A Boy Named Sue
Johnny Cash · 1969
A live train-beat feel useful for practicing groove behind a spoken storytelling vocal.
- Artist
- Johnny Cash
- Year
- 1969
- Genre
- classic country
- Drummer
- W.S. Holland
- Tempo
- 120 bpm
- Time
- 4/4
- Feel
- train beat
- Difficulty
- intermediate
Drummer's Quick-Start
Practice tempos
Woodshed
72bpm
Building
96bpm
Target
120bpm
The feel
A train beat in 4/4 around 120 BPM. A comfortable mid-tempo — lock the backbeat first, then shape the dynamics.
What to watch
- •Sit just behind the beat and let it breathe; don't chase the click forward.
How to learn it
Well-known tutorials exist for this one — use the links below, and play along from your own copy.
Generated from this song's groove profile — analysis only, no notation. A human-reviewed AI brief with a full groove breakdown, key moments and song map replaces this as briefs roll out.
Learn it
Find drum tutorials on YouTube ↗iDrum links to where lessons already live — we don't host recordings or publish transcriptions. Play along from your own music.
Discussion
Set your name to start a discussion about this song.