Underrated Drummers

I keep mentioning this guy, but Homer Steinweiss of Sharon Jones & The Dapkings, The Menahan Street Band, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Lady Wray, Bruno Mars, etc.
 
I have 2 that have influenced me quite a bit over the years:

Stan Lynch from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. He was the first I saw play rock using traditional grip.

Pat Torpey from Robert Plant/Mr. Big fame. His solid grooves and complex rhythms just had me locked in on him when I saw them live. Such a humble guy too.
 
Some good drummers that not that many people outside the music business know are
Andrea Beccaro (Worked with Popa Chubby e.g.)
Mike Botts (lots of studio work during 70'/80's, worked with "Bread")
Bruce Becker (fantastic drumteacher as it seems. Dave Weckl and other "hall of fame drummers" take lessons with him)
Dafnis Prieto
Yoni Madar
Gulli Briem also flies under the radar, I guess.
Same goes for Daniel Glass, who is an amazing drummer but internationally not that popular.
 
Fabrizio Moretti from The Strokes doesn't get his due as far as I'm concerned. Here's a pretty good article about his approach to drumming:

http://drummagazine.com/fabrizio-moretti-this-is-the-strokes/

He provides a steady, driving backbeat, and I really dig what he does with his right foot. A huge inspiration to me as a youngster, and to this day The Strokes remain one of my all-time favorite bands.
 
Some good drummers that not that many people outside the music business know are
Andrea Beccaro (Worked with Popa Chubby e.g.)
Mike Botts (lots of studio work during 70'/80's, worked with "Bread")
Bruce Becker (fantastic drumteacher as it seems. Dave Weckl and other "hall of fame drummers" take lessons with him)
Dafnis Prieto
Yoni Madar
Gulli Briem also flies under the radar, I guess.
Same goes for Daniel Glass, who is an amazing drummer but internationally not that popular.

I'm always amazed when watching Yoni Madar.
His technique is incredible and his kick phrasing flows with the floor toms with impressive feel.
He really has that certain something.
 
Nick D'Virgilio
Mike Botts
Rick Marotta
Bobby Elliot
Martin Axenrot
 
Mark Brzezicki - Big Country

Regardless of what kind of song it is, his drumming is always tasteful. The only official Big Country album without him on drums was Buffalo Skinners, and it's none other than Simon Phillips replacing him for that record. That itself speaks volumes.
 
+1! Homer has really incredible feel.

He absolutely has, and recognizably his, too. I was listening to Lady Wray's Queen Alone album before I looked up the personnel, and thought, 'That really sounds like Homer drumming,' and sure enough...

His drumming on the title track of Lee Fields' My World is ace funk/soul groove drumming, complete with break beat waiting to be sampled.

He often does one-handed 16th note hi-hat funk grooves at such a high tempo that it makes me think, 'Geez, man, wouldn't it have been easier to play 8th notes?'
 
Aaron Comess/Spin Doctors

Seven years in and this guy hasn't been named . . . There's not an obviously better drummer alive. I know Spin Doctors are something of a running joke, but take a listen to Shinbone Alley/Hard To Exist and tell me this isn't some spectacular grooving. Has it all.
 
Gary Driscoll (Elf, w/ Ronnie Dio; original Blackmore's Rainbow drummer)

Dickie Harrell (Gene Vincent's Blue Caps)

Dave Barbarossa (Bow Wow Wow)
 
Re: Aaron Comess/Spin Doctors

Seven years in and this guy hasn't been named . . . There's not an obviously better drummer alive. I know Spin Doctors are something of a running joke, but take a listen to Shinbone Alley/Hard To Exist and tell me this isn't some spectacular grooving. Has it all.

Sometimes it's all about context.

Two absolutely incredible players, Tommy Aldrich and Shawn Lane, both played with Black Oak Arkansas of which I pretty much thought of as a joke.but outside of those corny confines they were monsters.
 
Re: Aaron Comess/Spin Doctors

Seven years in and this guy hasn't been named . . . There's not an obviously better drummer alive. I know Spin Doctors are something of a running joke, but take a listen to Shinbone Alley/Hard To Exist and tell me this isn't some spectacular grooving. Has it all.

I'm a fan, love his playing.
 
Someone has already mentioned Brian Downey. But what a relatively unknown monster. Great groove, always played for the song but had great chops when the music called for it. I think Thin Lizzy wrote a lot songs around Brian's playing because their music is full of drum breaks and short solos. And they are all played very well. None of them sound like a chops fest, but the chops are there.

Gary Mallaber from the early Steve Miller band. What groove and creativity.

Has anyone yet mentioned Floyd Sneed from Three Dog Night?
 
Some of my favorites. All the drummers are from Canadian bands that made great music and had only marginal success.

Gary McCraken- Max Webster
Gerry Mercer- April Wine
Martin Deller- FM
 
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