Give This Drummer Some
In a recent piece on keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, I mentioned my runner-up for the most important session musician of the rock era: drummer Jim Gordon. My friend Kent Jones, a filmmaker who lives and breathes both celluloid and music, weighed in with his own pick: drummer Jim Keltner.
It’s hard to argue. Keltner has been displaying his perfect chops — perfect as in precisely appropriate to every session and working situation he finds himself in — since his mid-1960s sides with Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Since then, he’s played with just about everyone of note in pop music. A partial list of his major collaborations could be multiplied by a hundred and still not capture the volume of Keltner’s output, nor its range. Now 83, Keltner was recently seen performing with Bob Dylan on his 2025 Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Like Dylan, Keltner will probably keep performing until his body just cries uncle.
Among the earliest albums Keltner was credited on was Accept No Substitute (1969), the Delaney & Bonnie recording. Superbly crafted and as rousing and convincing as white R&B got, Accept No Substitute caught the attention of George Harrison, who then pulled Eric Clapton’s coat to it. You can just imagine Clapton listening to the whole glorious shebang — particularly the stunning work of Keltner and bassist Carl Radle — and making a mental note along the lines of: “Gee, wouldn’t it be just too terrific to join this group, then grab its rhythm section for my own band?”
(Clapton, after bringing in Delaney & Bonnie as the opening act for the Blind Faith summer tour in 1969, indeed joined the couple’s outfit later that year. On leaving D&B in 1970, Clapton formed Derek and the Dominos, snatching Radle and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock. Jim Keltner, the original pick for drummer, had to turn Clapton down due to prior commitments. Enter Jim Gordon, “Layla,” and history.)
On “When The Battle Is Over,” written by New Orleans stalwarts Jessie Hill and Mac Rebennack, A.K.A. Dr. John, D&B and company demonstrate what white funk is all about. Keltner and Radle are deep in the groove — holding back while simultaneously pushing everyone forward. Clapton, itching to inject some genuine American R&B feel into his music, must have been frothing at the mouth. (Not to overlook Leon Russell’s just-right piano touches and the tasty guitar licks — likely from Gerry McGee, Russell, or Delaney Bramlett. And props to the underrated belter Bonnie Bramlett.)
Keltner’s understated but supremely groove-oriented work on Accept No Substitute became his calling card. He’s hardly had a day off ever since.
(My favorite interview remains a dual sit-down I did with Keltner and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, when they were promoting their collaborative recording, The Charlie Watts–Jim Keltner Project, in 2000. I hope to write about that personally momentous two-hour gabfest someday.)