Every now and then, a cool drumming show or documentary comes around that becomes the talking point of the whole drumming community for a while. With Netflix being such a huge streaming platform, you’d assume that there would be a few of them.
Unfortunately, there is only one dedicated drumming documentary, and it’s called Count Me In. It’s a documentary aimed at everyone and not just drummers.
If you want to know a bit more about it from a drummer’s perspective, keep reading. Here is everything you need to know about it, along with a few of my personal thoughts.
Contents
What is Count Me In About?
Count Me In is advertised to be about rhythm and human connection. That seemed like a very confusing description to me at first, and the documentary didn’t seem to do too much to elaborate more on that.
It’s more of a collection of drummers being interviewed. They give their thoughts on drumming, explain who their influences are, and talk about what drumming means to them.
You get to see what drummers went through in the early beginnings of rock drumming, and you get to hear their stories about playing in huge bands.
The documentary is also about how certain drummers impacted the drumming community, and it explains why they were such huge influences on the music world.
Which Drummers are in Count Me In?
One of my favorite things about the documentary is that they got several high-profile drummers to be part of the whole project. It makes everything a lot more personal, and that makes for a much better show.
Here are all the drummers that you’ll see in interview and playing snippets:
- Taylor Hawkins
- Chad Smith
- Roger Taylor
- Stewart Copeland
- Cindy Blackman
- Nick Mason
- Stephen Perkins
- Samantha Maloney
- Nicko McBrain
- Topper Headon
- Ginger Baker
- Clem Burke
- Bob Henrit
- Jim Keltner
- Ian Paice
- Art Blakey
- Rat Scabies
- Emily Dolan Davies
What’s Good About the Documentary?
Inspirational
The whole time I was watching the show, it made me itch to get on my drum kit. It’s incredibly inspirational. It does a fantastic job of showing how much fun it is to be a drummer, and every drummer getting interviewed is clearly passionate about what they do.
I can see how non-drummers will watch this and think about picking up a pair of sticks. I can also see how other musicians will watch it and have a renewed appreciation for the drummers in their bands.
The drums are the heartbeat of every band, and Count Me In does a great job of nailing that point home.
If you want to watch something that will motivate you to get back into a solid practice routine, I’d say that this documentary will do the trick.
Nostalgic
All the stories that are shared in the documentary are mostly about famous drummers in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. If you loved that era of music, you’d be in your element when watching this. They take deep dives into how drummers like John Bonham and Keith Moon were so influential.
The other nostalgic part is that every drummer being interviewed talks about how they first started playing drums. You can see how excited they were about it, and it made me think about how I started as well. The sense of nostalgia you get from that will put a smile on any drummer who is watching’s face.
There are a few clips of children opening drum kits as gifts, and the excitement they show is exactly how all of us felt when we got our first kits. It’s very well done in the show.
Personal Anecdotes
Another one of my favorite parts of the show is when the famous drummers tell personal stories about themselves and other drummers that they’ve been involved with over the years.
It’s a lot of fun to hear Nicko McBrain talk about his antics with Iron Maiden, and hearing how Ian Paice knew Keith Moon would die early gives a lot of context into the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.
All the drummers being interviewed also tell you who their favorite drummers were growing up, and it’s very interesting to see how their playing styles were influenced by them.
What’s Bad About the Documentary?
It’s Mainly About Rock Drummers
The biggest thing to note about Count Me In is that it’s only about rock drummers. They don’t talk about jazz, funk, or any other style of playing that was so big in the 20th century. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it leaves a lot out for viewers who want to know about those styles and drummers.
I also think that Netflix should have advertised that it was a rock drumming documentary and not an overall drumming documentary. If you want to know about the early drumming greats like Gene Krupa, Tony Williams, and Art Blakey, you won’t hear much about them in this show.
Drummers May Not Like It
I’ve heard a few drummers say that they’re not a fan of Count Me In. The biggest reason for many of them is that the show doesn’t mention many huge drummers that were highly influential in the period that they’re all talking about. The two biggest omissions that come to mind are Jeff Porcaro and Neil Peart.
The other reason that some drummers don’t like it is that it feels quite empty. I didn’t feel that myself, but I can see how people would feel that way. You can watch it to the end and not learn anything new. That’s why I’d say it’s more of a documentary for a general audience, and it’s not aimed at drummers.
Final Thoughts on Count Me In
Overall, Count Me In is a fun drumming documentary to watch when you have some time. It’s not groundbreaking, and I don’t think it’s a must-watch show for all drummers. However, I had a fun time watching it, and I found it to be quite inspirational as well.
It’s undoubtedly a show that will inspire a few people to start playing the drums, and anything that does that is a win in my book.