Very OT: Best/Favorite Drummers

[Taco]

Phil Rudd - from AC/DC. Maybe not the best, I really like the way he didn't fill up every space. Too many drummers drum too much. IMO if you notice the drums too much, the drummer is over- playing. Moon, Bonham etc. played more, but it always went with the song - never obnoxious.

 

[ihatepants]

My favorite drummer (well... musician in general) is Dave Grohl. But Peart, Bonham and Moon are really good. I also like Danny Carey and Josh Freese.

 

[Waquoit]

I like Mick Fleetwood. He comes up with some really unique rhythms, like on Go Your Own Way.

 

[Waquoit]

Too many drummers drum too much. IMO if you notice the drums too much, the drummer is over- playing. Moon, Bonham etc. played more, but it always went with the song - never obnoxious.

Good point, I don't think Moon overplayed. He played his awesome style helped make The Who, The Who. Lesser drummers who wannabe Moon overplay.

 

[B1GEast]

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[Thirty Three]

Besides the obvious already stated Bonham, Peart, Copeland, etc. I'll go with Mike Portnoy and Thomas Pridgen (youngest drummer ever to be endorsed by Zildjian, I believe he was 12).

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Moon did reach the point (somewhere around Who's Nest) where he was drumming out leads instead of rhythm. Daltry liked it, Townshend and Entwhistle weren't that crazy about it.

I can't believe that nobody mentioned Ginger Baker.

Mick Fleetwood was a great call as he was as technically sound a drummer as there was. He and McVie were exceptional but under appreciated primarily due to the fact that their style was to (as drummers and bass players should) be part of the background.

This is a large reason why Ringo gets knocked as badly as he's been knockked over the past five decades. He was always a solid, sound drummer who did his job very well but didn't have any of the loud (in many cases obnoxious) drum solos that became popular in the mid-late sixties. That much of the press confused the Pete Best situation (George Martin stating that he was not a professional drummer and would only record the Beatles if he could substitute a session drummer for best) with Ringo.

 

[Rico444]

Ringo was perfect for the Beatles. One more ego would've destroyed them years earlier, and their music doesn't lend itself to flamboyant drum parts.

 

[pepband99]

Stewart Copeland fits nicely in between Moon and Peart for me. Slightly insane, but a technical wizard.

 

[Thirty Three]

How could I forget Danny Carey and Josh Freese!!! Two of my absolute favorites. Their combo of skill and style, for me, are the top of the food chain.

 

[Bezzz]

Besides the obvious already stated Bonham, Peart, Copeland, etc. I'll go with Mike Portnoy and Thomas Pridgen (youngest drummer ever to be endorsed by Zildjian, I believe he was 12).

Totally agree with you on Pridgen. He's the most amazing drummer I ever saw play live when he was with The Mars Volta. Saw them at Lupo's in Providence a couple years ago. He made the drums explode.

 

[husky91]

Moon

Carter Beauford for current drummers is top notch and of course Peart

I think Bonham was better than Moon, or at least more versatile. Personally prefer David Garibaldi of TOP.

 

[husky91]

I agree with Carlos, gosh he is awesome.

But if you took a formal survey it would absolutely be Moon, Bonham and Peart 1-3 is some order, all with the statistical error

Much as I enjoy Moon - and Quadrophenia is a staple on my trips back and forth to CT - I always recall Entwhistle complaining that the Who didn't really have a rhythm section because Moon played drums like he was lead guitar.

Nothing against the others mentioned here, but I'm partial to guys who make a big sound with interesting fills seem effortless. Bun E. Carlos and Cesar Zuijderwijk come to mind. You watch vids of those guys and it seems they're not breaking a sweat.

Not a Rush fan, but I enjoyed the vids of Peart's Buddy Rich tribute on One O'Clock Jump and Cottontail.

 

[upstater]

No Gene Krupa?



I agree on Dave Grohl, and though Terry Bozzio gets knocked around a lot for his set-up, I enjoy watching him play. I don't get people who say it's over the top. So what?

 

[GlastonTim]

 

[husky91]

I've always thought the Who had the rare distinction of having the best musicians at each respective position. I have been listening to a lot more Zeppelin lately and you could probably argue for them too. Others are close, Stones, Police, Rush, Beatles, DMB (considering they have a different style/sound), etc.

That's interesting because Entwhistle also played a bass that was far from basic rhythm. That band just worked perfectly together and I'm not sure if that would have been the case if you had switched any one person out. A lot of their live stuff is just barely controlled chaos that somehow ends up brilliantly.

 

[RichZ]

While no-one here will likely ever have heard of him, Kansas Fields. The preeminent jazz and blues drummer of the postwar era.

 

[8893]

I don't think any drummer was more in the pocket than Levon Helm. The man just "got it." And one helluva great guy to boot.

Jim Keltner is a tremendous studio drummer who also spent a lot of time in the pocket.

Stanton Moore is probably my favorite living drummer to see perform now. Johnny Vidacovich is right there, too.

 

[Adesmar123]

I don't think any drummer was more in the pocket than Levon Helm. The man just "got it." And one helluva great guy to boot.

I remember hearing the Band for the first time in 1968. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what this group was doing. I wasn't Country fan but somehow this group just pulled me to them ( and a lot of other people too).

 

[Dry Tortugas]

Vinnie Colaiuta and Bernard Purdie are my two favorites.

 

[Catsailor]

Ginger Baker

 

[boog204]

+1 for Carter Beauford... Bozzio's setup is utterly ridiculous, but if you can play the Black Page (Zappa) then you are in a different league. Not many can play that with any sort of accuracy/feel. Ringo is actually quite underrated. His drumming on "Rain" and "Day in the Life" was considered revolutionary as were some of the techniques that he brought along. Tons of great drummers after him attest to him being supremely underrated.

 

[Dry Tortugas]

As I recall, Colaiuta was the first to play the Black Page. Zappa said he got it on the first try and on the second, he styled it.

 

[Gurleyman]

I'll just throw out the late Richie Hayward too. Jam band drummers had to work pretty hard at live gigs, and he was one of the best.

 

[White Dwarf]

Kliph Scurlock