[ Drums ]
Back Beat
Often overlooked, drummers usually sit in the back, and rarely sing. Of course what you see in so many drummers is a drive and direction to move a band into the immediate and far ahead future.
“Funky Drummer”
James Brown
((( Montreux 1976 )))
—yT
Lenny White
Will Calhoun
Keith LeBlanc
Ray Levier
Cindy Blackman
Sheila E.
Sly Dunbar
Dennis Chambers
Steve Jordan
Omar Hakim
Poogie Bell
Gene Krupa
Buddy Rich
Elvin Jones
Tony Williams
Billy Cobham
Alphonse Muzon
Ronald Shannon Jackson
Jack DeJohnette
Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience)
Ginger Baker (Cream)
Ringo Starr (The Beatles)
Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones)
Keith Moon (The Who)
John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
Ian Paice (Deep Purple)
Cozy Powell (Rainbow)
Bill Ward (Black Sabbath)
Carmine Appice (Beck Bogert and Appice)
Peter Erskine (Weather Report)
Bobby Thomas Jr. (Weather Report)
Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa)
Bill Bruford (King Crimson)
Chad Wackerman (Frank Zappa)
Stewart Copeland (The Police)
Tony Allen (Fela Kuti)
Felix Sabal-Lecco (Manu Dibango)
Danny Carey (Tool)
Jon Theodore (Mars Volta)
VOCAL DRUMMERS
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Don Henley (Eagles)
Levon Helm (The Band)
Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters)
Don Brewer (Grand Funk Railroad)
Neil Pert (Rush)
Steve Gadd (Stuff)
Jeff Porcaro (Toto)
Steve Smith (Journey)
Jim Keltner (“Imagine”)
JR Robinson
John “JR” Robinson calls himself the “Most Recorded Drummer in History,” which should give you some sense of the voluminous discography of one of pop’s go-to slammers: the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited,” Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love,” Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody,” a chunk of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and no song less titanic than “We Are the World.” Most importantly, Robinson laid the disco-rock-funk-pop concrete of Michael Jackson’s tectonic-shifting Off the Wall. Robinson’s perception of drummers as timekeepers only helps his innate ability to supercharge songs with subtle gestures. “He’s the only drummer I could ever in my life ask to do a bar introduction on Michael Jackson’s ‘Rock With You,’ Quincy Jones said at the Montreux Jazz Festival’s celebration of his 75th birthday. “I said, ‘I want a drum lick that the whole world can sing’ … and they sang it.”
Clyde Subblefield (James Brown)
John “Jabo” Sparks (James Brown)
Dave Garibaldi (Tower of Power)
Fred Below (Chess Records)
Roger Hawkins (Muscle Shoales)
Hal Blaine (Wrecking Crew)
Al Jackson (Stax)
Benny Benjamin (Mowtown)
Bernard Purdie (Nina Simone)
D.J. Fontana (Elvis)
Earl Palmer (Little Richard)
Clifton James (Bo Diddley)
Jerry Allison (Buddy Holly)
Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste (The Meters)
Carlton Barrett (Bob Marley)
James Gadson (Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band)
Although he originally hailed from Kansas City, it’s hard to imagine a more important drummer in the history of Los Angeles music than James Gadson. He first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as a core member of the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band (of “Express Yourself” fame) and then Bill Withers’ band, all the while staying busying as one of the most prolific session players in town. His steady hand held down everything from the Jackson 5’s’ “Dancing Machine” to the Temptations’ “Happy People” to Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You.” “I mean, he played on ‘Let’s Get It On.’ … Gadson is that sound,” Jamie Lidell told Pitchfork. “Whenever I’m playing with him, some crazy lock goes on I’ve never experienced with another musician, ever. He’ll just look over and he’s smiling and nailing that fuckin’ beat. And when he finished the track, he’s like, ‘I got it from you!’ Fuckin’ no ego on him.”
Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead)
Butch Trucks and Jaimoe (Allman Brothers)
Richie Hayward (Little Feat)
Earl Young (Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes)
James “Diamond” Williams (Ohio Players)
Jerome “Bigfoot” Brailey (Parliament-Funkadelic)
Greg Errico (Sly and The Family Stone)
Tony Thompson (Chic)
Earl Hudson (Bad Brains)
Jim Gordon (Layla)
Steve Gadd
“Second Stuff”
((( Montreux 1976 )))