# Bands with 3 or more members in the top 1% players of their respective instrument **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068 "2011-09-12T16:40:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/81 "2011-09-14T21:11:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > You know the best danged stories, **WordMan**. 😃 One of his best was setting up the drums for a session with the UK glam band The Sweet. Apparently the drummer, Mick Tucker, was damn near deaf, but my buddy had no idea. So he (my friend) set up the mics, and then got behind the kit to run things through - putting on Mick Tucker’s personal headphones. He did a drum fill…and knocked himself out of the chair; couldn’t hear for a few minutes due to the volume drilled into his brain through the 'phones. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/82 "2011-09-14T23:36:10Z")
Saw the propers for Miles – didn’t see the Headhunters, though. Herbie, Mike Clark, Paul Jackson, Maupin on sax. How about Bill Evans with Scotty LoFaro on bass or even Marc Johnson or Paul Motian on trap drums? That should count for something. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/83 "2011-09-15T00:03:42Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > …by the way, since there seem to be so many … er, \*Fleckheads \* here, anyone know who the violinist is that’s been playing with them this year? Or maybe it was just at one show in CT–it was supposed to be Bruce Hornsby, Bela Fleck and Gregg Allman, but Allman had to cancel. Massive show nonetheless; mostly the Noisemakers and Flecktones jamming together (Jaimoe opened, BTW). Anyway, there was a violinist whose name I didn’t catch and didn’t recognize. Anyone? Jean-Luc Ponty was touring with them for a while, before he threw in the the aforementioned **Return to Forever** , but I don’t know if this is who you saw. I knew better than try to wade in here to mention Carl Palmer, but Keith Emerson clearly was in the top 1%. I’ll mention the 80’s or 90’s era **King Crimson** , which included 1% qualifiers (IMHO of course) Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, and Bill Bruford. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/84 "2011-09-15T00:12:24Z")
> [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](#): > > but Keith Emerson clearly was in the top 1%. Yeah, he was a great knife-thrower. Why do people hate on Carl Palmer? I don’t know he was a virtuoso drummer, but he kept a lot of stuff cool in ELP, so props to him AFAIC. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/85 "2011-09-15T00:39:31Z")
> [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](#): > > I’ll mention the 80’s or 90’s era **King Crimson** , which included 1% qualifiers (IMHO of course) Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, and Bill Bruford. but not Adrian Belew? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/86 "2011-09-15T00:43:41Z")
> [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](#): > > Jean-Luc Ponty was touring with them for a while, before he threw in the the aforementioned **Return to Forever** , but I don’t know if this is who you saw. Pretty sure it wasn’t JLP, though I could be wrong. Mrs. Devil thought she heard something similar to Grisman, though it clearly wasn’t David. Relative? Closely sounding name? ETA: I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Joshua Bell either. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/87 "2011-09-15T01:03:06Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > but not Adrian Belew? I struggled with this. I think Fripp is the better player, although their styles are utterly different. Hard to think of Belew as the weakest link in ANY band, because he’s awesome in his own right. Maybe he’s top 2%? ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/88 "2011-09-16T02:11:48Z")
King Crimson: Robert Fripp (guitar) Adrien Belew (guitar) Tony Levin (bass) Bill Bruford (drums) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/89 "2011-09-16T02:47:16Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Deep Purple: Jon Lord (keyboard), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar) and Ian Paice (drums) > > Got to be! And Ian Gillan, who was a prodigious vocal talent, in the MkII lineup. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/90 "2011-09-16T06:42:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Paul, definitely. Perhaps George. But John Lennon’s talents were as a composer, not a guitarist, and Ringo – though underrated – is very good, but not great. A different take on the same band: - Top 1%: John (vocalist), Paul (bass) - Not top 1% but great instrumentalist: Ringo on drums; and John, _rhythm_ guitar. Watch the Beatles’ live performance on Danish TV (it’s on one of the Anthology DVD’s). It was early Beatlemania, and they were still a hell of a good live band. Now, watch it again, only this time notice that because of a miking or recording glitch, George’s guitar is mostly inaudible. If you hadn’t noticed this the first time through, it might be because John’s rhythm guitar was so strong. All of this is opinion and taste, of course. No right or wrong about it. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/91 "2011-09-16T06:48:16Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Brubeck, Joe Morello on drums, and some guy who played the sax… Excellent pick. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/92 "2011-09-16T06:51:39Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Yeah, (Keith Emerson) he was a great knife-thrower. You’re joking, right? . ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/93 "2011-09-16T07:40:41Z")
