Well, the title of this track is inspired by a gig I do a couple of times a year in Westbury, NY, called the Westbury Music Fair. The shows are mainly of the oldies persuasion and one is geared toward the 50's do-wop era, where there could be as many as a dozen acts, each playing two or three of their hits from way back when.

Almost every song has the same drum rhythm, which is played in 12/8, or you can think of it as 4/4 with a triplet feel (ex. 1 & 2). There is not much you can do, since your job is to emulate the original beat. Fortunately, some subtle variations can keep you from going crazy.

For the verses, I tend to go for the cross-stick on 2 & 4. This adds variety and I'm able to bring the volume down, so the vocals don't get buried. I can then give the tune a little lift, by moving from the cross-stick to the snare and maybe going to the ride for the choruses. In the bridge section–which is at marker 2:37–I try to spice up the repetitive triplet rhythm by adding dynamics, using crescendos from beats 1-2 and from 3-4 (ex. 3).

This rhythm is very common in oldies music and is found in almost every style of music imaginable.

Form:

INTRO 4 bars (ride)
VERSE 8 bars (cross-stick)
VERSE 8 bars (snare)
CHORUS 8 bars
VERSE 8 bars (cross-stick)
VERSE 8 bars (snare)
CHORUS 8 bars
BRIDGE 8 bars
CHORUS 16 bars

Suggested Listening:

"Only You" by the Platters
"Time Is On My Side" by The Rolling Stones
"Cryin'" and "Crazy" by Aerosmith
"Oh Darling" by The Beatles
"Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica
"Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley