Inspired by my own thread about guitar parts here Your favorite guitar parts in rock music - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board I thought I’d ask what you thought the best drum solo in a piece of music was. I’m not limiting it to rock this time.
I will have to think about it and come back to give my answer, but what is yours? You can list several if you just can’t decide.
It’s a good thing you’re not limiting it to rock, because, to my mind, most rock drum solos are more exhibitions of athleticism than musical solos.
Really good jazz drum solos are a different matter. I can’t think of a recorded example, but I heard a great one the other night. Jazz trio in a place near where I work. I stopped off for a drink on the way home. Drums, guitar, bass. They’re all really, really good. They play pretty straight-ahead jazz, improvising over standards (although they seem to define “standard” pretty widely). The melody is stated, improvised on a bit, and then they’re off to the races, improvising over the changes, using the harmonic structure of the tune as a foundation for their improvisation.
The drummer took a short solo, maybe just twelve or sixteen bars, the other night, and it was perfect. It was an obvious response to the guitarist’s solo. Within the structure of the tune, he complemented and expanded on what the guitarist had done, with perfect time and phrasing. And the thing is, and this is the difference between rock drum soloing and jazz soloing, the solo had everything to do with the tune. It couldn’t have been played during any other tune. A far cry from the typical arena rock solo, where the other musicians might as well (and often do) just leave the stage while the drummer pounds maniacally on everything in sight.
Clyde Stubblefield in James Brown’s “The Funky Drummer.”
Gene Krupa behind the Benny Goodman orchestra at Carnegie Hall, January 16, 1938. Sing, Sing, Sing.
ETA: I once read that since rock drummers are more likely to have a van to carry their kit around, they are likely to be the transportation for the band to whatever gig is going on. The right to do a drum solo is essentially cab fare.
For your listening pleasure. The opening few bars send chills right down my spine every time. Classic.
Also the best chocolate chip cookie commercial ever. 
You want chills? I gots you some chills. Omar Hakim, during Sting’s lovely “I Burn For You” in 1986. Here’s the full song if you want to hear it in context (the solo starts around 3:15), and here’s a direct link at the point where Hakim starts to break out and finally explodes with brilliance. I love (the sadly late) Kenny Kirkland’s grin as he watches Hakim go to town on that kit.
my personal fave: Buddy Rich Drum Solo - YouTube
I’ve always liked Dharma for One
No contest: Joe Morello on Castillian Drums. The man knew more about drumming, and what makes a true genius on the skins than anyone to yet come along.
Yeah this one is what I was gonna say. I know there are other contenders but…Wow. Full disclosure: this is my ringtone.
Drum Battle of the Century:
Buddy Rich, “Channel One Suite”.
Terry Bozzio, “The Black Page”.
I don’t know enough to claim it’s the best ever, but Buddy Rich’s is the best one in this thread.
This one seems better integrated with the other musicians and style of the music they were playing, and more subtle.
It’s probably my own prejudice that I prefer Rich’s. My ideal of a drum solo is pounding away at incredible rhythms at impossible speeds, and Rich fits that mold better. But based on these two pieces, I think Morello might be a better artist/musician.
All these are awesome, but I like Carter Beauford’s style.
#41
I wish I could afford his kit.
Or perhaps Sully Erna and Shannon Larkin
Keith Moon anyone?
Dang you Opal! Now I want to bang on some drums.
From experience (my son) this is true.
The kid who played with Santana at Woodstock.
Michael Shrieve, all of 19 at the time. His drum solo is one of the only two clips I still watch and listen to from Woodstock.
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DAMN IT OPAL!
I just found this thread at 1:00 am. I was gonna check in real quick and hit the sack and now I’m gonna be up at least another hour. Great idea for a thread.
On a related topic - is the drum solo dead or is anyone doing them anymore? I haven’t heard anything released reccently.