Sort of – he did use to famously or infamously stick knives into his Hammond L-series to get the keys to stick, like the jazz cats used to take some taped-together 9V batteries to hold down a key. At least I think he used an L-series – he might have used backline or a regular console model, but they were never my favorite group. Still, lots of respect for his technique on the keys – I learned some stuff from him I wouldn’t have got anyplace else. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/94 "2011-09-16T07:44:12Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Excellent pick. +1 – Everyone from Paul Desmond (one of my favorites) to Joe Morello was certainly best of the best. Desmond did so much great stuff esp with Jim Hall on guitar that it’s not even funny. Too bad he died young – but he had a killer app with Bru and the boys. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/95 "2011-09-16T17:00:50Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Sort of – he did use to famously or infamously stick knives into his Hammond L-series to get the keys to stick, like the jazz cats used to take some taped-together 9V batteries to hold down a key. At least I think he used an L-series – he might have used backline or a regular console model, but they were never my favorite group. Still, lots of respect for his technique on the keys – I learned some stuff from him I wouldn’t have got anyplace else. Got it. I’ve encountered a lot of people who think of Keith Emerson as “the one-fingered Moog soloist in _Lucky Man_ who also threw knives at keyboards.” Glad to see you’re not one of them. . ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/96 "2011-09-16T17:10:41Z")
> [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](#): > > I struggled with this. I think Fripp is the better player, although their styles are utterly different. Many years ago I saw them play at the Santa Cruz Civic (3 of a Perfect Pair tour?). They were on fire that night and the crowd was REALLY up for the show. When they came back for the encore Fripp and Belew were so caught up in the excitement that they completely blew the intro to Sheltering Sky and had to start over. It was one of the few times I saw Fripp actually smile onstage. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/97 "2011-09-16T17:48:41Z")
Back to the Beatles… John Lennon was considered a fine Rhythm Guitarist. So, Paul for sure, Ringo with an asterisk and John. Sorry George, despite some tasteful solos you’re just not in the 1%. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/98 "2011-09-16T17:50:28Z")
> [@ptr2void](#): > > Portnoy is gone, but you can easily substitute their keyboardist, Jordan Rudess in there. Glad to see the mention of Dream Theater in here and I agree with this. Portnoy is gone, but Rudess is still amazing. And even with Portnoy gone, the new drummer sounds good from what I’ve heard of the new album (my pre-order hasn’t arrived yet :(). For some other metal acts: Symphony X: Russell Allen, Michael Romeo, and Michael Pinnella Nevermore: Warrell Dane, Jeff Loomis, Jim Sheppard (though Jeff is gone now :() Bloodbath: Is using a super group cheating? Many of the other groups I can think of don’t quite pull of 3 top 1% musicians though. > [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > I would just swap out Kirk for James. Hetfield is a great rhythm guitarist. I’ve read a lot of disdain (on this board, I think) for Lars as a drummer, but I don’t know enough about drumming to say yes or no. Cliff is (was) a gimme for the top 1%. Lars, at his best, was slightly above average, but IMO most of his stuff generally pretty mediocre. He was definitely the least talented member of Metallica at any given time, he’s definitely NOT a top 1% drummer. Compare him to a clear top metal drummer like the aformentioned Mike Portnoy or Tomas Haake and, well, he doesn’t compare. That said, I could still see an argument for Metallica going on this list because of James’s vocals (though his voice is trashed these days). ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/99 "2011-09-16T17:54:20Z")
Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Paul Butterfield - Harp Mike Bloomfield - Guitar Sam Lay - Drums (you could argue Elvin Bishop too) Old And In The Way: Dave Grisman - Mandolin Vassar Clements - Fiddle Jerry - Guitar I would go out on a limb and say various Santana lineups fit the bill also. What about bands put together by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, or Sun Ra? ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068/100 "2011-09-16T18:33:18Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I am aware that Jaco Pastorius is fondly remembered by many, but I still don’t think his playing merits including him as one of the all time greats. I fully believe his early death is in large part due to his exalted reputation, much like how others who died young, especially due to lifestyle choices or wierdo accidents often become deified in the minds of some of their fans. (“The Graham Parsons Effect” AKA “Jim Morrison Syndrome”) > > Also, I have NEVER heard one serious bass affectionado try and claim that Paul McCartney’s instrumental skills on bass guitar was anything besides usually serviceable. You can make the point for his huge influence on popular music, but it was thru his songwriting and vocal skills not for his mediocre bass playing… When JP’s eponymous album came out in 1976 no bassist (certainly no electric bassist) that I can recall had the full package of chops, tone and sense of harmony that he possessed. After 1976 it seemed like everyone was copping his licks, harmonics and style. I’d say his influence was immense - don’t believe me, just ask Pat Metheny what he thinks about it. Oh yeah, as a working bass player for 30+ years and considered ‘servicable’ by my peers, I’d sure like to be as ‘servicable’ as McCartney. Did you really mean to say his playing is mediocre? Dang, man, you’re a tough critic. Have you ever tried to play those basslines and sing lead at the same time. Looks easy. Isn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-3-or-more-members-in-the-top-1-players-of-their-respective-instrument/596068.md?page=6)