36-47 Vibes
3/10/08
9:33 AM
Page 38
JAMES KOTTAK QUICK LICKS
“We Will Rise Again” = ca. 58
TRANSCRIPTION BY JOHN
“We Will Rise Again,” one of many mighty rockers on Humanity, features some examples of Kottak’s excellent knack for part writing. The drumming in the first passage, as good as it sounds on its own, complements the guitars as if both were part of one bigger instrument. In the second passage, Kottak combines a 6/8 feel with a sixteenth-noteson-hi-hat groove – two ideas not often commingled. Added
1.
Ex. 1 0:04
NATELLI
to this are numerous flourishes including a few thirtysecond-note figures, which can be sticked either as a diddle or alternately (as written). Judging by the sound of the recording, he utilizes both. Also notice the conveniently sticked tom fill in the last measure; sixteenth-note hi-hat grooves always have the added benefit of freeing up the right hand to move around the kit on the downbeats.
2.
Ex. 2 1:35
R
L
R
L
R
L
R
R
L
R
L
R
L
R
L
etc.
R
September, and it was a good 60,000 people because … it was the Scorpions,” Kottak says. Likewise, the DVD the band just released is footage from their headline gig at the Wacken Festival in Germany in ’06 in front of 40,000 fans. Of course, Germany is Scorpions home soil (Kottak was and is the band’s only American member), but they also still top the charts in random places – like Greece. “It’s better to be number one in Greece than number 20 somewhere,” Kottak laughs. Kottak spent his early years in Louisville, Kentucky (“home of fast women and beautiful horses”), playing in cover bands and learning, he says, “every song that had ever been written in the history of the world.” He scored his first gig with Ronnie Montrose, “which I’m super proud of,” and then it was gradual progression through the ranks – Kingdom Come (he still has his the drum set from their ’88 tour), Wild Horses (a band of his own), The Cult (he appeared on
38 DRUM!
drummagazine.com
1991’s Ceremony), on to CC Deville and Warrant. “The Scorpions thing came about because [Kingdom Come] opened for Scorpions on Monsters Of Rock in an indoor arena tour, and I got to be friends with them,” Kottak remembers of the 1988 festival that also featured Metallica, Dokken, and Van Halen. Down the road, Scorpions’
L
R
Athena (that’s right, rocker Tommy Lee), who turned out to be a pretty hellacious drummer in her own right. “Tommy came to the Monsters Of Rock,” Kottak says. “He came back after the set to say, ‘Hey Kingdom Come, man, your album’s great. Who produced it?’ And I said, ‘Bob Rock.’ And of course they got Bob Rock to produce their very
“I was doing Scorpions tunes back in the ’80s when I was in cover bands” producer Keith Olsen, whom Kottak already knew, would ask him to play on 1990’s Crazy World. And so it began. But what was set in motion at that ’88 Monsters Of Rock tour would act as the turning point for more than just Kottak’s drumming career. It’s also where he would get hooked up with his soon-to-be wife – Tommy Lee’s little sister,
next album. But anyway, he talked me into coming and seeing his sister play that night. He’s like, ‘Aww man, you’d be perfect for her, man. She needs a cool boyfriend. I was like, ‘This is weird.’” But the Mötley Crüe skinsman’s instincts proved to be right on, and these days Kottak and his rocker wife, in addition to sharing the duties of
L
R
L
R
raising three kids, share the stage whenever they can. “We started a band called KrunK back in ’95,” he says. “But then since Little Jon came along and all that rap-y stuff, we changed the name from KrunK to Kottak. So in that band I sing and play guitar and [Athena]’s the drummer. We’re like Cheap Trick meets Green Day on a bad day.” As for having Tommy Lee for a brother-in-law, a guy with a personality that eclipses the sun and who was able to turn his ’80s rocker status into solid gold, Kottak is quick to show respect, but not without a wisp of thinly veiled jealousy peeking through – especially when it comes to the touchy subject of competition for endorsement exposure. “With companies and products, it’s a name game,” he says. “And that’s how they sell their product. Yeah, these companies supply me with equipment and stuff, and they do ads and whatever, but it’s kind of hard to demand when you’ve got somebody like Tommy, who