Best Drum Player Ever

[The Reckoning]

i think all-around drummer/musician/singer has to go to Levon Helm. he had such a unique style that many have tried to duplicate but can never match. he molded the kit into a piano rather than simply beating on in the name of rock and roll. he could transition his style to any genre of music.


he might not be the best ever, but if i were ever have a hypothetical band, he would be my first choice on drums.

[leemajors]

Shaughnessy was a cool dude. Boy, did he hate Ray Charles. He was the ultimate big band drummer.

thought you would like that one. Had to look up the Ray Charles thing, had always heard he could be a real .

[Big Empty]

John Bonham then theres everyone else. Tommy Lee & Dave Grohl a distant 2nd & 3rd

[101A]

Buddy Rich

[101A]

Rock Drummers? Carmine Appice

[lebomb]

Generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer, Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the genre's most important early recordings -- including groundbreaking efforts by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra -- before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right. At his best, Cobham harnessed his amazing dexterity into thundering, high-octane hybrids of jazz complexity and rock & roll aggression. He was capable of subtler, funkier grooves on the one hand, and awe-inspiring solo improvisations on the other; in fact, his technical virtuosity was such that his flash could sometimes overwhelm his music. After debuting as a leader with the classic Spectrum in 1973, Cobham spent most of fusion's glory days recording for Atlantic; briefer stints on CBS, Elektra, and GRP followed, and by the mid-'80s, Cobham was de-emphasizing his own bands in favor of session and sideman work. Even so, he continued to record for various small labels with some regularity.
William C. Cobham was born May 16, 1944, in Panama, where as a very young child he became fascinated with the percussion instruments his cousins played. When Cobham was three, his family moved to New York City, and at age eight he made his performance debut with his father. He honed his percussion skills in a drum-and-bugle corps outfit called the St. Catherine's Queensmen, and attended New York's prestigious High School of Music and Art, graduating in 1962. From 1965 to 1968, he served as a percussionist in the U.S. Army Band, and after his release, he was hired as the new drummer in hard bop pianist Horace Silver's band. Cobham toured the U.S. and Europe with Silver in 1968, and also moonlighted with Stanley Turrentine, Shirley Scott, and George Benson. After eight months with Silver, Cobham departed to join the early jazz-rock combo Dreams in 1969, which also featured the Brecker brothers and guitarist John Abercrombie. From there, he landed a job in Miles Davis' new fusion ensemble, and played a small part in the seminal es Brew sessions; he also appeared more prominently on several other Davis albums of the time, including more aggressive classics like Live-Evil and A Tribute to Jack Johnson.

Cobham and guitarist John McLaughlin split off from Davis' group to pursue a harder rocking brand of fusion in the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which debuted in 1971 with the seminal The Inner Mounting Flame. With Mahavishnu, Cobham's fiery intensity was given its fullest airing yet, and his extraordinary technique influenced not only countless fusioneers in his wake, but also quite a few prog rock drummers who were aiming for similarly challenging musical territory. The 1972 follow-up Birds of Fire cemented his reputation, and by this time he had also become something of an unofficial in-house drummer for Creed Taylor's CTI label, known for a smoother, more polished style of fusion; here Cobham backed musicians like George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, and Grover Washington, Jr. Unfortunately, the volatile group chemistry that made Mahavishnu's recordings so exciting also carried over into real life and the original lineup disbanded in 1973.

X agabillion

Most hard rock drummers do not do anything intricate enough to be considered the greatest period. Most jazz, fusion drummers take that to another level most rock drummers could not dream of.

This is IMHO of course.

[2centsworth]

I'm a Peart fan too, but my brother who's a drummer swears by Chad Sexton.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

thought you would like that one. Had to look up the Ray Charles thing, had always heard he could be a real .

Yeah. Shaughnessy pretty much has that big smile on his face all the time for whatever he does but when he got around to talk about Ray Charles it vanished. It was very surreal how his mood changed once he got on that topic. I knew that he made a big impression on Shaughnessy.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

I'm a Peart fan too, but my brother who's a drummer swears by Chad Sexton.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Vinnie Colaiuta. Period.

[2centsworth]

Lot of awesome drummers. came across this vid of a street performer.

[spurraider21]

I don't know how Neil Peart isn't the obvious answer. John Bonham, Keith Moon also pop right into mind when it comes to this conversation. Joey Kramer of Aerosmith is pretty unsung but I'm a big fan there. Not in the same echelon of the others I mentioned, but he's pretty damn good. Same story with Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick

[AntiChrist]

Neal Peart

This kid does a good cover

[alamo50]

Not 1 Eric Carr mention.......
What a lame thread....until now!

[DMC]

Drumming isn't hard. It's just rhythm and coordination. Those guys are polished no doubt, but most decent drummers can reproduce what the hear.

[tlongII]

Drumming isn't hard. It's just rhythm and coordination. Those guys are polished no doubt, but most decent drummers can reproduce what the hear.

Wrong

[DMC]

Wrong

you fat bas . I've been a drummer my whole life and I can play any of that you guys post and ooh and aaah about.

[AntiChrist]

Dave Grohl and Phil Collins are great drummers

[tlongII]

you fat bas . I've been a drummer my whole life and I can play any of that you guys post and ooh and aaah about.

Oh really? Why don't you play and record Billy Cobham's Storm then? You can then post a link to it here and we can discover your virtuosity. I mean if its so easy...

[tlongII]

And I'm not fat. I'm big-boned.

[DMC]

Oh really? Why don't you play and record Billy Cobham's Storm then? You can then post a link to it here and we can discover your virtuosity. I mean if its so easy...

Oh you'd like me to post my work wouldn't you. I don't own drums any longer, but if I did I'd show you.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

And I'm not fat. I'm big-boned.

Hmm. I've never seen a fat skeleton......

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Drumming isn't hard. It's just rhythm and coordination. Those guys are polished no doubt, but most decent drummers can reproduce what the hear.

True but to a point. It just all depends on what you look at when you say "best drummer". For some it's their groove and for others it's their technical ablility/soloing. There's very very few that master both.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

I've been a drummer my whole life and I can play any of that you guys post and ooh and aaah about.

I love it when zen is reached at 4:43

[Koolaid_Man]

Carlos Santana's wife is the best drummer ever