Rocket Ramblings

TOP TEN GREATEST DRUMMERS

Ok, thanks to my friend Lisa and her post about the latest Van Halen concert she went to and a list of her Top Ten Guitarists, a conversation/debate on said list of guitarists caused Lisa to ask me "and when will I see your top ten Drummers list?"

That sounded like a hell of an idea for a post, so Lisa... here it is. (Oh, and by the way... Lisa's blog can be found at: http://lisamaconfamily.blogspot.com/. Check it out.)

Now... the main thing I had to think about was this: Do I stick to ROCK drummers or try and go out and out for drummers PERIOD?

This was hard. Lisa's guitarist list was limited to guitar players that SHE has personally heard (which is why B.B. King was on MY list, but not HERS, since she had never really listened to King play).

That made sense, so I'm going to follow the same critera, although I will add one other faction: how much of am influence on me a particular drummer had (being that I've been a drummer for the last thirty-two years). If you disagree with my choices and feel I left someone out, it COULD BE because a drummer you'd put on the list is someone I haven't really heard a lot.

I'm thirty-seven and started playing the drums back when I was five. No, I wasn't just mindlessly banging sticks over my head or what-not. I honestly can say I played the drums back when I was five. True Story: My Dad was a one-hit wonder back in the 60s with a band called THE SAND PEPPLES (not to be confused with the R & B trio with the same name). Don't ask me what the song was, I have no idea. It didn't go very high on the top 100 and got them just enough fame to get regular gigs in Manhattan and New Jersey night clubs in the late 60s/very-early 70s. In any case, my father had a drum set set up in our attic along with his trumpet, trombone and other music stuff. My sister and I were constantly told "DO NOT TOUCH MY INSTRUMENTS." The attic was OFF LIMITS and WOE to those of use who disobayed.

The following is a story my father used to delight in telling. I, myself, have VERY LITTLE MEMORY of it. Anyway, at five years old, I was constantly dying to get my hands on that drum set and bang around. One particular spring day, my father was out washing the car in the drive way. For one reason or another, I thought it was the perfect oppertunity to get into the attic and play the drums. You see, at five years old I just did not grasp the concept that SOUND TRAVELS. Dad was outside, and I (and the drum set) was inside, THUS he wouldn't know. Right? Wrong.

So I crept up the stairs, pushed open the door. Sat at the drum set, picked up the sticks and started gleefully banging away.

It didn't take very long for my father to realize someone was inside and touching his precious musical instruments. He threw down the hose and stormed inside. My older sister Anne-Marie, who was most likely heading for the front door to rat me out and score some points with the old man, was standing in the kitchen. That meant my father knew it was me upstairs in direct violation of NESTOR HOUSE RULE #1 ("Thou shalt not touch thine musical instruments upon pain of death and spankings galore").

My father rushed up the stairs, most likely flexing his hands in preperation of a master spanking when halfway up he realized something.

I was keeping a perfect 4/4 time.

He stopped at the top of the stairs (I had no idea he was there because, in accordance of my blantant misunderstanding of the rules of sound, I couldn't hear his stair pounding above the banging of the drums). He stood there and listened. I kept keeping perfect time. I tossed in drum rolls and cymbal crashes and other fills... yet my timing didn't falter.

My father suddenly realized. I had learned to play just by watching him. He had a 5-year old drum-prodigy on his hands.

He slowly opened the door. Who knows how long it took me to relaize he was there. I stopped and froze. I was nailed and my five year old mind was most likely racing to come up with a possible way to blame the entire thing on my sister.

"From now on..." my father said to me. "You are allowed to come up here and play as often as you like." He then closed the door and went back downstairs.

That Christmas, I got my very own Drum Set. I've been playing ever since pretty much.

ANYWAY, I thought my background was important so you can see I have a vested part in this list.

SO... without futher adeu...

1. STEWART COPELAND: Yeah.. like ANYONE is surprised by this. There's a few reasons why I LOVE THE POLICE so much... and Stewart is a huge one. He's crisp, clean and on the money every time. His focusing on cymbal/hi-hat/bass drum style is without a doubt the smoothest I've ever heard (with the number two drummer on my list being the only one to come close). His reggae, jazz, funk, rock and african styles all combine into an unmistakenable sound. He also has a"snap" style (rimshotting focus) that I love. People who I've never met and hear me play have said to me "Your style reminds me of Stewart Copeland." They're right. He's the largest influence on my style as a drummer. There's a reason Stewart is known as "the Rythymist". He's the BEST. EVER.

2. BILL BRUFORD: Bill was the original drummer for YES. Bill combines Jazz technique with rudimentary rock. His ability to take simple parts and rudiments and put them all together into complex pieces is amazing. Bill once said that he "never acquired a drum technique for the sake of acquiring it, but as a solution to a particular problem." and that if he ever heard something that he couldn't do, he would learn how to do it. Anyone questioning how high on this list he should be needs to sit and listen to the Yes album FRAGILE. Amazing stuff.

