Rolling Stone readers pick Best Drummers of All Time

[Smokey]

This a poll from where RS magazine asked their readers to name greatest drummers of all time. As with all subjective pollings, there are misses and hits. And the biggest miss (IMO) is probably Ringo Starr as one of the best drummer. Charlie Watts of Rolling Stone would have been a better pick from a mega band.


Ranked accordingly:

10. Michael Shrieve (Santana): The musical highlight of the original Woodstock concert in 1969 may well be Santana's 10-minute performance of "Soul Sacrifice." Drummer Michael Shrieve holds the whole thing together, and Santana was never quite the same after he left in 1974


9. Ginger Baker (Cream): Before John Bonham and Neil Peart there was Ginger Baker, Cream's legendary drummer who practically invented the rock drum solo.


8. ?uestlove (Roots): From jamming with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo to his stint as the bandleader of the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, he's had more chances to play with the greats than nearly anybody else in the business.


7. Stewart Copeland (The Police): Stewart Copeland has been more influenced by jazz drummers than rock drummers, even though he's the drummer in one of the most successful rock groups of all time.


6. Buddy Rich :Widely considered one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, Buddy Rich played with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.


5. Ringo Starr (Beatles): Ringo wasn't a flashy drummer, and he saved his only drum solo in The Beatles for the final song on their final album.


4. Dave Grohl (Nirvana): The Foo Fighters have taken much of his time in the past 15 years, but he's made time to get back behind the kit in Queens Of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures.


3. Neil Peart (Rush): Of course, no Rush concert is complete without a Peart drum solo.


2. Keith Moon (The Who): Keith Moon's wild-man drum style was part of The Who's DNA, and they haven't sounded the same since he died in 1978.


1. John Bonham (Led Zeppelin): From the readers, John Bonham led the list by a significant margin.

[Swish]

...are the best judge of talent? Methinks not, especially readers of Rolling Stone What's the point anyway?

I'm not busting on you Smokey, but this is a popularity contest and nothing more.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Not a bad list. Some of the guys I'm not that familar with. But I've seen the Moonman and Ginger Baker several times and they're definite top 10 material. I've always been a fan of Clive Bunker's solo on the live version of "Dharma for One". Hopefully some of our resident skinmen will chime in on this one.

[MasterCylinder]

Like any other "poll", we have disagreements.

If I were a cynic, I might suggest the following drummers should keep their day jobs :

Terry Bozzio
Bill Bruford
Rod Morganstern
Chris Maitland
Mike Portnoy
Simon Phillips
Billy Cobham
Gavin Harrison
Chester Thompson
Mike Mangini
Greg Bissonette
Chad Wackerman
Michael Giles
Phil Collins
Mitch Mitchell
Tommy Aldridge
Ian Paice
Carmine Appice
..................and, I'm sure, dozens more.

[Smokey]

A readers poll? Is that because readers are the best judge of talent? Methinks not, especially readers of Rolling Stone What's the point anyway?

Don't take it so hard

You have to consider demographic of RS magazine also. Their readers are probably one generation younger than most of us who are from the old school. If this poll was done 15 years ago, the result would have been somewhat different.

Terry Bozzio
Bill Bruford
Rod Morganstern
Chris Maitland
Mike Portnoy
Simon Phillips
Billy Cobham
Gavin Harrison
Chester Thompson
Mike Mangini
Greg Bissonette
Chad Wackerman
Michael Giles
Phil Collins
Mitch Mitchell
Tommy Aldridge
Ian Paice
Carmine Appice

Although I had to look most of them up to see which band they are from, it is a respectable list. I would add Myron Grombacher of Pat Benatar and Steve Smith of Journey to the list also.

[Woochifer]

Lots of curious choices on this list. Indeed, I think Ringo and Bonzo's placements are wildly inflated by the reputation of the bands they were with. Ringo's barely an average drummer at best, and Bonham's way overrated (I find his playing boring and at times sloppy). Grohl's another strange choice, given that he doesn't even play drums anymore with his primary band.

Even though they take completely opposite technical approaches, my personal rock favorites are Moon the Loon, and Peart. Keith Moon took rock drumming to a different manic level by separating the beat from the bass and almost turning it into a lead instrument -- far more intuitive than technical. Peart's just amazing at so many levels.

Aside from drummers in bands, you also have guys who made their reputations as session players like Jeff Porcaro and Steve Gadd.

