“Biff’s a tough old boy. He’s got some legs that are incredible.

He can stay in tempo and keep the beat

longer and steadier than any drummer in America.” - Merle Haggard

Although Biff Adam is one of Merle Haggard’s Strangers, after thirty-six years as drummer he’s very familiar with
the music. Biff and Merle first met in Hollywood, California (at the Palomino Club) in the late sixties, and they’ve
been together ever since.

Bandmate Norm Hamlet remembers his first impressions of Biff: “It was almost like he could read your mind. He
just went with everything. Whatever you wanted to play he was right there with it.” This is an essential skill for
a Stranger, because Merle, like his idol Bob Wills, is famous for spur-of-the-moment changes during live shows.

And Merle’s musical tastes are broad. His music is a combination of jazz, western swing, folk, country, and rock.
That’s why Biff’s background and love of big band music was great preparation for such an eclectic band. And his
drumming efforts certainly contributed to the Strangers’ success. During Biff’s tenure the group received eight
Touring Band of the Year awards from the Academy of Country Music.

But it’s time to let Biff show us how it’s done…

Classic Drummer: Let’s start at the
beginning and talk about your early life.
Where were you born and raised?
Biff Adam (BA): I was born in Reading,
Pennsylvania. My mother and father both
died young, so I went to an orphanage
called the Milton Hershey school in
Hershey, Pennsylvania. I went there from
about fifth grade until I graduated. And I
started playing drums there at the school.
CD: Oh, really? Did they have a band?
BA: Yeah, I played in the marching band.
They had a dance and swing band called
the Spartans. And I was in that for four
years. I took lessons from the fifth through
the seventh grades. After that, I actually
taught drums there until I graduated.
CD: What year was that?
BA: I graduated high school in ’54.
CD: So, coming from a swing band back-
ground I take it you were interested in jazz
early on?
BA: Well, I was really interested in the big
bands. Glenn Miller and that kind of stuff.
I didn’t play any country until I was in the
service.
CD: So, what drummers did you like in
high school?
BA: Well, of course Gene Krupa and
Buddy Rich. And Ed Shaughnessy was
getting hot then.
CD: Did you ever get to meet those guys?
BA: I never got to meet them. But Merle
did an album called I Love Dixie Blues,
which we recorded in New Orleans. Merle
was in his office and said,”Hey Biff, come
in here. Someone wants to talk to you.” I
went in there and it was Gene Krupa on
the phone, and he was complementing
Merle on the album. He told me I really
played good. It was a thrill for me just talk-
ing to him on the phone.
CD: So after high school you went into
the service?
BA: Yeah, I was in the Navy for four years.
I was out on liberty in Long Beach,
California, and I used to go to clubs and sit
in. Bobby Bare was working at a club
called Hollywood on the Pike, and I
played with him and with Roger Miller. I
got to know them pretty good.
When I got out of the service I met a lot
of country musicians out in Long Beach.
They said when you get out, come back
and we’ll put you to work. Big band music
was not happening at all – maybe you
could work one night a month.
I went back to Pennsylvania and there
was nothing happening as far as drums
goes, so I told my brother I was going back
to California. I loaded up my drums and
my gear and went out there and started
playing.
CD: So you’re back in California. What
happens next?
BA: When I went back, Bobby Bare and
Roger Miller weren’t there anymore, but
some of the other guys that I had met

40 CLASSIC DRUMMER
found me a spot out there. I started
barronphotografix.com
working at the Palomino Club in
North Hollywood with a band
Charlie Wilkins
called Red Rhodes and the Detours.
I worked there for about six years -
six nights a week from 1962 to 1968.
I did quite a bit of recording at
Central Songs and Capital Records.


