Creative Rock Drummers

I’ve always thought that the very best rock bands have a great, creative drummer. Ordinary bands have a plodding time keeper who just does the 4/4 behind the beat, whereas the best have, probably a jazz-trained drummer, who sits in the pocket, filling out the sound, creating space and dropping beats. You usually find they often play on the one, not on the backbeat. I don’t know much about drumming technique, but for example the Allman Brothers seem to play songs ahead of the beat, in a way which keeps everything going forward and light.
Heavy rock bands in particular can become plodding with a boring drummer locked into the fourth of the four, just marking time. I think this explains my early love of jazz-rock with drummers like Billy Cobham rattling around the kit., using the drums as much more than for keeping time.
I think the reason I embraced Deep Purple was Ian Paice’s drumming. He was trained as a jazz drummer and you can hear it in his expansive playing. A great example is on Made In Europe’s ‘ You Fool No One’.
When you’re in a band with Jimi Hendrix, you have to be able to improvise, Mitch Mitchell was a jazz drummer capable of following riffs and keeping the beat while the guitar did its thing. Does some amazing work.
Even Sabbath with Bill Ward swings, if you listen to songs like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath he moves through so many styles of playing.
More funky music, like Little Feat, really benefits from having a drummer who can climb inside the beat like Ritchie Hayward, who must take praise for that band always being in the metaphysical ‘pocket’.
Of course if you want heavy, loud drumming, look no further than John Bonham, but it was also intricate, especially on something like ‘Achilles Last Stand’ and if you listen to ‘Dazed And Confused’ on ‘Song Remains The Same’, he goes through the whole drumming gamut.
Other great drummers that I love that don’t always get love are Jerry Shirley, of Humble Pie, Terry Williams of Man and later Dire Straits, Terry Bozzio who had to work with Zappa’s intricacies, Micky Waller who invented blues rock with Jeff Beck and latterly Vinnie Colaiuta who with Anton Fig are two of my modern favourites for Beck and Bonamassa, amongst others.
And then there's Keith Moon who defies all the laws and techniques of drumming. The way he played with the guitar was amazing. Utterly mad but utterly brilliant. One of the best heavy drummers is Mountain's Corky Laing, who was a cowbell master. Technically there was no one to touch Carl Palmer in ELP for a time in the 70s, his playing was like an extended solo . And then there was the imperious Phil Collins whose work particularly on the Genesis live album Seconds Out and Livestock with Brand X
If you want your band to be popular, get yourself an ambitious drummer.

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