Since though the poll supposedly includes drummers from all genres, the lack of other jazz drummers is a pathetic showing for this poll -- Buddy Rich seems to be the token jazz drummer of choice for people who don't really follow jazz.

My personal favorite jazz drummers include Dave Weckl, Elvin Jones, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Antonio Sanchez.

Dave Weckl gained fame from his stint with Chick Corea, and he's now widely considered one of the premier drummers in the world, especially among fellow musicians. Modern Drummer named Weckl to their Hall of Fame, and is on their list of top 25 drummers of all time. Peart, Portnoy, and Weckl are the only drummers to win their "best recorded performance" award more than once.

Drummerworld: Dave Weckl

The guy's a machine, and makes it look easy. Absolutely a force to watch live. Check the 1:30 mark on this video -- and he's not even breaking a sweat.



Elvin Jones is best known as John Coltrane's drummer. His style is more economical, but one of the most innately intuitive drummers I've ever seen. It's not just his skill and timing, but also how he adapts and accompanies his bandmates. Saw him several years ago, and again a few months before he passed away. First clip is with John Coltrane, and the second clip is a more recent performance with his group in the early-90s.





Ronald Shannon Jackson sprung out of the free jazz scene playing with Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman. His style is varied, unorthodox, and primal, much like his music. His groups did improvising as an ensemble, and the instrumentation really varied. This clip is a trio with Vernon Reid (of Living Colour fame, but who got his start jamming with Jackson and his free jazz contemporaries) and Melvin Gibbs. During the 90s, Jackson's groups were all electric guitar, sometimes with two basses and three leads -- more like free jazz metal.



Antonio Sanchez is Pat Metheny's current drummer. His natural ability is off the charts, and his accompaniment continues to get better.

[Woochifer]

You have to consider demographic of RS magazine also. Their readers are probably one generation younger than most of us who are from the old school. If this poll was done 15 years ago, the result would have been somewhat different.

RS is the old school. That's why that list is dominated by drummers from baby boomer era rock bands.

Although I had to look most of them up to see which band they are from, it is a respectable list. I would add Myron Grombacher of Pat Benatar and Steve Smith of Journey to the list also.

Steve Smith left Journey after the Frontiers tour, and quickly formed jazz fusion group Vital Information. Not long thereafter, he hooked up with jazz supergroup Steps Ahead. It was an interesting pairing because he was replacing a more straight ahead jazz drummer in Peter Erskine, and brought more of a rock style of drumming to the group.

Here's a clip from Steps Ahead's 1986 tour, featuring the late Michael Brecker (who played with Bruce Springsteen and Steely Dan in the 70s) on EWI (electronic wind instrument), vibraphonist Mike Mainieri (the only real permanent member of the group), guitarist extraordinaire Mike Stern, and bassist Darryl Jones (who also played with Sting at that time, and later replaced Bill Wyman when he left the Stones).

[Smokey]

Thanks Wooch for interesting clips. Indeed there are alot great drummers out there.

I agree that great drummers from other music genre are missing from this list. Jazz seem to be a music branch where a drummer can shine since it is more instrumental genre than vocal, and alot of great drummers have Jazz and rock fusion background.

RS is the old school. That's why that list is dominated by drummers from baby boomer era rock bands.

RS is old school,, but their current readers might not be. I used to read RS like a bible when popular music was its hay days, but somehow along the way they change their emphasis from content to style.

[bobsticks]

I'm a fan of the vastly underrated and oft anonymous Omar Hakim who can be seen playing with Weather Report in the following: ‪

He's also been known to out-Copeland Copeland:



Jordy Jordison would beat up Ringo Starr and eat his lunch.

[Swish]

I'm a fan of the vastly underrated and oft anonymous Omar Hakim who can be seen playing with Weather Report in the following: ‪

He's also been known to out-Copeland Copeland:



Jordy Jordison would beat up Ringo Starr and eat his lunch.

And who can forget Peter Erskine, who was also with Weather Report starting in 1978 (saw them live in 1980).

[unleasHell]

Typical Rolling Stone farce, I am surprised Peter Criss was NOT on there and any magazine whose readers think Ringo Starr is the 5th best drummer EVER, while leaving Phil Colins off, is a magazine I will never read...

[Woochifer]

And who can forget Peter Erskine, who was also with Weather Report starting in 1978 (saw them live in 1980).