I was also in the house band at
Disneyland on Sunday afternoons.
Sunday was the country day and we
were the house band. It paid good
and I met an awful lot of people.
CD: How did you meet Merle?
BA: He came in the Palomino one
night after he’d been recording at
Capitol. He was looking for a
drummer and a bass player, and he
asked me if I’d be interested in going
on the road. I had a daughter in
high school and I said,“‘I don’t think
so but I appreciate the offer.” After
about two weeks, he came back and
said, ”I’m going to make you an
offer you can’t refuse.”And my wife
said, “He can try it for a little while
but I’m not sure I want him to be on
the road that much.” But it worked
out…that was 35 or 36 years ago.
CD: Tell me about life on the road. I
assume you traveled by bus.
BA: We had one bus at that time. Now
we’ve got three. It’s the only way to travel.
You’ve got all your clothes and your
equipment right there. If you’re flying,
you’ve got stuff scattered all over the place.
Merle and I were both interested in flying
and we thought about flying a lot, but it
just didn’t work out.You’d get to a town and
you had to rent cars and trucks. Plus we
couldn’t get a plane big enough to fly
everybody. And you just couldn’t take a
chance in bad weather. You couldn’t lose a
job on account of a rainstorm, where in a
bus you could get through that kind of
stuff.
CD: What was your work schedule like
then?
BA: Back when I first started, we were
working three weeks and having two or
three weeks off and then going back out.
You schedule the tours so you don’t have to
travel more than 300 miles a day.You’d have
Mondays and Tuesdays off and work
Wednesday through Sunday. Back then,
they had these country music parks that
Southern Junction Club, Rockwall TX
we’d work on Sundays. There used to be
hundreds of them but there are only a cou-
ple of them going anymore.
CD: How have the crowds changed over
the years?
BA: Our crowds still range from the old to
the new. We just did a three week tour in
Canada, and the audiences up there were
really young. I could see the kids all lip-
syncing the words along with Merle. I think
satellite radio is helping a lot.
CD: Merle is often identified with the
Bakersfield sound. What in your mind
makes up the Bakersfield sound?
BA: One writer referred to it as a
combination of Telecaster guitar and the
shuffle feel.
CD: You mentioned developing your craft.
How did you approach drumming for a
show versus drumming in clubs? Does it
require anything different from a drum
point of view?
BA: It’s not much to get used to. I
was doing that at Disneyland since
that was mostly shows out there. The
sound is a little bit different and you
have to play a little bit harder. Now
they mic almost everything on the
show; they’ll have about eight mics
on the drums, which I didn’t have in
clubs.
CD: Let’s talk about one of your
tricks of the trade–the double shuf-
fle. You started that and other
drummers picked up on it?
BA: That’s what Paul English, Willie’s
drummer, told me. I started playing
the shuffle with the right hand on
the high hat and the left hand on the
snare drum. That was 35 years ago
but I think everybody’s doing it now.
CD: What’s the key to successfully
drumming in Merle Haggard’s band?
BA: Merle never does the same show
twice. We’re always loose up on the
stage. He doesn’t even play songs in
the same key or the same tempo. So
it’s almost like jazz. He keeps every-
body on their toes because we don’t
have any idea what’s going to hap-
pen. Like last night–some of the
endings we played I don’t think
we’ve ever heard before.
I think he got that from Bob Wills. That’s
the way his band was. He’d just point at the
guy he wanted to play the turnaround.
CD: So Merle’s song selection is based on
reading the crowd?
BA: Yes. If he’s got a young crowd or out-
side beer-drinking crowd, he’ll do a lot of
uptempo songs. If it’s an older crowd or a
nice theatre, he’ll do some nice ballads.
CD: You talked about some of the shows
where Merle added strings and horns. I
presume Merle kept it spontaneous. How
did the musicians react?
BA: We played Harrah’s and they always
used to have a house orchestra. The orches-
tra guys would say ‘we can’t do this–we’ve
got to know what’s happening because
everything is written out.’ Merle would still
never do the songs in the right order. After
about two nights, the orchestra players
loved it.
CD: Merle is a great ballad singer–and
some drummers have trouble with slow
CLASSIC DRUMMER 41