3. BUDDY RICH: Buddy is has often been called "The World's Greatest Drummer". His talent for rhythm was first noticed by his father (hey! Like me!), who realized thatBuddy was able to keep a steady beat with spoons as a toddler. He began playing drums in vaudeville when he was around two years old as "Traps the Drum Wonder". By the time Buddy was eleven years old he was performing as a bandleader. Buddy supposedly never had a single drum lesson, andhe claimed that any actual drum instruction "would only degrade his musical talent." He also never admitted to practicing, claiming to play the drums only during his live performances. In any case, Buddy was unreal. His speed and ability to do numberous complex rudiments AT THE SAME TIME was unheard of. You name the style... he mastered it.

4. TONY THOMPSON: First off, let's all bow our heads for a drummer that we lost WAY too early, since Tony passed away in 2003 of Kidney Cancer. Tony was in a number of bands (including R&B/dance/disco band CHIC) and did a BUSLOAD of session work on albums by the likes of Madonna (on her 1984 album "Like A Virgin"), Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger, and David Bowie (on the "Let's Dance" album and Tony toured with David through-out the "Serious Moonlight Tour" for Let's Dance). Tony was BEST known, however, as the drummer for POWER STATION who had some big hits in 1985 with "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" and "Some Like It Hot". Tony played in a style that combined Fuse, Funk and Rock. His heavy off-tempo tom-tom/snare/bass drum fills were fantastic.

5. NEIL PERT: Neil's work for RUSH is the stuff of legend. He's often been number one on many lists of the greatest drummers and that's fair since the guy is flat out incredible. His style is that of Hard Rock, meshed with Big Band and Jazz. His long and exteme live drum solos at RUSH shows in the mid 80s were stuff that set many a a young fan insane. Over the years, Neil has received a TON of awards for his performances and is highly regarded for his technical proficiency and stamina. Little fun bit of trivia: Neil actually writes most of the lyrics for RUSH's songs. Betcha didn't know that!

6. GINGER BAKER: Ok, here's the part where many of you say "Who?" but Ginger was a pioneer who was probablly the first drummer to use a double bass drum set up instead of a single kick. Ginger played with many groups but is best known as the drummer for CREAM and BLIND FAITH and is one of the greatest fusion drummers ever. He's known for using a variety of other percussion instruments and for his application of African rhythms to much of his drumming. Ginger also HATES being called a 'rock drummer." He prefers to be known as a Jazz drummer.

7. CARL PALMER: Carl, the drummer for EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER and ASIA is one of the most respected and influential Rock drummers of all time. Carl is a master of drumming proficiency and unique showmanship. His live drum solos over the years have included his famous use of both gongs and tambourines, as well as his unique ability to extract himself from his t-shirt while playing complex double bass drum patterns.

8. & 9. JOHN BONHAM/KEITH MOON: These two made this list mainly because I cannot ignore the influence they both had upon the modern drummer. I'd be shocked if anyone didn't know who they are since John (LED ZEPPLIN) and KEITH (THE WHO) prett y much seem to bridge over generations. The reason I'm listing them together is that they share the unique contention of being two of the most revered and martyer'd drummers in history. These two were kicking down the barriers of restraint for years and turned the drums into lead intruments when they played. Very few drummers are as widely praised and beloved as these two are. Both passed in their prime and are considered the cream of the crop. Die-hard fans of each of them are prepared to fight to the death that their favorite is the best drummer ever. They'd be WRONG, but they are close to the top. :)

10. STEVE GADD: Steve is a lifetime session/studio drummer who has worked on a TON of albums with the likes of Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Al Jarreau, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Jim Croce, The Manhattan Transfer, and many, many, MANY others. Steve is arguably the most recorded drummer in history, as he has been featured on over 600 plus albums. He is widely regarded for his incredible ability to play "in the pocket,"and to groove especially well with the music, and other instruments/musicians he is playing with. In the end, what pushed him onto this list above the Honorable Mentions was that he wrote and performed the incredible drum licks for the Paul Simon song "Fifty-Ways to Leave your Lover" which is one of the coolest drum rythyms EVER.

HONORABLE MENTION: Alan White (YES), Larry Mullen Jr. (U2), Matt Pelissier (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE), Carmine Appice (VANILLA FUDGE), Steve Smith (JOURNEY), Max Weinberg (BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND), Carter Beauford (DAVE MATTHEWS BAND), Mike Cosgrove (ALIEN ANT FARM), Bun E. Carlos (CHEAP TRICK).

So there you go. Ok, go ahead. Argue with me :)