Billy Gussak

American jazz drummer, teacher, and inventer. Born c 1920, died in 1994. Gussak was a session drummer for a number of Bill Hailey And His Comets records. He played on the Show of Shows, with Arthur Godfrey, Charlie Sanford and Archie Bleyer. Gussak was the drummer on the classic April 12, 1954 recording of "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets. Some sources incorrectly spell his name as Guesak. Gussak played a traditional swing groove and fills, adding accents on the first beat. This way of playing was then taken, molded and modified into the “four on the floor” style 4/4 drumming that’s played in today’s pop and rock music. In the 1930's he played with the CBS Staff band. By the early fifties he was the house-drummer for Essex Records, based in New York. Later he moved to Los Angeles and played for Perry Como. There, he also began teaching drums and came up with some drum-related ideas such as a tunable hourglass drum, a jingle stick and a dual-sound shaker and tambourine – all of which he took out patents on.

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