@mbennes: Oh man, you are too hip for the room ;-) , Buddy Harman is FANTASTIC, in my all-time Top 10. I’ll bet you and I are the only ones here who know his name. Buddy was the "first call" drummer in Nashville for decades, in effect that city’s Hal Blaine (another great) He can be heard on the recordings of hundreds of singers, including Tammy Wynette and George Jones. His playing on "Stand By Your Man" is SO cool. He invented playing the hi-hat part on the snare drum with a brush, with the 2/4 backbeat played "cross-stick".
Of course, it can be argued that Buddy was not a Rock drummer. Rock ’n’ Roll, yes. What’s the difference? Rock ’n’ Roll swings, Rock doesn’t. As an illustration, listen to Ringo’s playing when he joins The Band onstage for the last song in The Last Waltz concert segment, Dylan’s "I Shall Be Released". See how slow, plodding, and ponderous is his playing? Now listen to Levon Helm; nimble, light on his feet, like Fred Astaire dancing. Listen to Levon’s drumming on Clapton’s cover of Bobby Blue Bland’s "Further On Up The Road"; he swings SO hard! Like a Jazz drummer, but with a 2/4 backbeat. Rock ’n’ Roll, baby!
When I saw Keith Moon live in ’68 and ’69, he was incredibly exciting: explosive, dynamic, maniacal. By the end he was so sluggish, so tired, so boring. "Who Are You"? Terrible! Was it the booze and pills? Or age?
John Bonham played his kick drum in the "bury the beater in the head" style. In other words, not letting the bass drum beater rebound off the batter head. The effect that creates is to make each bar in the music feel separate---the music seems to come to a halt at the end of each bar, starting up again for the next. The music has no natural flow, no movement and momentum. Robert Plant would definitely not have Bonham playing on his records with Alison Krauss, nor would she let him ;-) .
