, Jordan was trying to bridge the worlds of traditional rock and alternative rock, and having Hawkins in the band certainly helped. As evidenced by the first song in this video, Hawkins hit 'em hard but was already developing his own style.
Drumming for Alanis Morissette
Hawkins joined another strong-voiced Canadian singer-songwriter after Sass Jordan, becoming the live drummer for Alanis Morissette on her mammoth Jagged Little Pill world tour from 1995 to 1997. While he didn't play on the album (did you know Flea and Dave Navarro play on You Oughta Know?) he did make it into a couple of her music videos. You can see in this live clip from London in '95 the skills that caught Dave Grohl's eyes and ears. Hawkins' hits with metronomic power, but has groove to spare and a light touch when needed. It's not his drum part he's playing but he's already making it his own.
"Can you play Everlong?"
I have no idea what kind of "audition" Hawkins did to the join Foo Fighters in 1997, but at some point he would have had to prove his worth by playing Everlong. It's one of the toughest drum patterns in the Foo catalogue and while it's Grohl playing it on The Colour & The Shape, Hawkins has played it more - over 1000 times, according to setlist.fm. The song has grown into the definitive Foo Fighters track over the 25 years since its release, and Hawkins' ability to nail that furiously precise hi-hat rhythm and dramatic anticipation night in, night out has surely helped secure the song's legendary status. Sadly, it would be the last song he played live with the band.
Aurora
Hawkins' called Aurora one of his favourite Foo Fighters songs, partly because it was the first track for the band that he felt he really nailed in the studio. His debut album with the Foos - There Is Nothing Left To Lose - is a real reset for the band. They're a three-piece, Grohl is starting to spread his songwriting wings, and Hawkins and bassist Nate Mendel have their input, adding more colour to the Foo palette. Aurora is a highlight of the album, and live it became a monster, as evidenced by this massive seven-minute version from one of the most epic shows they ever did on one of their many Australian visits. The last two minutes are among some of Hawkins' finest work.
Have A Cigar
The first time Hawkins took lead vocals on a Foos track is on this Learn To Fly b-side (remember b-sides?). It's an awesome cover of the Pink Floyd classic, and the band does a great version, giving it a suitably early '00s distorted update. The song was a staple of Foo Fighters' setlists in 2000 before being dropped forever, but it gave us a taste of Hawkins' vocal abilities and greater things to come.
Cold Day In The Sun
Hawkins' first original for the Foos was this tune, which is not only a highlight from the acoustic disc of their 2005 album In Your Honour but it's one of the best songs on either disc. Released as a double A-side with No Way Back, it was originally written by Hawkins some four years earlier. That middle eight is killer. On the Skin & Bones tour, Hawkins unleashed his inner Phil Collins/Levon Helm/Roger Taylor by singing from behind the kit, but later on the song became a chance to get Hawkins out front (and Grohl on the drums). But watch the start of this video from Skin & Bones and your heart will break all over again for the connection between Grohl and his soulmate.
The Pretender
Picking a single Foo Fighters' track that showcases Hawkins' phenomenal drumming is impossible, but The Pretender is a good start. It's one of the more elaborately arranged Foos songs, and Hawkins' plays an integral part in giving the song its free-flowing dynamism. His footwork early on is cool, and as the song shifts from bit to bit, Hawkins' continually finds the best groove to propel it along. My favourite bit is the "boom cha-cha" he drops with less than 15 seconds to go - the song's practically done, but he's still digging up new feels to bring it home.
Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders
Singing with The Doors
If you haven't seen this clip yet, it's an absolute treat. Hawkins does his very best Jim Morrison out front of a band featuring The Doors legends Robby Krieger and John Densmore. It's a suitably swaggering performance, but when he hits that scream at 1m55s, it's uncanny. Hawkins' love of old school rock ran deep - see also his old school rock covers band Chevy Metal.
Bob Quit His Job
Following in the footsteps of his best bud Grohl, Hawkins eventually made a record where he played pretty much every instrument. The result is the EP Kota, which is all Hawkins bar a few choice cameos (including fellow Foos Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett). A joyously fun collection of glam rock songs written by Hawkins, it includes the swaggering lead single Range Rover Bitch and the sexy shifting rhythms of Southern Belles. But the highlight is this deliriously ecstatic stomper that Hawkins beams in direct from some of the weirder parts of the '70s. If you've never heard this, you are in for a treat.
La Dee Da
Concrete & Gold is the under-rated masterpiece in the Foo Fighters back catalogue, and Hawkins' drumming is a massive part of that. That heavy metal swing in Run is a real highlight, as is his gallop and groove in Make It Right, and the sizzling drag of his hi-hat in his boppy patterns in The Line. But the hands-down winner is the inside-out beats of La Dee Da. I've listened to this song dozens of times and it continues to fuck with my head. He's dropping a beat at the start of each verses right? And then in the middle of the verse? Where's the one? What is going on? It's some tricksy proggy shit and I love it. But my favourite song on this gem of an album is...
Sunday Rain
This delicious slice of '70s AM radio gold is the sleeper on Concrete & Gold and it features Hawkins doing his best Don Henley impression. It's a killer vocal performance but also a genuinely great song with the kind of outro that could go on forever and never get old. Also, how rad is that pink kit in the above clip?
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