# Your favorite drummers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676 "2003-01-04T23:07:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/1 "2003-01-04T23:07:11Z")
Who are your favorite drummers? Not necessarily the most talented, but that could be a contributing factor. **Stanton Moore** - The drummer for Galactic. Man his he great. He also has two solo albums and has played with other bands like the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars. He’s played with some greats: Charlie Hunter, Chris Wood (of Medeski, Martin, Wood), and Skerik. **Tim ‘Herb’ Alexander** - The first Primus drummer. Listening to their old CD’s (like Frizzle Fry) make me depressed because Herb isn’t there any more. Not that Brain (Primus, G’n’R) isn’t good. And no it isn’t Brian, it’s Brain. **Danny Carrey** - Drummer for Tool. He’s mind-boggingly good. He’s one of those technical drummers who can hold 6 different beats at once. Great stuff. **Julius ‘Cannonball’ Adderly** - For a jazz drummer, he was great. I don’t know what else to say, he is so highly regarded even if drummers were irrelevent in that period of jazz. Hell, Miles has a few CDs without any drums at all, like Sketches of Spain. **Kieth Moon** - I guess I had to include him. He was a hard hitter in an age of soft hitters. Plus he was crazy. And wrote the classic “Tommy’s Holiday Camp”. **John ‘Bonzo’ Bonham** - Awesome. His style was so appropriate for Zeppelin. It just…fit. It was something special. Great bass pedal-er, too. **Jay Lane** - All 500,000 Les Claypool side projects, Charlie Hunter Trio. He is very good and diverse. And then there’s the guy from my high-school jazz band, who is probably the best drummer I’ve seen in person, let alone played with. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Bas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr.Bas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Bas)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/2 "2003-01-04T23:42:57Z")
I have to agree with Danny Carey, he’s great. Another drummer that comes to mind: Matt Cameron - although he’s probably technically not the best drummer in the world, he has done fantastic work with Soundgarden, who as you might know often played in weird time signatures while still rocking very hard. Now in Pearl Jam. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/3 "2003-01-05T00:18:47Z")
Bill Bruford, for his tasteful work with Yes, and for his work with King Crimson. Ronald Shannon Jackson, for playing all over Strange Meetings by Power Tools without losing the rhythm. Billy Cobham for practically soloing on snare somewhere on Birds of Fire by Mahvishnu Orchestra. Mickey Hart for his immense knowledge of drum lore and his thirst for music. He said in an NPR interview something like “It’s not really a vacation unless I’m rolling tape.” Too cool. ---
**Author:** ![lout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@lout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/4 "2003-01-05T00:35:58Z")
Milford Graves, New York Art Quartet (unsurpassed, totally original) Ronald Shannon Jackson (Decoding Society) Sunny Murray Tony Williams (Miles Davis, Live at the Plugged Nickle esp.) the guy who drummed for Helmet. the guy who drummed for Soundgarden on Superunknown. the guy who drummed (Lars Ulrich?) on early Metallica. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/5 "2003-01-05T00:55:36Z")
I always liked **Rob Buettner** though I don’t know the name of the band he’s with right now. **Bun E. Carlos**. Does he still dangle that cig out of his mouth when he plays? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/6 "2003-01-05T01:22:14Z")
I’ll second your Bun E. Carlos (who could easily win a “That’s not a rock star, that guy works in my dad’s office” award) and I’ll raise you a Clement Burke (Blondie & Eurythmics). ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/7 "2003-01-05T01:28:01Z")
Eddie Bayers, Jeff Porcaro, Hal Blaine, Russ Kunkel, Gary Chester, and most of the drummers already listed. ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/8 "2003-01-05T01:34:15Z")
How could anyone not mention Neil Peart, Rush’s drummer? According to Modern Drummer, next to Buddy Rich, Neil Peart has inspired the most drummers worldwide. Not to mention the guy is a political genius and is incredibly talented at his work, ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/9 "2003-01-05T01:52:26Z")
i have to second neil peart. but i have to qualify it. i hate drummers, generally, ever since i found out that any, ANY drum solo is just a vague variation of the in-a-gadda-da-vida drum solo. now, that being said, i think that anything that neil peart does is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. after that i have to say the one who was with johnny winter’s band on the ‘johnny winter and live’. i think that his name is richard hughes. after those two, any misfortunes which happen to drummers do not annoy me. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/10 "2003-01-05T02:05:25Z")
Oh, and Joe Morello too. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/11 "2003-01-05T04:15:53Z")
Billy Martin, Mickey Hart, Stewart Copeland, Jon Fishman. ---
**Author:** ![buh-buh-buh-BACON](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@buh-buh-buh-BACON](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buh-buh-buh-BACON)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/12 "2003-01-05T04:17:04Z")
Jimmy Chamberlain from the Smashing Pumpkins, nothing too fancy, just solid playing; Martin Atkins from EVERYTHING (PiL, Ministry, Pigface, Damage Manual, etc. etc.)… for laying down some really fat beats; John Stanier is the name of the guy from Helmet, and his machine-like staccato precision and minimalism is stunning. John Bonham, of course. The guy from Slayer was pretty amazing, for speed/death metal type stuff. Practically any jazz drummer, for being able to keep that swing time; I just can’t figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/13 "2003-01-05T04:19:49Z")
Dave Grohl from Nirvana and now Foo Fighters. Also did the drumming on the latest Queens of the Stone Age album, too, I believe. Good times. And I don’t think Max Roach has been mentioned, one of the first bebop drummers. ---
**Author:** ![Samson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Samson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Samson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/14 "2003-01-05T05:35:54Z")
Have to add Steve Smith. Although he played with Journey, he has done some amazing jazz stuff as well. Of course, I will agree with Neil Peart – listening is great, watching is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/15 "2003-01-05T06:06:24Z")
Yeah, I’ll give credit to Peart- I was thinking of him also. If it weren’t for my undenying disdain for Rush I would’ve chose him. ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/16 "2003-01-05T07:54:34Z")
Oh boo, Rush kicks ass. When a band is composed of three individuals, all of whom are essentially the pinnacle of their particular instrument, there’s no denying them being one of the most technically perfect sounding groups (Note: That doesn’t mean you have to like them). ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/17 "2003-01-05T08:00:35Z")
I’d like to further add Larrie Londin and Bernard Purdie to the list, even though the latter has an unspeakable attitude IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/18 "2003-01-05T08:02:06Z")
Mickey Hart, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Terry Bozzio. ---
**Author:** ![Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Smashed\_Ice\_Cream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smashed_Ice_Cream)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/19 "2003-01-05T08:16:30Z")
Evelyn Glennie (my personal hero), Ron Welty (the Offspring), and Dennis Chambers. (Jazz drummer) ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676/20 "2003-01-05T08:23:08Z")
I love Offspring, but come on, their drummer is nothing special. Hell, I can mimick most of the beats he does with my ass (it’s a talent to behold). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-drummers/146676.md?page=2)