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Favorite Drummers

Sal1950 said:
Who'd he play with?
Click to expand...

I donno', maybe a few people that we may or may not have heard of:​

Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band​

Current members (from Wikipedia)​

As of 2025 the band lineup includes the following members:[3][4]

  • Ringo Starr – vocals, drums, percussion, piano, keyboards (1989–present)[5]
  • Colin Hay – guitar, harmonica, vocals (2003, 2008, 2018–present)[6]
  • Hamish Stuart – bass, guitar, vocals (2006–2008, 2019–present)
  • Gregg Bissonette – drums, percussion, trumpet, backing vocals (2008–present)
  • Steve Lukather – guitars, bass, vocals (2012–present)
  • Warren Ham – saxophone, percussion, keyboards, harmonica, vocals (2014–present)
  • Buck Johnson – keyboards, backing vocals (2024–present)

Former members​

  • Joe Walsh – guitar, piano, keyboards, talkbox, vocals (1989–1992; occasional guest 1995–2024)[7][8][9]
  • Nils Lofgren – guitar, accordion, vocals (1989–1992; occasional guest 1995–2019)[10][11][12]
  • Dr. John – piano, bass, vocals (1989; guest 2008)
  • Billy Preston – keyboards, vocals (1989, 1995)
  • Rick Danko – bass, guitar, vocals (1989)
  • Levon Helm – drums, harmonica, vocals (1989; guest 2008[13])
  • Clarence Clemons – saxophone, tambourine, percussion, vocals[5] (1989, 2011)
  • Jim Keltner – drums (1989; occasional guest 2006–2023)
  • Todd Rundgren – guitar, harmonica, keyboards, drums, percussion, tambourine, bass, vocals (1992, 1999, 2012–2017)
  • Dave Edmunds – guitar, vocals (1992, 2000)
  • Burton Cummings – keyboards, guitar, tambourine, harmonica, flute, vocals (1992)
  • Timothy B. Schmit – bass, guitar, vocals (1992; guest 1997)
  • Zak Starkey – drums (1992–1995; occasional guest 1989–2010)
  • Timmy Cappello – saxophone, percussion, keyboards, harmonica, vocals (1992, 1999)
  • Randy Bachman – guitar, vocals (1995)
  • Mark Farner – guitar, harmonica, vocals (1995; guest 1997)
  • Felix Cavaliere – organ, keyboards, percussion, vocals (1995; guest 2012)
  • John Entwistle – bass, vocals (1995)
  • Mark Rivera – saxophone, percussion, organ, keyboards, guitar, bass, harmonica, vocals (1995–1998, 2000–2003, 2011–2013; occasional guest 2010–2019), musical director (1995–present) [14]
  • Peter Frampton – guitar, talk box, vocals (1997–1998; guest 2012)
  • Gary Brooker – keyboards, organ, vocals (1997–1999; guest 2010)
  • Jack Bruce – bass, keyboards, guitar, vocals (1997–2000; guest 2010)
  • Simon Kirke – drums, vocals (1997–2000; guest 2003[15])
  • Scott Gordon – harmonica (on "Love Me Do" only) (1998)
  • Eric Carmen – keyboards, guitar, bass, vocals (2000; occasional guest 1989–2019)
  • Roger Hodgson – guitar, keyboards, vocals (2001)
  • Ian Hunter – guitar, keyboards, vocals (2001)
  • Howard Jones – keyboards, vocals (2001; guest 2023)
  • Greg Lake – bass, acoustic guitar, vocals (2001)
  • Sheila E. – drums, vocals (2001–2006; guest 2008)[16]
  • Paul Carrack – keyboards, guitar, vocals (2003)
  • John Waite – bass, guitar, vocals (2003)
  • Billy Squier – guitar, bass, vocals (2006, 2008; occasional guest 2010–2014)
  • Richard Marx – guitar, keyboards, vocals (2006; occasional guest 2010–2012)
  • Rod Argent – organ, keyboards, vocals (2006)
  • Gary Wright – keyboards, vocals (2008–2011; guest 2012)
  • Wally Palmar – guitar, harmonica, vocals (2010; guest 2019)
  • Rick Derringer – guitar, vocals (2010)[17]
  • Richard Page – bass, acoustic guitar, vocals (2010–2017; guest 2019)
  • Gregg Rolie – organ, keyboards, vocals (2012–2021; guest 2024)
  • Graham Gouldman – bass, guitar, vocals (2018)
  • Edgar Winter – keyboards, saxophone, vocals (2006–2011, 2022–2024)

Guests​

 
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Palmer said:
Sad, on so many levels. But, the outfits are, well - fitting.

