Greatest Rock Drummers

Ha, I wondered if that would rankle anyone! Yes, I am well aware that opinion flies in the face of the commonly accepted wisdom, with which I obviously disagree. I could explain, but one either gets it or one doesn’t ;-).

I saw Carl Palmer perform live 2 weeks ago, and he is simply amazing. All of the power and precision he is known for is still there. He is trying to get together a more complete band. Presently he has only a young guitarist and a young bassist. He desperately needs a singer and a keyboard player. When he gets that, it will be a first class band.  

Say what you want and name all the names, but in the end,I think we would mostly agree that #1 is Jon Bonham for rock and #1 is Billy Cobham for jazz. These are truly the two best of the best of the best.

Matt M

Well Matt, here we go again making music into a contest. Can't we say that there are many great talents, each with a different style? You love Jon Bonham for example, and I think that he was a perfect fit for Led Zeppelin, but he'd be a terrible fit for a band that needed a drummer who was lighter on his feet. So, even within the rock genre, there are so many great players, each "great" in a different way. 

Oh yeah Jazz and Blues (Rock/folk) require a different mindset. It is hard to switch from Snare and Bass (Blues back beat) to Ride and Hi-hat (jazz). Jazz is all about swing and comping. They both however focus on the One. 

Reggae is the mind bender - the one-drop is quite off putting....

And Latin/Cuban clave beats with a clave on the left foot like Horacio Hernandez - that takes years of practice.