Who played drums for Al Green on the early episodes of Soul Train 1971-1974?

Answer 1

There seems to be alot of different opinions on who that drummer was with the last performance originally airing April 1975, under six months previous to the murder of the drummer who recorded those drum tracks for records on each of those songs, Al Jackson Jr., the Memphis drummer with one of the most impressive discographies of any soul R/B drummer. Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell used a lot of drummers for those albums and Jackson got to do drums for the recordings of just about every big hit song, but Al Green's main drummer was Howard Grimes - one of the most in my opinion, underappreciated Memphis soul drummers. I believe that is Howard on all those Soultrain episodes, and if you compare his face on that footage with footage of Jackson with Booker T, Sam & Dave and Otis Redding, its not the same guy. I really don't know for sure, but in looking at photos of Grimes in recent years, the eyes, nose and ears are a much closer match to the Soul Train Drummer. At the end of L.O.V.E Green says "xxxx(blocked by noise)on drums! What a mystery. I believe the bombshell/acorn/eggshell looking one headed lugless bass and toms were a proto type by Premier who was granted a patent on those characteristics in 1977. Again these opinions I'm giving are a drummer of 40 years putting two and two together without actual verification. There is a lot history between these two drummers. I'm sure there are a lot of insiders who really know the real skinny. That in itself is an untold chapter of the significant music history of the Memphis Soul & R/B heyday. Now that I've taken the time to engross myself in all this one sad fact comes to light . . . Howard Grimes deserves a much bigger mention and a big uplift in recognition for his role in that music community.