Had to say it.
Click to expand...
Sad? This makes you sad? You don't feel any joy seeing these two Quebecois making this wonderful, skilful music?
Please explain if you can!
 
DVinylfan said:
Sad? This makes you sad? You don't feel any joy seeing these two Quebecois making this wonderful, skilful music?
Please explain if you can!
Click to expand...
Well, this would become way off topic very quickly.
Suffice it to say - that having spent more than a quarter of my life in the industry, and being fortunate to run into, and work with some of the greats - at least in my mind, Bill Bruford, Mark Mothersbaugh, John Densmore - to name a few, this stuff doesn't have all that much skill, and it grabs a lot from artists all the way from way back when - when it actually was innovative. I knew my comment would be somewhat off-putting, but I just had to. Can't help mahself.

Cheers
 
DVinylfan said:
Sad? This makes you sad? You don't feel any joy seeing these two Quebecois making this wonderful, skilful music?
Please explain if you can!
Click to expand...
No Joy at all seeing them! In fact, just the opposite.
They would have to pay me and allow me to wear double ear protection and a sleep mask over my eyes to attend one of their concerts.
To me: not wonderful at all.
But I will say that you are correct: it takes great skill to so horridly make music???
I guess: different strokes for different folks.
I did checkout a couple other video's of them and my sensibilities had the same reaction as the first time.
Like a visceral reaction to a nightmare. (maybe that is there intent: if so, they are good at it).
I'll pass on them.
 
It's a refreshing change from ladies in sequinned swimsuits and the music better. Slightly.
 
Palmer said:
Well, this would become way off topic very quickly.
Suffice it to say - that having spent more than a quarter of my life in the industry, and being fortunate to run into, and work with some of the greats - at least in my mind, Bill Bruford, Mark Mothersbaugh, John Densmore - to name a few, this stuff doesn't have all that much skill, and it grabs a lot from artists all the way from way back when - when it actually was innovative. I knew my comment would be somewhat off-putting, but I just had to. Can't help mahself.

Cheers
Click to expand...
With all respect to your industry experience, playing that is this tight requires a great deal of skill.
A quick search of Angine de Poitrine reveals that they are open about the debt owed to Zappa and others that have influenced their playing.
Music now is always an evolution of music that has gone before. This isn't a weakness; it's a strength.
 
I'm ok with many styles. Even derivative done well. I just can't do generic and formulaic pop, especially if it requires almost naked wriggly girls and dance troupes just to sell it.

The "Chest Pains" (to save me checking spelling) are ok for me.
 
DVinylfan said:
Music now is always an evolution of music that has gone before.
Click to expand...
Sadly drumming on todays pop is mostly computer & AI created. :(
 
Fluffy said:
Here's a topic I rarely see discussed – favorite drummers. Drums are my favorite instrument (I used to play… poorly…), and every artist/band I listen to needs to first pass the drumming test if there is any chance I would continue listening to them. The test is very simple – do I want to air drum to this?? If yes, there is a chance I'll like it :cool:.

Obviously, that means there are plenty of drummers who are my idols. I'm sure there are other drumming fans here, and I would love us to share our favorites. I'm mostly a fan of prog, metal, and occasionally jazz, so most of my favorite drummers come from those genres. Here is my list, in no particular order:

Mike Portnoy (formerly of Dream theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, and many many more) – my absolute idol. He is one of the reasons I picked up playing in the first place. I consider him the best prog-rock drummer ever. Power, technique, originality, speed, he got it all. He does not, however, have any swing.

Ian Paice (Deep Purple) – The ultimate hard rock drummer. His jazz-inspired playing always amazes me.

Tomas Haake (Meshuggah) – The father of Djent and generally the closest a drummer has ever gotten to being a machine. His playing breaks my brain in the best of ways.

Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) – This guy is the essence of heavy metal. Nuff said.

Buddy Rich – Only the best jazz drummer who ever lived. Nobody else even comes close to this day.

Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) – This guy has a talent for laying down deceptively simple grooves that take all the music around them to a higher level.

Chris Adler (Lamb of God) – He specializes in tight groovy double-bass playing, and no one does this better than him.

Brann Dailor (Mastodon) – He plays at 100% all the time, with incredibly fast hands and very raw grooves and fills. And he also sings pretty well!

Danny Carey (Tool) – You can't talk about prog drummers without mentioning him. Creativity and technique to the highest degree.

Johan Langell (formerly of Pain salvation) – lesser known, but this guy had some chops. He came out with some pretty intricate beats for this very demanding band.
https://youtu.be/YURj2x0do_M

Thomen Stauch (formerly of Blind Guardian) – Another lesser known, but very appreciated drummer in power metal. He was fast and always played like there was no tomorrow.
https://youtu.be/TSZ7f0Yy-4M

Jojo Mayer – Back to jazz. This guy is insane, and his unique technique of playing drum'n'bass rhythms on an acoustic set is astonishing. So much groove.
https://youtu.be/JwMCkQvSAxQ

Martin Lopez (formerly of Opeth, Soen) – Another very respected prog metal drummer. When he left Opeth I pretty much stopped listening to them because it just wasn't the same.
https://youtu.be/QlT1sRHf34M

Dave Weckl – Another jazz legend. I am less familiar with him than I am with other drummers on this list, but his sheer prowess blows my mind anytime I hear him.
https://youtu.be/yinHZd51Wuo

John Macaluso (Ark and many more) – Pretty niche I guess. As I understand it he is mostly a session musician, but I loved his work in Ark so much that I had to put him here. He got a very unique style with an intense prog-fusion feel.
https://youtu.be/sEJeaVthjkw
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Totally agree about Buddy Rich. Best ever, and possibly the best there will ever be. No one else is even close. Yes, there are and have been good drummers, but for pure astounding musician ship he not only hasn't been beaten, but no one else has even come close. All my humbler opinion of course!
 
Sal1950 said:
Sadly drumming on todays pop is mostly computer & AI created. :(
Click to expand...
It's actually much worse - it's real drummers who are then quantised by Pro tools so all their wonderful unique, imperfect human beats lineup against the click track. Not even music - it's just pasteurised rubbish.
 
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True, but we had plenty of fine stuff (to me) like Kraftwerk, Sisters of Mercy, Yello, Cocteau's, Dead Can Dance, Joy Division and tons more, without a 'real drummer'
 
EJ3 said:
Apparently you've been missing some of the other ladies:
Click to expand...

Redacted said:
I'm ok with many styles. Even derivative done well. I just can't do generic and formulaic pop, especially if it requires almost naked wriggly girls and dance troupes just to sell it.

The "Chest Pains" (to save me checking spelling) are ok for me.
Click to expand...
Perhaps this:
 
Top three drummers of the rock/pop genre:

Hal Blaine - probably sold more records than any other musician.

Clyde Stubblefield - probably appears on more recordings than any other musician, mostly because his samples are ubiquitous

Pistol Allen - house drummer for Motown who played on most of their top ten hits. When Motown left for LA in the early 70s he hung around Detroit and played jazz.
 
On ASR, declaring someone the greatest drummer without evidence feels reckless. Please submit the usual package: controlled measurements, double-blind listening tests, statistically significant groove analysis, transient-response plots, and at least one peer-reviewed paper on snare articulation. Until then, I must regard all claims of greatness as anecdotal.
 
Bernard Purdie - The Purdie shuffle is my favorite, it influences my piano playing heavily

Steve Gadd

Stewart Copeland

Shelly Manne

That's it for now as far as studio session work goes. There's many more of course, because if the drummer doesn't do the job right, the whole band just collapses.
 
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Cpopovic said:
On ASR, declaring someone the greatest drummer without evidence feels reckless. Please submit the usual package: controlled measurements, double-blind listening tests, statistically significant groove analysis, transient-response plots, and at least one peer-reviewed paper on snare articulation. Until then, I must regard all claims of greatness as anecdotal.
Click to expand...
The OP asked for "favorite" drummers, not best.
I notice that you're in Switzerland (I was born in Austria and my mother is Austrian).
But we do know the distinction between "favorite" VS. "best".
Perhaps check your translator (it may be acting up or defective), as they are not at all the same.
 
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