ballads because there’s a lot of wide open
space. Is it harder to accompany a singer on
a ballad?
BA: I’ve never had a problem with it. I’m
not a solo artist, so I’m always back there
trying to hold the band together. When I
played sports in school I was always the
tackle or the catcher. Never the fancy stuff.
Keeping everything together.
CD: Merle’s latest recording consists of
older standards such as Unforgettable and
Pennies from Heaven. Tell me how that came
about.
BA: Merle has always liked standards. And
some of the songs on the standards album
were cut six years ago. In the studio he’d
say, ”What do you guys think of this song?
Let’s record this and see what it sounds
like”, and it would be something like
Pennies from Heaven. But we knew eventu-
ally he was going to put an album of
standards out because he likes all those
songs. One of his favorite singers is Bing
Crosby.
CD: Who is in the band now?
BA: Norm Hamlet is the bandleader and
steel guitar CD: Did you play double bass drums on
player. He’s Merle’s shows?
been here a year BA: Yes, but not for too long. To be truthful,
and a half Merle doesn’t do a whole lot of stuff that I
longer than me. could use double bass on. But it sure looked
Kevin Williams good!
is the bass
player. He’s CD: Now you endorse Taye drums. How
been with the long have you been with them?
band about a BA: I have been with them two years.
year and a half.
Doug Colisio is CD: What’s in the kit you currently play?
the piano player. BA: I’ve got three mounted toms and one
Scott Joss plays floor tom. A 22-inch bass drum, and a snare
mandolin and and two cymbals. I use Zildjian cymbals.
fiddle. And Don
Markham is on CD: You played on The Promiseland, one of
horns and sax. Willie’s albums. How did that come about?
We have a guitar BA: Merle was set to record at Willie’s
player named studio in Texas but he had a sore throat.
Tim Howard. And Merle’s wife Theresa is Willie came walking in and asked what the
singing harmony right now. matter was. We told him Merle couldn’t
record, and then Willie asked if we wanted
CD: Earlier this year you finished a highly to record. We said sure, we’re all set up. So
acclaimed tour with Bob Dylan. What was he turned the machine on. A couple of
that like? months later the album came out. Richie
BA: We’ve been getting great reactions to Albright, Waylon’s drummer, played on one
our shows. We’d open it up and do 45-50 side and I played on the other.
minutes. One writer in Chicago said the
Strangers are Merle’s secret weapon. Lots CD: Legend has it that Ringo Starr was
of people came to see us: Paul Newman, after your job. Tell me about that?
Ringo Starr, Bruce Willis, Jack Nicholson. BA: He came to our studio up in Redding
Jack is quite a guy–he really loves country one time. And he told Merle that if I ever
music. got sick he wanted the job. So, Merle
So everything was just great. Dylan does always kidded me that I better not get sick,
some Merle songs on his show. And he had or he’d get Ringo. It was a standing joke.
a good band with him. I understand we Ringo came down to see us in L.A. when
might do some more touring with Dylan we were down there touring with Bob
next year. Dylan. Ringo was really a nice person.
CD: Tell me about the drums you’ve played CD: The Academy of Country Music recog-
over the years. nized the Strangers as the ‘Touring Band of
BA: When I first started out with Merle I the Year.’ And the CMT (Country Music
played Rogers drums. Then I played Pearl Television) Network recognized you guys
for a while. Pearl wanted me to be one of as one of the top country bands of all times.
the first country drummers to play double BA: We got the Academy of Country Music
bass drums. Then I went to Slingerland and award eight times. The CMT award was
then Taye got hold of me. about a month ago or so on a show featur-

Paul English talks about Biff
Adam…
CD: How did you meet Biff?
Paul English (PE): I’ve known Biff
Adam since about 1967 or 1968.
When I met him he was working at
the Palomino Club. They had one of
the best bands in California. Biff
was a great drummer–I’d pay to go
see him myself! We became friends
then and are friends to this day.
CD: Tell me about that lick he
does–the double shuffle.
PE: (laughs) I stole it from him. He
plays it very well. But that’s ok; we
don’t mind stealing from each
other.
CD: I understand Merle and the
Strangers are going to open for the
Rolling Stones. Do you think Biff
can keep up with them?
PE: I’m sure he can! Biff will get a
big kick out of it and they’ll get a
kick out of him too.

