elliot55
2817
So Long As There Are Drummers In The World, This Conversation Will...
Sep 09, 2014,18:11 PM
.... go on forever. Aynsley Dunbar - Journey, Frank Zappa, Whitesnake - You are correct that he is a true monster. Underrated for sure. And for the record, Keith Moon never did it for me... and many other drummers don't think so highly of him either.
Stuart Copeland from The Police is a decent drummer, but he rushes like a madman. So much so, Sting couldn't wait to breakup The Police because he simply could not stand Copeland's manic style. And when I saw The Police for their reunion tour couple years back, you could see the disdain on Sting's face when Stuart would just take off like he was on too much coke and not enough food. As a Yamaha endorsee, I've had to do my time at the NAMM show demonstrating the triggered drum sets. Last year Copeland showed up and just stared at us - the three guys doing the demonstrations in the "Yamaha Pavillion" (Yamaha pretty much takes over the entire ballroom area of the Marriott next to the Anaheim Convention Center). One of the younger guys asked our rep, "Who is that jerk staring us down?" And our rep just nodded his head and without saying his name said, "Yup, he's a dick!" I had to tell the kid who the drummer was and this enormously talented 20 year old looks at me and laughs, "Oh, he's the guy who rushes all the time..." A good chuckle was had by all.
So here's a few more guys that are total hall of fame:
You mentioned Gene Krupa, so you've also gotta throw Buddy Rich (greatest of all time) Louis Belson (second greatest of all time) and Max Roach (third greatest of all time).
Hal Blaine - most prolific session drummer of all time. Was part of the legendary "Wrecking Crew" formed by Blaine and "wall of sound" creator Phil Spector.
Tony Williams - Hand picked by Miles Davis when he (Tony) was only 18 years old.
Russ Kurkle - Jackson Brown. Russ pioneered a kick drum pedal style adopted by almost every pop drummer playing today.
Robert Ruggierro - Van Morrison - and my personal digital recording guru. Bob lives in Vegas and has the most amazing recording studio I've seen in that shtty town. Not to mention, he has one of Buddy Rich's original Slingerland trap kits in his kitchen. No, we are not allowed to play it. Matter of fact, he doesn't even want us looking at it. "You've seen enough!" Bob can be heard saying.
Anton Fig - Late Night With David Letterman - CBS Orchestra member for over 20 years. His buddy, Will Lee, is one of the great living bass players of all time. Period.
Oy vey, you are right, we could go on all day... and night... and day...
- scott