...favorite drummers?

Serendipity Records

Well-known member
As far as I'm concerned, these two can hold the fort by themselves:
Simon Philips
The Professor

Metal drummers don't really do anything for me... I just find them to be bashers more than musicians (with the usual IMHO disclaimer)

Of course, there is also that new fella Greyson Nekrutman, who's got it coming on!
 
The little I know of Gadd's playing, yeah, he's up there! Will have to check those others out though :) Generally speaking I'm somewhat new to drums in general ;)
Gadd: Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." Jim Keltner: Johnny Rivers' version of "Slow Dancing." Bernard Purdie: Steely Dan's "Babylon Sisters," "Home At Last," & "Deacon Blues." Mike Botts was Bread's drummer who also did stunning outside session work. Case in point, Linda Ronstadt's version of "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me."
 
Gadd: Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." Jim Keltner: Johnny Rivers' version of "Slow Dancing." Bernard Purdie: Steely Dan's "Babylon Sisters," "Home At Last," & "Deacon Blues." Mike Botts was Bread's drummer who also did stunning outside session work. Case in point, Linda Ronstadt's version of "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me."
Really like the Dan, must be why Purdie's name rings a bell :) Busy day tomorrow, but will have a listening session soon!
 
There are many that are already covered.

Some of my favorites are.......

Ginger Baker

Who I’ve gotten the opportunity to see live in action from 6 feet away. Not at a show, but in a private rehearsal. The man was amazing!

Taylor Hawkins

Never saw him live, and to tell the truth I wasn’t overly fond of the Foo Fighters. They had a few songs I’d consider to be great. But a lot of stuff that did nothing for me.

But Taylor...... he hit those skins like he meant it, and always seemed to be having the time of his life when behind the kit!

Buddy Miles.

What can I say..... a legend. And hooking up with Jimi, he brought Hendrix up to a whole new level.


Sadly all these greats are gone. But their work lives on. May they never be forgotten.
 
Serendipity Records said:
Metal drummers don't really do anything for me... I just find them to be bashers more than musicians (with the usual IMHO disclaimer)

Fair enough. The IMHO disclaimer goes a long way here.

There's metal stuff that I truly enjoy, but I'm not really a metal head. Honestly the whole "bombastic/gymnastic" approach doesn't do a lot for me most of the time, but I can still appreciate it on a technical level. Possibly more when you have a guy like John Bonham doing doubles and triples with a single kick pedal.

Over time, I started to lose a lot of blanket preconceptions I had about music based on genre. I don't think of Vinnie Colaiuta as a metal drummer, but he did an album with Megadeath. The label of "metal" actually covers a wide range of stuff. Bill Ward laid down a lot of swing chops on the first Black Sabbath record.
 
That's a bit like asking "What's your favorite song?" as that tends to change by mood and day by day :) I'm a bit like snow lizard in the post above. I will say, and this is just my 2 cents, Fool in the Rain (John Bonham) is the single best guttural yet incredibly technical, pure rock and roll drum part in contemporary music. Despite the indelible and unique vocals of Robert Plant, I don't believe Led Zeppelin would have been Led Zeppelin without Bonham, and that extends beyond just being a singularly great drummer. I do think Jason Bonham has become a force and it seems he gets better each time I see him. The interesting thing about Jason is he certainly isn't copying his dad. I guess you could see that as good or bad, but I do think he's reached that level he deserves to be mentioned in context here.

Another guy that I thought defined a larger, broader signature sonic of a band was Liberty Devitto. From a technical perspective not so great, at least for me, more like Cookie Monster playing the drums. But it was an integral part of the "tone" of the band. I was sorry to see it come to such a bitter end.

From there, and again for me, I look for tone. Manu is at the top of that list. He's technical, deceivingly smooth, hits the kit hard and his snare is always over-the-top lush. Vinney Colaiuta is certainly similar to Manu. The late Carlos Vega was absolutely similar in style and power to Manu and Colaiuta. Vega's work with the James Taylor band was really quite remarkable and obviously, James thought so as well. A sad and untimely passing.

Dave Weckl has always been an "in-the-pocket" player. If you haven't checked out his YouTube stuff it's pretty entertaining

Speaking of in-the-pocket masters, for me, Jeff Porcaro was the best that's ever been.

When it comes to unworldly snare sounds there's Simon Phillips. His Toto days were really great and captured the spirit of Porcaro while still maintaining his big-kit style.

And finally, full well knowing this'll ruffle a lot of feathers, a drummer I never cared for......Although I will say Stewart Copelands' infamous snare sound with the Police not only defined the band but defined "a sound", I never "felt it" as a drummer. He seemed to drift and at times was awkward. All credit to him for defining a sound but past that not terribly high on my list.
 
