1. Butch & Jaimoe
2. Mitch Mitchell
3. Ian Paice
4. Ginger Baker
5. Keith Moon
6. Charlie Watts
7. Matt Abts
8. Ringo Starr
@robslob Great list. I love all of them especially Jaimoe and Butch.
But I actually hate to admit it but none of those drummer can touch Buddy Rich several ways you slice drumming and drumming technique.
I've found videos of Ian Paice and another of Neil Peart playing drums for the Buddy Rich Big Band. Playing big band jazz. This of course was after Buddy passed away and his daughter has been successful in getting some of the best drummers still playing to taker her dad's spot with his band. I'll post it if anyone wants to see them.
May not be much interest in drummers here. I always was fascinated with drummers that knew how to drive a band and keep it tight.
Steve Gadd is another that played in Buddy's band after his death.
From 1968 JAZZ!!! These guys are really cooking and blowing. Great solos from all the guys who take a solo!!
Here is a fantastic drum solo from the late Joe Morello!! John Bonham of Led Zeppelin stole several of his ideas from Joe.
The solo begins after the stand up bass plays. Trust me. You see a solo that is top notch and very cool!
@robslob Just read another piece on Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.
Apparently he borrowed more from Joe Morello than any of the old school drummers. Even the no sticks thing. Take a look.
Buddy Rich
Hal Blane
Art Blakley
Ginger Baker
Carl Palmer
Butch
Jaimoe
Ginger Baker
I know I'll probably take some flak for this.....
Artimus Pyle
Was listening to Vanilla Fudge, BBA and Cactus recently and realized I forgot Carmen Appice. Very powerful drummer
In a similar style I always thought Cozy Powell was underrated for his playing in the Jeff Beck Band, Rainbow, Black Sabbath etc.
ginger
don brewer
jerry shirley
matt abts
billy martin-mm&w
michael shrieve
@mulemewarren Allen Woody was in the Artimus Pyle band in the 1980's prior to getting hired by the Allman Brothers.
@robertdee Yes, l did really not think much of him until I saw his band a couple of times several years ago. He was impressive and I thought man this guy has the chops and was driving the band hard with a massive kit.
Ringo
Ginger Baker
John Bonham
Keith Moon
@musicmann I saw John Bonham twice with Led Zeppelin. He was powerful and drove the band hard.
Bonham played the drums with his hands (no sticks) during his big drum solo. Later I read his interview in Drummer World and Bonzo mentioned Joe Morello has a big influence. I'd never heard of Morello. A friend said the drummer for Dave Brubeck.
I went to see Dave Brubeck in Washington, DC a little later on and presto!!! Joe played part of a solo with no sticks. They all learn from those that were a little older.
@mulemewarren Yes Pyle is good. I saw him with Lynyrd Skynyrd three or four times. When Ronnie was still running it and living.
1955 album by Buddy Rich. Buddy hired ALL black musicians including the great Oscar Peterson on piano and the first track is absolutely fantastic if you love JAZZ!!!
Here is a cool move for a band. The lead guitar player smashes the cymbals for a cool cymbal crash and accent with his electric guitar. Way cool move.
Being "Mt. Rushmore" presently has four faces on it. I'll stick with that.
These players have highly influenced my playing. This list would be totally different in the early 70's when first teaching myself to play using the vinyl/radio shack headphones/Frankenstein drum kit method.
John Henry Bonham, Tommy Aldridge, Louis Bellson, and Billy Cobham.
if it ever went to five,maybe Terry Bozzio or Phil Ehardt?
@gotdrumz I remember when Louis Bellson was the drummer on the Tonight-Johnny Carson show many years ago and he was real good. Play any kind of music very well.
Louis also had double bass drums before he left Johnny which I thought was cool as some rock drummers used two.
But recently I was reading an interview with Phil Collins who isn't able to play drums now but still sings good and Phil said once he asked Buddy Rich what should he do to improve after learning Rich had seen Genesis live and Buddy said " Get rid of the second bass drum and focus more on your hi-hat technique". So I wondered if the best drummers played those smaller kits like the old jazz and big band greats. Then I remembered Bellson. I've been watching Bellson videos lately on YouTube.
Louis Bellson could do both. Louis would stay off the second bass drum when playing jazz and big band and work magic on his hi-hat. But he could equally well switch to a double bass drum technique and it would sound great too.
Maybe I'm not following what you're trying to say? Bellson began using two kick drums in the mid 40's and was ever only a guest on Johnny Carson, just like Buddy. Their "drum off" in 69 on Carson was fun as F. Anyways, it comes down to personal preference. Gene Hoglan could make my Mt. Rushmore as easy as the others. Just haven't been in that mood the past year or so.
