# When the best drummer isn't the drummer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 22, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438 "2023-05-22T20:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [May 22, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/1 "2023-05-22T20:06:36Z")
This question is inspired by the ([false!](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-lennon-ringo-best-drummer/)) claim that John Lennon once quipped that Ringo “wasn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles.” I’m looking for examples of bands where the drummer genuinely isn’t the best drummer in the band—or the bassist isn’t the best bass player, or the saxophonist isn’t the best sax player, or… Usually, a band’s drummer is the member who is the best at playing the drums; their lead guitarist is the best at playing guitar; etc. But surely there must be exceptions to this rule? I can’t think of many. For the record, I don’t think Paul McCartney was the best drummer in the Beatles, nor the best guitarist (though he might well have been the best guitarist if he had focused on that instrument), but I suspect he was the best keyboard player in Wings. Surely some of you know cases where the person in a band who is the best at playing instrument X isn’t the regular X-player (probably because that person was busy playing some other role)? (Is John Fogerty of CCR a possibility?) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/2 "2023-05-22T20:12:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m looking for examples of bands where the drummer genuinely isn’t the best drummer in the band—or the bassist isn’t the best bass player, or the saxophonist isn’t the best sax player, or… The Monkees are an example, though it was because they were slotted into their roles in the band by the TV show’s producers. > [@](#): > > In assigning instruments for purposes of the television show, a dilemma arose as to which of the four would be the drummer. Both Nesmith (a skilled guitarist and bassist) and Tork (who could play several stringed and keyboard instruments) were peripherally familiar with the instrument but both declined to give the drum set a try. Jones knew how to play the drums and tested well enough initially on the instrument, but the producers felt that, behind a drum kit, the camera would exaggerate his short stature and make him virtually hidden from view. Thus, Dolenz (who only knew how to play the guitar) was assigned to become the drummer. Tork taught Dolenz his first few beats on the drums, enough for him to fake his way through filming the pilot, but he was soon taught how to play properly.[[27]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkees#cite_note-27) Thus, the lineup for the TV show most frequently featured Nesmith on guitar, Tork on bass, Dolenz on drums and Jones as a frontman, singer and percussionist, although this lineup did not correspond to the members’ musical strengths. Tork was a more experienced guitar player than Nesmith, while Nesmith had trained on the bass. While Jones had a strong lead voice and did sing lead on several Monkees recordings, Dolenz’s voice is regarded, particularly by Nesmith, as distinctive and a hallmark of the Monkees’ sound. > **[The Monkees | Lineup configuration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkees#Lineup_configuration)** > > In assigning instruments for purposes of the television show, a dilemma arose as to which of the four would portray the drummer. Both Nesmith (a skilled guitarist and bassist) and Tork (who could play several stringed and keyboard instruments) were peripherally familiar with the instrument, but both declined to give the drum set a try. Jones knew how to play the drums and tested well enough on the instrument; however, the producers believed that he would be virtually hidden from view behind a dru... ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/3 "2023-05-22T20:19:26Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m looking for examples of bands where the drummer genuinely isn’t the best drummer in the band Do you think Taylor Hawkins or Dave Grohl is (was) a better drummer? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/4 "2023-05-22T21:02:38Z")
> [@Which band member was the luckiest, least talented , least substantial member ever?d,](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-member-was-the-luckiest-least-talented-least-substantial-member-ever-d/983933/265): > > The Shaggs. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/5 "2023-05-22T21:23:50Z")
Do the nominees have to be the sole person with that role in the band? Do they have to be instrumentalists? If answers to both questions are no, and staying near the Beatles references introduced in the OP: - Linda McCartney wasn’t the best vocalist in Wings. - Yoko Ono wasn’t the best vocalist in the Plastic Ono Band. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/6 "2023-05-22T21:26:26Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Do the nominees have to be the sole person with that role in the band? I’d say they have to be the _main_ person with that role in the band. It’d be trivial to find examples of people who occasionally did something but weren’t the best at that thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/7 "2023-05-22T22:25:16Z")
It’s arguable that Karen Carpenter was a better drummer than any of the backup drummers who played when the Carpenters performed live. However, when she played bass on stage she was probably not the best bassist. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/8 "2023-05-22T23:10:20Z")
Not only was Karen Carpenter a drummer, original Foreigner singer Lou Gramm was too, although they hired another drummer because he couldn’t quite get the hang of “walking and chewing gum” at the same time. (Their original bassist, Ed Gagliardi [1952-2014] wasn’t left-handed, either, but he had been a huge Paul McCartney fan and wanted to learn the instrument that way as a tribute.) Phil Collins is primarily a drummer, too. BTW, that Foreigner drummer, Dennis Elliott, used his fortune to spend the remainder of his life doing what he REALLY wanted to do, which is making works of art from wood with a lathe. However, the website does not appear to have been updated since 2011. > **[Dennis Elliott - Lathe Turned Wood Sculpture - Wall & Kinetic Art - Museums](http://www.denniselliott.com/)** > > Dennis Elliott is a master artist creating unique wood vessels, wall hangings & interactive sculptures, lathe-turned, carved or burned detailing. His work has won numerous awards & appear at venues as different as the Smithsonian & Star Trek Voyager. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/9 "2023-05-22T23:14:43Z")
Eric Bloom was the lead singer of Blue Oyster Cult, but all of their songs that made the Hot 100 had Buck Dharma singing lead. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-best-drummer-isnt-the-drummer/984438/10 "2023-05-22T23:27:47Z")
Tom Scholz has a good chance of being the best at everything except singing in Boston over the years, depending on the lineup.