, "
Rock and Roll Music" A
back beat, or
backbeat, is a
syncopated accentuation on the "off" beat. In a simple rhythm these are beats 2 and 4. "A big part of R&B's attraction had to do with the stompin' backbeats that make it so eminently danceable," according to the
Encyclopedia of Percussion. An early record with an emphasised back beat throughout was "
Good Rockin' Tonight" by
Wynonie Harris in 1948. Although drummer
Earl Palmer claimed the honor for "
The Fat Man" by
Fats Domino in 1949, which he played on, saying he adopted it from the final "shout" or "out" chorus common in
Dixieland jazz. There is a hand-clapping back beat on "
Roll 'Em Pete" by
Pete Johnson and
Big Joe Turner, recorded in 1938. A distinctive back beat can be heard on "Back Beat Boogie" by
Harry James And His Orchestra, recorded in late 1939. Other early recorded examples include the final verse of "Grand Slam" by
Benny Goodman in 1942 and some sections of The
Glenn Miller Orchestra's "(I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo", while
amateur direct-to-disc recordings of
Charlie Christian jamming at
Minton's Playhouse around the same time have a sustained snare-drum backbeat on the hottest choruses. Outside
U.S. popular music, there are early recordings of music with a distinctive backbeat, such as the 1949 recording of Mangaratiba by
Luiz Gonzaga in Brazil. {{Image frame|content=\version "2.22.0" \header { tagline = ##f} \score { \drums \with {midiInstrument = "drums"} \with { \numericTimeSignature } { \repeat volta 2 { \stemUp 8 cymra ^> cymra cymra ^>\break } } \layout {} } \score { \unfoldRepeats { \drums \with {midiInstrument = "drums"}{ \repeat volta 2 { \stemUp 8 cymra ^> cymra cymra ^>\break } } } \midi { \tempo 4 = 120 } }|width=300|align=left|caption=Delayed backbeat (last eighth note in each measure) as in funk music In the mid-1940s "
hillbilly" musicians the
Delmore Brothers were turning out
boogie tunes with a hard driving back beat, such as the No. 2 hit "Freight Train Boogie" in 1946, as well as in other boogie songs they recorded. Similarly
Fred Maddox's characteristic backbeat, a
slapping bass style, helped drive a rhythm that came to be known as
rockabilly, one of the early forms of
rock and roll. Maddox had used this style as early as 1937. In today's popular music the
snare drum is typically used to play the backbeat pattern. Some songs, such as
The Beatles' "
Please Please Me" and "
I Want to Hold Your Hand",
The Knack's "
Good Girls Don't" and
Blondie's cover of
The Nerves' "
Hanging on the Telephone", employ a double backbeat pattern. In a double backbeat, one of the off beats is played as two eighth notes rather than one quarter note. Notable examples can be heard in recordings such as "
Green Onions" by
Booker T. & the M.G.'s, "
And Your Bird Can Sing" by
The Beatles, "
Hey Joe" by
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and "
Easy" by
The Commodores. Drummer
Charlie Watts of
The Rolling Stones frequently employed this technique during this period, as heard in tracks like "
Monkey Man," "
Wild Horses," "
Sister Morphine," and "
Let It Bleed." A delayed backbeat can also be heard in the famous eight-bar "
Funky Drummer" break, played by
Clyde Stubblefield.
Early backbeats can be heard in
Bruce Springsteen's "The River,"
The Police's "
Every Breath You Take," and
D'Angelo's "The Line." ==Cross-beat==