42 CLASSIC DRUMMER
ing the Top 20 Country Bands of all time. CD: I understand

photo taken at Henry Schofield Studio

And we were number four. It surprised me. you did concerts
I watched hoping we’d be in the top for other presi-
twenty. It’s pretty nice because there were a dents as well.
lot of great bands in the last fifty years. It BA: We played for
was a real compliment to us. Reagan out here at
the Western White
CD: Merle and the other Bakersfield artists House in Santa
always wanted their own band to play on Barbara. That was
the albums–rather than studio musicians. really nice.
BA: That’s right. Sometimes we’d get one
guy to sit in with us like James Burton to CD: Was Reagan a
play guitar. It was a good feel. country fan?
BA:Yes, he was. He
CD: So you’ve done a lot of recording with was the one that
Merle? pardoned Merle
BA: I have played on a bunch of records. when he was gov-
I’ve got five gold albums here on the wall. ernor of California.
Some of them are Best Of compilations. My
daughter figured out that I played on CD: How do the
something like 70 albums. audiences differ in
other countries?
CD: Where is Merle’s studio? Is that in I’ve always heard that Merle & Biff
Bakersfield? audiences in other
BA: No, he had a studio in Bakersfield but countries are quieter than in the USA. drummers can play for a few minutes. But
now his studio is in Redding, California. It’s BA: That’s true about Canada. The first time they fail when they have to play for an hour
called Tally. we played Canada, I said I don’t think these or two. But Biff’s a tough old boy. He’s got
people really like us. Then when the show legs that are incredible. He can stay in
CD: Merle was greatly influenced by the was over they just tore the building down. tempo and keep the beat longer and stead-
great Texas Swing bandleader Bob Wills. And Australia is almost the same. I love ier than any drummer in America. So Biff’s
Did you ever meet him? Australia. We were over there for about a doing it better than the young guys. Young
BA: I did, and in fact that was one of the month. They just sat there and were real guys come out and play pretty good for ten
best weekends I ever had. Bob was in a polite. And at the end of the show they just minutes. After that they can’t even find the
wheelchair and he had the Texas Playboys went crazy. tempo.
down in Fort Worth and his drummer did-
n’t show up. So he asked Merle if he could CD: So what’s next for the band–where do CD: I understand you have other interests
use me. I got to play the last show he ever you go from here? in common.
did. Then the next week we went and BA: I found out we’re going to open for the MH: Over the year, he and I learned to fly
played in the White House for President Rolling Stones on November 29th in together. He’s a pilot and so am I. He
Nixon. That was a pretty interesting week- Dallas. I really like the Stones and I’m anx- turned out to be my navigator. We flew all
end. ious to meet Charlie Watts. That should be over America. We know a lot about each
fun for us. other, because there’s nobody to help you
up there.
After interviewing
Biff, I was lucky CD: You learned to trust him?
enough to speak to MH: I learned to trust him. He’s a great
Merle Haggard to friend. But I also told him ‘if you weren’t
get his account of playing the best drums, I wouldn’t have
their long-term part- you. I’d have the guy that’s the best.’
nership. Here’s some
of what Merle had to CD: You’re famous for keeping your musi-
say: cians on their toes. Have you ever caught
Biff off guard?
CD: Biff has MH: He’s pretty quick. He screws up once
worked with you or twice a year–like we all do. I really can’t
for 36 years. What say anything bad about his drumming. But
makes him special? I don’t want to brag on him too much
Merle Haggard because he’ll read this!
(MH:) A lot of
Paul & Biff
CLASSIC DRUMMER 43