Greatest Rock Drummers

John Bonham's part in "Rock and Roll" is a direct cop of Earl Palmer's in Little Richard's "Keep-A-Knockin'". A comparison of the two will display why Bonham sounds so flat-footed, so leaden, to me. Earl's part absolutely bristles with kinetic energy and forward momentum. Bonham's sounds slow, almost like he's running to keep up with the music. It sounds labored and contrived, in contrast to Earl's spontaneous, creative playing. A world of difference. Perhaps it's the difference between Rock 'n' Roll (Earl, of course) and Rock (Bonham).

Wow, Hiromi is like Eddie Van Halen style but on the piano! What incredible talent. I would tend to classify this outside of Rock Drumming genre as is that insane demo from the genius Dave Weckl.

Tony Williams
Ginger Baker
Elvin Jones
Charlie Watts
Clive Bunker
Thelonius Monk (if he'd chosen to play drums)

Some good responses, but a whole lotta nonsense, too. I'm a drummer who has played rock, blues and jazz with some of the greats in each field, as well as being a published music critic and owning 60,000+ titles in my music library. Harrumph. Blues and jazz are not opposites, as one (who is probably not a drummer) mentioned. First, jazz evolved from blues. And if you can't play a blues, you really can't play jazz. Many of the greatest blues drummers (i.e. Fred Below, Francis Clay) started out as jazz drummers. As far as greatest rock drummers, yes, Ginger, Moon and Bonham qualify. Earl Palmer no question (though he was more R&B, nonetheless a brilliant player). But the list must include Charlie Watts, Mick Avory, Ringo, Jim Gordon, Clive Bunker, Buddy Miles, Jon Hiseman, Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell, Pip Pyle, Michael Shrieve, Bruford, Scott Asheton, Robert Wyatt, Boz, Michael Giles -- and others, though Neil Peart doesn't make it. Someone mentioned Cobham as the best jazz drummer. No. Not even in the top 50. For jazz, that's Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Jo Jones, Ed Blackwell, Billy Higgins, Joe Chambers, Jack DeJohnette, Andrew Cyrille, Sunny Murray, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Frank Butler, Pete LaRoca -- and Rich, Krupa are in there somewhere, as is Bellson.

I love this guy. Distinctive style. Rock steady and plays with such force but totally relaxed and lightening quick. This video shows he is extremely talented. Extremely precise playing. Everything is very clean.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VeduwZtiTPk