Greatest Rock Drummers
@audiozen Yes concert tickets are much more these days and so is everything else like a cup of coffee .....but there really is no inflation at all. .....just ask the Federal Reserve and the wonks there that claim to be worried about too little inflation...after printing gazillions of fiat money. There is going to be one almighty headache, possibly even free market OD and death after this current cheap money asset and stock market and everything party (bubble)... |
He's was not rock, but Buddy Rich was the greatest drummer who ever lived. He had 4 seperate brains. One connected to each arm, and one for each leg. He played seperate rythmic patterns with each appendage at the same time. I used to stay up late as a kid when he would show up on The tonight show with Carson, He would sit in on Ed Shaunessy's drum kit and just blow everyone away with the speed, finesse, and beautiful polyrythmic paterns he would play. Turns out he wss doing a lot of amphetamines, but his drumming was magic. Made me become a drummer. One who isn't worthy to carry his sticks, but then, no one is or was, or ever will be in my opinion. Look him up on youtube. |
There were rare moments back in the late 60's and early 70's where the fusion of drums and instruments blended so well together in a handful of live rock/blues concert's that will go down in history as the greatest concerts ever that not even Jimi Hendrix could ascend to in a live concert format due to the explosive, atomic power these bands played on stage which were their peak performances of all time. The live concerts were "The Who" Live at Leeds. Creams live performances on their "Wheels of Fire" album at the Winterland and the Filmore auditoriums in early 1968. The live "Yes" "Starship Trooper concert's. Joe Cocker and "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" at the Filmore East in 1970 which went nationwide as a major motion picture. Led Zeppelin first album tour concerts 1968/69. The Allman Brother's "Eat a Peach" live concert. In The 80's hats off to Rush's live 1984 concert in Montreal, and U2's "Joshuah Tree" tour concerts 1986/87. |
I would agree the various studio drummers listed above are probably the greatest overall drummers recorded (Steve Gadd, Bernard Purdie, Jim Keltner, etc.). Yes some will go on tour with certain acts (James Taylor/Steve Gadd), but I don't think they are correctly classified as "rock" drummers. I saw The Killers this weekend. The Killers’ Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. rocked his drums for 2+ hours non-stop. Terrific show--I highly recommend it. Is he the greatest rock drummer ever? I doubt it. Do we know who was or is? No. Does Vannucci play with power, speed, and creativity plus know what a rock drummer needs to do in concert to make the audience feel good about spending big money to be there? Yep. |
Say what you will about John Bonham, he was the perfect drummer for LZ. He defined their sound, often imitated but never duplicated. Even the great Carmine Appice can't play Zeppelin... https://youtu.be/lC2DOsS88hw |
Stewart Copeland Sting wrote great melodies and lyrics and Andy was a brilliant rhythm and lead guitarist but Copeland is what actually made the Police really interesting vs everything else at the time. I remember hearing Message in a Bottle for the first time and being immediately mesmerized by the drums. This is a rare thing to experience in music. Roxanne is a pop hit that is really a Tango! Crazy ideas that somehow worked. Image if Roxanne had been the Bossa Nova that Sting originally envisioned. A great innovator https://youtu.be/pWfP3GHMgqc |
There is never a single "best" in any art form. Both Hendrix and Segovia are great, but they can't be compared to each other. The same is true of painters, composers, writers, etc. It's not a foot race where one will have the best time - these people are going to different finish lines! But there are some great drummers who haven't been mentioned here: Clive Bunker (Jethro Tull) Danny Seraphine (Chicago) Terry Bozzio (Zappa) Colaiuta (mentioned already, I know) And that's just rock. We won't even get into jazz. But the same holds true - there is no single "best" in art. |
Did anyone mention Michael Shrieve? He was just a pup at Woodstock and earned his post as the drummer for Santana because of this performance..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZceAQSJvc |
I just saw Keith Carlock playing with Steely Dan last night in Dallas. It was the finest drum kit performance I have seen live that wasn't straight ahead jazz. His Aja solo was terrific and his own. It paid homage to Steve Gadd without sounding like Gadd. Carlock is 47 years old. Worth seeing if you get the chance. |