Ed Shaughnessy, the main Tonight Show drummer of that era, also had a double bass. Nowadays, it's a double pedal with one drum, so you it's hard to know what someone is playing.
The way I see it, it's just another drum. Bonham did some AMAZING stuff with bass drum - just one drum and one pedal. It's like the size of the kit. Neal Pert and Carl Palmer had huge kits, Buddy and Bonzo had 5 drums (snare, rack tom, bass, 2 floor toms), Elvin Jones and most of the jazz guys had 4. It's what they do with it
@gotdrumz I'll be 75 next month so I'm going way back to the 60's. I thought I remembered Bellson being in the Tonight Show NBC orchestra with Carson and according to the Wikipedia page for the Tonight Show, Bellson is one of five drummers that worked in the house band during Johnny's time.
I agree with Stormyrider. It's what you do with what you have rather than how many drums. Jaimoe back when Duane Allman was alive had four drums. Snare, bass, one mounted tom and one floor tom. Recently I watched some of 1991 Live At Gratewoods and Jaimoe still had one mounted tom and one floor tom.
I have a video of Neal Pert playing in the Buddy Rich Band after Buddy had passed away and for that style of jazz and big band music Pert had a small kit and played with traditional grip. It was odd seeing Pert stripped down.
This is real good and Pert is fantastic. But perhaps not as good as Buddy Rich or Louis Bellson etc for the kind of music? It's real close though.
Thanks for clarifying. Yeah Peart studied with Gruber and then Erskine, if memory serves me correct? I went through my Rush stage in the mid/late 70's. After learning "La Villa Strangiato" at 14 in 1979, my interests went elsewhere. Due mostly to my starting to play with older musicians at biker dives and clubs all over Southern California where I grew up. Rush definitely wasn't on the menu.
@gotdrumz I went to see Rush twice because of friends wanting to go and it was fun but like you their music never grabbed me. I have a few albums but haven't played them in years. No disrespect for Rush fans, it just didn't click for me but I do acknowledge all three guys had incredible talent and success.
Did you ever see Sonny Payne? I saw Frank Sinatra in 1966 or so and Frank had Count Basie as his band then and Sonny was on drums.
Sonny died young and apparently broke. I think the great trumpet player and band leader Harry James paid for his funeral.
UPDATE: Just looked it up as my memory is acting up some now. Sonny died at age 52 in 1979 and Harry James paid his medical and funeral expenses. Harry made big money for years but apparently his band was paid union scale.
I still liked Rush back then. The not on the menu comment was referring to Rush songs being above most bar band musicians ability to play and/or sing. Of course, there are exceptions. My last Rush concert was like 1983 or so. They started doing that Rush thing down a road that didn't interest me much. I have since gone back and scoped out what they did. It is not n miss.
As far as jazz players go, my interests lean more to a few fusion guys. I appreciate the big band players cause my folks listened to that stuff. They were both in the Navy during WWIi. My Bellson infatuation, and due respect is how he utilized the second kick as an accent. Thanks for the clips of the other players.
Laterz
@gotdrumz I agree with Stormyrider. It's what you do with what you have rather than how many drums.
Valid point, if you only want to approach playing from a perspective of rudiments? Drums are tonal to varying degrees. From stick contact on the heads, to head tightness, to number of ply's in the shells, type of wood, weight of hardware, and mounting hardware on shell or suspended. Depending on what your doing, a variety in the tones adds, another dynamic to the music. In the end, it comes down to personal preference.
The drum solo at the end of this is the FASTEST playing I've ever seen!!!
As odd as this may seem, it makes John Bonham and Ginger Baker sound so SLOW! S...L...O...W...
Spent considerable time early Christmas morning trying to find a drummer faster than Buddy Rich.
- Butch and Jaimoe. Nope. Ginger Baker. Nope John Bonham. Nope. Alex Van Halen. Nope. Matt Apts. Nope. Max Roach. Nope. and several more.
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/li>
- Go in to 5:25 and watch this blazing fast drum solo if you feel up to it then see if you can think of one faster. Happy New Year!
I've been listening to a lot of Philly Joe Jones lately. He may not have been as fast as Buddy, but he was no slouch, and he could swing. Miles and Bill Evans both said that he was their favorite drummer to play with. I've been trying to incorporate some of his licks into my playing.
Check out Milestones, Cool Struttin' by Sonny Clark, and Art Tatum meets the Rhythm Section.