That's a bit like asking "What's your favorite song?" as that tends to change by mood and day by day :) I'm a bit like snow lizard in the post above. I will say, and this is just my 2 cents, Fool in the Rain (John Bonham) is the single best guttural yet incredibly technical, pure rock and roll drum part in contemporary music. Despite the indelible and unique vocals of Robert Plant, I don't believe Led Zeppelin would have been Led Zeppelin without Bonham, and that extends beyond just being a singularly great drummer. I do think Jason Bonham has become a force and it seems he gets better each time I see him. The interesting thing about Jason is he certainly isn't copying his dad. I guess you could see that as good or bad, but I do think he's reached that level he deserves to be mentioned in context here.

Another guy that I thought defined a larger, broader signature sonic of a band was Liberty Devitto. From a technical perspective not so great, at least for me, more like Cookie Monster playing the drums. But it was an integral part of the "tone" of the band. I was sorry to see it come to such a bitter end.

From there, and again for me, I look for tone. Manu is at the top of that list. He's technical, deceivingly smooth, hits the kit hard and his snare is always over-the-top lush. Vinney Colaiuta is certainly similar to Manu. The late Carlos Vega was absolutely similar in style and power to Manu and Colaiuta. Vega's work with the James Taylor band was really quite remarkable and obviously, James thought so as well. A sad and untimely passing.

Dave Weckl has always been an "in-the-pocket" player. If you haven't checked out his YouTube stuff it's pretty entertaining

Speaking of in-the-pocket masters, for me, Jeff Porcaro was the best that's ever been.

When it comes to unworldly snare sounds there's Simon Phillips. His Toto days were really great and captured the spirit of Porcaro while still maintaining his big-kit style.

And finally, full well knowing this'll ruffle a lot of feathers, a drummer I never cared for......Although I will say Stewart Copelands' infamous snare sound with the Police not only defined the band but defined "a sound", I never "felt it" as a drummer. He seemed to drift and at times was awkward. All credit to him for defining a sound but past that not terribly high on my list.

Actually I did watch some Weckl mater'l, which was really fun to watch indeed! As for Phillips, yeah, there's quite a bit of live recordings (with Toto -- just an awesome band btw!) on YT that brought me to really dig his playing. I also saw that he played with Hiromi Uehara and Anthony Jackson -- similar in style to Weckl, actually. I'm not a big Led Z fan, but I'll give them another spin with emphasis on Bonham :) Concerning Liberty Devitto, I only know of his work with Billy Joel... bitter end, what is the reference to?
 
Actually I did watch some Weckl mater'l, which was really fun to watch indeed! As for Phillips, yeah, there's quite a bit of live recordings (with Toto -- just an awesome band btw!) on YT that brought me to really dig his playing. I also saw that he played with Hiromi Uehara and Anthony Jackson -- similar in style to Weckl, actually. I'm not a big Led Z fan, but I'll give them another spin with emphasis on Bonham :) Concerning Liberty Devitto, I only know of his work with Billy Joel... bitter end, what is the reference to?
Liberty Devitto was summarily dismissed by Billy Joel. There was no interpersonal communication and unlike many band breakups which end up in a battle royale, Liberty wasn't angry, but bitterly heartbroken. I don't believe they've communicated since. As I mentioned I thought his tone and style helped define the whole as greater than the sum.

I was gigging all through the '80s and Zep was very, very popular. I liked them a lot but wasn't by any stretch a super fan. That and at the time, Jimmy Page's sloppy playing, particularly lead playing, struck me as odd. As the years went by I revisited and began to really love the band in hindsight. That's when the utter gravity of Bonham hit me, literally. I also kinda realized Page's grand contribution was rhythmic and not a stand-out lead player. Kashmir is still one of the great, great rhythm guitar parts in rock and roll.
 
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Though I think Keith Moon was somewhat overrated at times, I can't think of any drummers I don't like. Even the guy that played on the 1685263743623.png 1685263756314.pngLiving Stones' "Jesus music" back in 1974 {Robert Sommerville}, while not being a good drummer at all, contributed to a set of songs that, while not being played in stellar fashion, are still songs I love.

And that brings up an interesting point for me. It's always the song that gets me. Once the song is accepted into my pantheon of pleasure, then I'll concentrate from time to time on things like what the instruments are doing, the lyrics {if there are any}, how the various elements interplay with each other, the mix, any production quirks, the quality of the singers {if there are any} etc.
There are a number of drummers whose playing I dearly love ~ and I've got no idea who they are ! I have no idea if they've played on other songs I dig. Uncredited session drummers.

Interestingly, I can't think of a single female drummer whose playing sticks in my mind. Isn't that weird ?