@reubent SD's band was the best group of musicians I have seen in a live performance (again jazz excepted). Fagen's voice is struggling; but the band and the backup singers so strong that it wasn't that big of a deal. "Ready" Freddy Cunningham played bass all night with the exception of "Peg" when they brought out Chuck Rainey, who did great. He lives in Dallas--I doubt they are doing that cameo anywhere else. I recommend you see the show. Harrington killed all the guitar parts; it is hard to be too superlative about his chops. |
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Carl Palmer is the only one who could wear Buddy´s boots. Never boring and perfectly fitting the music played, like ELP (rock´s best power trio btw) and his CPB playing ELP music with young brilliant musicians. These lads carry the torch to keep ELP´s and Prog music alive. Huge respect. Thanks to people like Carl Palmer Prog/Art will survive all the mediocre and total crap that´s been produced all over world. Prog will last forever : ) Besides, as seen on YT videos, today his better than in the ELP´s pinnacle, better than ever, and certainly the best of his age. And certainly the funniest as seen on certain videos. True humor no BS showing off. Pure talent. A true musician and an artist. Like was Jon Hiseman, 1944 - 2018. Huge respect RIP Heavy rock: Lee Kerslake w/ Gary Thain (the best of the all), Bill Ward w/ Geezer Butler, Ted McKenna w/ Chris Glen, Ian Paice w/ Roger Glover Prog: Pierluigi Calderoni w/ Titiziano Ricci, John Weathers/ Derek Schulman - rock´s most unsexist rhythm section ever LOL But the most underrated ever is: Albert Bouchard of BLUE ÖYSTER CULT |
Michael Shrieve + Santana rhythm section + audiozen knows that Corky Laing kicked West´s and Pappalardi´s ass but it had to be West with Bruce that could made him exhausted and he loses the race as heard on "Love Is Worth the Blues" (studio album 1972) he just bangs the cymbals furiously without timing it´s almost sheer mess. Bruce´s most intense, inventive, fast and powerful playing was with these guys. He made them shine and vice versa. Period. For rock: Corky Laing - the cowbell master, like B.J. Wilson Keith Moon Graeme Edge is real life´s animal :_ ) https://youtu.be/N_J-hmyAS6c Animal with Buddy Rich (of course) Enjoy the music |
I find the drumming of Steve Gadd closer to that of Buddy Rich than Carl Palmer's. For pure technical ability, nobody alive is better than Vinnie Colaiuta (Jeff Beck). For a close look at Fito DeLa Parra, watch him in the Woodstock movie. He, like Neil Peart, can't play a shuffle to save his life ;-) . |
Wrong. Palmer is way closer than Gadd whose basic nature is totally different from Rich´s, more relaxed and laid back. And for pure technical ability ? The best alive Calaiuta ? Wrong again. Not even close. Your perspective and experience seems surprisingly limited. You can´t even imagine that exist today equal or even better, with "pure technical ability" (what a boring expression) drummers than he. The best are beyond "technical ability", have always been. They also produce music, improvise that is. Like Palmer even today, but not so much w/ ELP as his drum solo was merely a part of the show and so usually went the same path. ELP was a show alongside symphonic rock music. In the 70´ they were spectacular, terrific live act, a trio that sounded like an orchestra. And people loved them, that´s why those boring critics hated them. Oh, I remember it vividly, they hated ALL the best bands but we kids laughed at those booooring old farts and bought just THE records they dissed. Well, some idiots actually tried to slag acts like Uriah Heep not to mention Yes and ELP. The best of them all. LOL. Great times : ) Of course, things tend to change. In the 80´s to preplace Palmer with Powell made ELP sound like dull hard rock. And yes indeed, ELP did get boring. But there wasn´t master Palmer anymore, was there. Palmer is exactly 1/3 of that makes it symphonic (rock) music. In music some people are irreplaceable, quite literally. I listened to that video clip above and found nothing to be excited about, same quite dull thing like near all "technical" drum solos are. Obviously haven´t bothered listen to people like Simon Phillips who can swing and scuffle and play everything and virtually with everybody, from heavy acid blues Jack Bruce to "complex" A(dult)OR/pseudo prog Toto (never cared for them but OK whilst washing the car), with high technical standard, still going strong. Not to mention certain musicians from totally different, very old musical cultures. |
