UK drummers defined Heavy??

The United States may have invented rock & roll, but the UK wrote the definition of 'Heavy Drums'.

Ginger Baker, Mitch Michell, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Bill Ward, Clive Bunker, Carl Palmer..... all British as far as I know, and were the first to play hard heavy rock drums.

Yes I know we (I'm from the U.S.) had Carmine Appice... he was heavy, had ties to the British scene, and influencial on hard rock. Yes, an exception there.

But otherwise, most American band's drummers were kind of light weight compared with the UK bashers. Bands like the Jefferson Airplanes, Steppinwolf, CCR, Chicago Transit Authority, The Grateful Dead, Janice Joplin, The Doors, Grand Funk, and the Eagles all had great drummers, but they were more rooted in the 50's foundation, disciples of blues and rock roll christmas past.

The Brits in the mean time were pushing limits and breaking rules and a ton of drum sticks.

Why there??? Was it because of London at that time, the British Invasion, The Beatles, and all that?

Were the British drummers coming more from a bagpipe fief drum tradition than from the blues and R&R?

Just curious what you all think.

bongodoggie said:

The United States may have invented rock & roll, but the UK wrote the definition of 'Heavy Drums'.

John Bonham,

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's all you need right there, all the rest is just filler.
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Most respect the badge, but all fear the drum.

I think the main point here is that in the early days of hard rock and metal, it was the aformentioned crop of British drummers that really paved the way and set the foundation.

Carmine was influential among drummers, but Vanilla Fudge was a speck on the map compared to Zep. Now add the who, deep purple, black sabbath and a host of others.

I'd say the Brits had more dogs (bulldogs?) in the fight and more influence over the market for making a heavier sound than anyone else.

Yes, and you must acknowledge on both shore of the Atlantic drummers picked up Zep albums and say "Who is this guy???? How does he sound like that? I want to do something like that!"

A social/economical status versus drumming technique/musical preference study would be interesting... These things probably change quite a bit all the time though. I am quite sure it has an effect.

Anyways, for the British scene specifically, I am not sure what made them heavier, in general, than american counterparts. Probably some broad cultural reasons that are hard to define precisely.