Great musicians who should have been famous except....

Naw Wolf, Richie Hayward was a musician, not a mere technician, which is on what basis so many judge a drummer’s abilities. Like I said, as if drumming is an athletic activity, not an artistic one.

By the way, the last time Levon Helm performed in L.A. (at The House Of Blues), Richie got up on stage with Levon and his band (and his daughter Amy, who was singing) and played drums on one song. The love, respect, and admiration of each for the other was obvious. When Levon's autobiography was released, he did a book-signing at Book Soup on Sunset (directly across the street from Tower Records). As I waited in line to have my copy signed, I sensed a commotion behind me. Turning around, I saw Ringo Starr walking up along the line, "taking cuts" to get to the desk where sat Levon. Nobody objected, of course ;-) .