But naturally, there are some repeat performers who have a body of stuff I like, as well as those that are immortalized on the strength of their performance on one song or one album. I really like David Penna's work on Ad Astra's debut. I like Bill Bruford across 3 or 4 different bands. I'm a big fan of Bill Ward's stuff across Black Sabbath's first 6 LPs. I like Ian Paice's Deep Purple work from their debut up to "Come taste the band." Bobby Caldwell played some fantastic stuff on both the debuts of Captain Beyond and Armageddon. While I think that Airto Moreira is a superb percussionist, I think he was a brilliant and underrated drummer and it's easily forgotten that he was in the first incarnations of both Weather Report and Return To Forever. I dig the Fantastic 4 of jazz-fusion's early period, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Lenny White and Alphonse Muzon. I like the work of Liam Genockey, particularly in his Amalgam phase, where he showed himself to be almost the perfect person to have playing drums alongside yourself, so complimentary and selfless, yet endlessly inventive.

I really like the stuff that Twink and Skip Allen did with the Pretty Things in their awfully magnificent "SF Sorrow/Parachute" phase. I like John Bonham's inventive playing, both when he was being muscular and when he was bringing his talents in a calmer, softer vein ~ something for which one never sees him being given credit for. I used to think Michael Giles was overrated, but on the strength of King Crimson's debut, I really dig his playing. I like Bill Maxwell's unselfish, yet very present drumming, whether he was funking it up with Andrae Crouch or the Winans or jazzing it around with Koinonia. I like Thom Mooney's drumming with Nazz, he had the wild dynamism of Keith Moon and could whoop up a storm, but he also played for the song and could be a right softy, even though he didn't like the softer stuff.

Then there's guys I endlessly admire like Ringo, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Phil Collins, Nick Mason, Kevin Westlake, John Stevens {someone who got the perfect symmetry between free playing, ensemble playing and driving the song with his band, Away}, Tony Oxley, Carlton Barrett, Rick Marotta, Chet McCracken and Omar Hakim. I really like Eamon Carr's simple but effective style. A flashy drummer would have wrecked what Horslips were doing. Neil Peart was the antithesis of Phil Rudd and Philthy Phil taylor, yet I dig them all. I like Joey Kramer, Bun E. Carlos and Dave Holland {the naughty one}, when he was in Trapeze. Phil Ehart of Kansas is a drummer for the thinking person. I like Dixie Lee's work with Lone Star, Dominique Bouvier on his playing with David Rose, Paul Motian {with Keith Jarrett on two albums recorded on the same 2 days, "Backhand" and "Death and the flower"}, Pierre Favre in his stuff with Mal Wadron and Dan Maurer on Low Flying Aircraft's debut {I think it might be their only record}. A Zambian guy that played on some of my stuff, Ray Kaela, is a superb drummer. I loved recording with him and was very fortunate to do so because he was so versatile and would give you whatever you needed. Make unmusical noises to demonstrate what you're looking for and Ray just converts it into drums. Priceless.

There's tons of drummers that I haven't mentioned because if I were to do so, I'd wear out my fingerprints......which might not be such a bad idea if I were contemplating a life of crime !
 
Manu Katche' is mostly known for his work with Peter Gabriel. But he got on my radar in 1995 after doing a kind of departure album with Joe Satriani. Great band on that record - not Joe's usual lineup: Andy Fairweather Low, Nathan East, Manu Katche (a bunch of other players sitting in here and there) - Glyn Johns producing.

I share this track a lot - the drums are just smokin. Be sure to make it to the coda/outro. Killer L/R *rhythm* gtr playing on this by Andy and Joe:

 
Some instrumentalists that are not known for their drumming prowess nevertheless make my huge list:
Jan Hammer, who was a revolutionary synthesizer player {as well as being brilliant on other keyboards} in is time with The Mahavishnu Orchestra plays some pretty mean drums on an album he did with Jerry Goodman, the Mahavishnu's original violinist, called "Like Children." He followed this up with some creative drumming on his album "The First Seven days" and he even plays on a track on Jeff Beck's album "Wired."
I like Jimmy Ayoub's playing on the early Mahogany Rush albums, but ironically, my favourite piece of drumming on a Mahogany track is the song "Dear Music" and it's the guitarist Frank Marino that plays it. I wonder if it ever stuck in Jim's craw....
And on a few Beatle songs during the time Ringo quit or when John was in a hurry, Paul McCartney shows some interesting drumming chops. He later did the whole of the "Band on the run" album, as the drummer left the day before the sessions started. It is still the most successful album Macca has done since the Beatles folded.
One of my definite desert island discs would be Stevie Wonder's masterpiece, "Innervisions." On it, Stevie plays drums on 8 of the 9 songs. He would have played on them all, but "Visions" has no drums !
 
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