Wow, what a great lineup to watch live. I have the 8:30 live album, and the late Jaco Pastorius' bass playing on that recording was just jawdropping.

Erskine's tenure with Weather Report overlapped with his time as a founding member of Steps Ahead. Here's a Steps Ahead clip highlighting Erskine and the late great Michael Brecker. This was taped not long before he left the group, and Steve Smith took his place.



I used to periodically see Erskine play small venue gigs around L.A. when I lived there. He had his own distinct style of playing, and seemed like a really cool guy when I got to meet him backstage.

[Swish]

...named Karl Latham. Met him when I lived in NJ back in the early 80s and he'd just graduated from the Berkley School of Music in Boston. He could drum rings around most of those guys in the R.S. top 10 and has played with plenty of big name musicians, but it still relatively unknown. The first video is with a band doing a Hendrix cover and the second is a sweet jazz tune. Enjoy.

[3LB]

I was just going to mention Erskine. Some of his solo stuff is pretty good too. Motion Poet is a great album from the oft maligned '80s (for jazz anyway).

[3LB]

Typical Rolling Stone farce, I am surprised Peter Criss was NOT on there and any magazine whose readers think Ringo Starr is the 5th best drummer EVER, while leaving Phil Colins off, is a magazine I will never read...

I know! How could they forget Tommy Lee? I mean, dude, he could play his kit upside down!

[Woochifer]

Some more clips to add to the pile ...

A 2003 jazz festival set of the Chick Corea Elektric Band, with all players in top form, especially Dave Weckl. This is insane drumming, but it's just another day at the office for Weckl. The improvising Weckl does with Corea beginning at the 1:30 mark is a clinic.



More from Antonio Sanchez -- jawdropping tour de force guitar-drum duo with Pat Metheny. Two guys sounding like an entire ensemble. Great stuff.



And going along the theme of Pat Metheny drummers, here's his former drummer Paul Wertico in the studio recording tracks for a new fusion group Marbin. This track reminds me a lot of Phil Collins' work with Genesis and Peter Gabriel.



Wertico's not the most spectacular drummer out there, but he plays in consistently interesting music projects, whether his own groups or collaborations. What he lacks in pyrotechnics (and he's not really that lacking), he makes up for in sheer intuition -- how he plays just feels right for the music. I saw him play a few times with the Pat Metheny Group at the height of their Brazilian phase, and another time with Larry Coryell. Totally different styles, but totally appropriate to the music.

[nobody]

I think that Sting clip compared to the Police version of that song is a great example of how you can upgrade the technical chops of the musicians and make the song turn out about 300% crappier.

Also, can't believe no one has suggested this guy...




World's Best Drummer. - YouTube

[Swish]

I think that Sting clip compared to the Police version of that song is a great example of how you can upgrade the technical chops of the musicians and make the song turn out about 300% crappier.

Also, can't believe no one has suggested this guy...




World's Best Drummer. - YouTube

I can't imagine any band putting up with that egomaniac for more than a couple gigs. I'd have to crack up upside the head with my ES-335.

[Swish]

Some more clips to add to the pile ...

A 2003 jazz festival set of the Chick Corea Elektric Band, with all players in top form, especially Dave Weckl. This is insane drumming, but it's just another day at the office for Weckl. The improvising Weckl does with Corea beginning at the 1:30 mark is a clinic.



More from Antonio Sanchez -- jawdropping tour de force guitar-drum duo with Pat Metheny. Two guys sounding like an entire ensemble. Great stuff.



And going along the theme of Pat Metheny drummers, here's his former drummer Paul Wertico in the studio recording tracks for a new fusion group Marbin. This track reminds me a lot of Phil Collins' work with Genesis and Peter Gabriel.



Wertico's not the most spectacular drummer out there, but he plays in consistently interesting music projects, whether his own groups or collaborations. What he lacks in pyrotechnics (and he's not really that lacking), he makes up for in sheer intuition -- how he plays just feels right for the music. I saw him play a few times with the Pat Metheny Group at the height of their Brazilian phase, and another time with Larry Coryell. Totally different styles, but totally appropriate to the music.

...as good as Weckl (or Erskine) you need to have your head examined.

[nobody]

Yeah, that guy was a joke (although I can't say his antics are so much more obviously egomaniacal than many lead guitar players of front men, he's just a mediocre to crappy drummer trying to make up for it with cheesy showmanship)...the bit about the musicians getting better yet the song getting worse I was serious about.