BEAT POETRY

Five of Keltner’s fave deep cuts, by Keltner.

Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan Dance Wit Me

(FROM RUFUS FEATURING CHAKA KHAN, 1975)

“I never got credit on this song, because I was actually subbing for [Rufus] drummer André Fischer. The great Bobby Watson, the bass player, produced my drum track. It was this great groove thing. What all these songs have in common is that the guitar and bass is genius, fantastic stuff. So it made me play better.”

Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers All Day All Night

(FROM SPIRIT OF MUSIC, 1999)

“This is a Bob Marley composition. The band was me, Bob Marley’s keyboard guy Tyrone Downie, Chinna Smith on guitar, and Ziggy and his brothers Stephen and Julian. That day I learned how to play the one drop beat in a different way than I ever had. Listening to playback with Chinna, he looked up at me, grinned, and said, ‘Wicked, man.’”

Mavis Staples Eyes On The Prize

(FROM WE’LL NEVER TURN BACK, 2007)

“This song is just an incredible use of space. That’s the genius of [album producer/guitarist] Ry Cooder. The way he played and Mike Elizondo played bass – really simple and pure – and then Mavis’s singing. I heard it and was – bam! – able to play it. It’s unusual to be able to do it quickly like that. But with Ry everything has to be quick (laughs).”

Eric Clapton That’s No Way To Get Along

(FROM CLAPTON, 2010)

“At the time, I was producing an album by Jerry Lee Lewis in one studio, and then going across the parking lot to another studio to record with Eric at night. This particular song lent itself to a New Orleans groove that I had tried before and just never worked. But, this time, everything that everybody was doing just hugged it real tight. I love listening to it.”

Jerry Lee Lewis Middle Age Crazy

(FROM MEAN OLD MAN, 2010)

“This song always gets me. Jerry Lee’s singing is so beautiful and [multi-instrumentalist] Jon Brion is playing so much great stuff. The drums are nice – not perfect or cool, but just serving the song. Jerry Lee’s vocal and the whole essence of the record, it moves me every time.”