Graham Broad, Rhythm King

Robin Tolleson in Modern Drummer, August 1998

Joan May writes: it's a real shame that BJ Wilson has never been featured in Modern Drummer Magazine except for a brief obit. Even in their extensive review of Supernatural Fairy Tales, that Prog Box which included Repent Walpurgis, they failed to mention him or PH / RW.

I hope this situation will change when / if Procol Harum release some of their Vintage LIVE material with drum enhanced state-of-the-art sound – but until then I'm very happy to see that BJ's worthy Procol successor has been so honored in their August 1998 issue:

Bill Wyman & The Rhythm Kings – Struttin' Our Stuff (Velvet Records)
[rating: 3 drum symbols out of a possible 4]

Drummer, Graham Broad; percussionist, Ray Cooper; with Bill Wyman (bass,vocal), Terry Taylor, Albert Lee, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton (guitars); Max Middleton, Dave Hartley (piano); Georgie Fame (organ, vocla), Beverley Skeete (vocal); others [among the 'others' is Gary Brooker playing unremarkable Hammond; and why the Hammond and not the piano, I can't say – jm]

This is a sly, way-retro affair that's all fun, and the playing is tasteful and high throughout. Drummer Graham Broad fits each track with precisely what it needs – nothing more, nothing less. Not to say he won't throw an off-beat cymbal crash into the Green River groove, spice up Wyman's Walking On My Own with a hip double backbeat, or inject some playfully solid hi-hat comping under Wyman's vocal on Stuff (Can't Get Enough).

Elsewhere, Broad's brushwork adds an important color to the 6/8 ballad Bad To Be Alone, and his two-beat on Motorvatin' Mama has more than enough finesse and the moxie to kick the band. And his country swing floats over Going Crazy Overnight, while his graceful bashing powerfully supports the classic Tobacco Road.

It's not surprising that an ex-Stone could talk some pretty fair players into helping him out on this project. What is remarkable is how apropos the name 'Rhythm Kings' is for a release with such a lineup – and a title like Struttin' Our Stuff.