Top 5 Fav Drummers (inspirational to your style)

And I'm totally officially envious! He's what I regard as a consumate "power in reserve" player. Incredible kick placement skill, & that's something undervalued, that I value a lot.

He was amazing to watch play. But he was really arrogant, I guess thats just part of the Chicago way though
 
So far no one has (seriously) listed Phil Rudd, Meg White, Moe Tucker or Chris Franz :)

I find this question hard to answer honestly. It depends on the period of my life and the music I'm playing at the time. When I started it was all Ian Paice, John Bonham, Aynsley Dunbar,, Bill Ward and Roger Taylor. Then Mitch Mitchell, John Densmore, Ringo and Charlie.

Later I was in the thrall of prog/fusion guys like Bill Bruford, Carl Palmer, Billy Cobham and Steve Smith.

Then it was session players like Steve Gadd, Rick Marotta, Jeff Porcaro, Purdie, Jim Hodder - basically the Steely Dan guys. Also Danny Seraphine.

I also saw a lot of local jazz hotshots who played in bands with my sister's partner. Not to mention all the bar band players.

In the 80s I had to completely change my style so as not to sound dated. I looked to players like Chris Franz (he was one of the few drummers around at the time playing a purely acoustic kit in 80s music) and Jon Farris from INXS.

Lately, I've been listening to jazz players because I'm trying to develop a jazz touch (not technique, that's another planet) because I'm in a laid back band but don't want to sound like a dead fish. I've also paid much more attention to other women drummers, who were never on the radar in the old days.

If I was to look at which influences stuck the most, I'd guess:

Bonzo - who left an indelible mark, whether I like it or not
Bruford - for inspiring me to look for options outside the square and to embrace bright kit sounds
Steve Gadd - for his ghost notes and flowing feel
Meg - for helping me overcome the fear of simplicity (though I could never be that simple for more then a few bars)

The other spot would be filled by a mix of all the above players, plus a whole bunch of people I've probably forgotten, including many relatively unknown local drummers. They are all better than I am ... I always feel like everyone plays better than I do and it surprises when people say they like my playing. All I see are the myriad flaws and limitations. In the end, I just try to fit with the music and whatever comes out, comes out ...
 
Drummers who keep it simple

Charlie Watts
Billy Kreutzmann
S.P. Leary
Shelly Plotkin
Clifton James
 
Last edited:
So far no one has (seriously) listed Phil Rudd, Meg White, Moe Tucker or Chris Franz :)

Love Phil Rudd because I grew up on AC/DC and while simple, he's as solid as it gets. Tucker I'm not familiar with, so I can't comment there. Loved Talking Heads as I was growing up in the 80's, so I can't *not* like Franz.

I can't like Meg White. I know there have been volumes written here about her, keeping it simple, chops vs. groove, blah blah blah. The one thing I disliked the most about the White Stripes was Meg White, even before I was playing, myself. The last thing I want is another debate on the subject of Meg's drumming. The only comment I have is; she plays too simple for the music, to the point where it's not tasteful. She definitely sounds like a "dead fish". :) This is just my personal opinion...nothing more.
 
Love Phil Rudd because I grew up on AC/DC and while simple, he's as solid as it gets. Tucker I'm not familiar with, so I can't comment there. Loved Talking Heads as I was growing up in the 80's, so I can't *not* like Franz.

I can't like Meg White. I know there have been volumes written here about her, keeping it simple, chops vs. groove, blah blah blah. The one thing I disliked the most about the White Stripes was Meg White, even before I was playing, myself. The last thing I want is another debate on the subject of Meg's drumming. The only comment I have is; she plays too simple for the music, to the point where it's not tasteful. She definitely sounds like a "dead fish". :) This is just my personal opinion...nothing more.

Fair nuff, Vince. I would never want to drum like that personally but the concept (because the WS and Meg is all about concept) did open my eyes to two things - one, the clarity of structure and space of the Di Stijjl approach and also that extreme simplicity can sound good.

There's a few songs of theirs where I feel the minimalist drumming really works (eg. Icky Thump) and it's not something I expected ... like almost everyone else, I'd always been focused on the virtuoso players as per a lot of the players I listed whose ideas, licks, grooves and textures I've stolen (at least the ones that don't boggle my mind). In the past I've played in muso bands, where the drums had a strong, almost equal voice to the other instruments. Now I'm playing with a quality vocalist I like the idea of playing what I think of as "deflecting parts", that push the listener's attention to the singer and his melodic accompaniment. Our singer really likes that too (shock horror :). It means that when I open up, it has more of an impact.

So I'm not influenced by Meg's playing as much as I'm interested in how the concept works. I'm definitely less afraid of, and paranoid about, simplicity now. It's just opened up just one more option for me. I'd guess that Phil Rudd's done roughly the same thing for many a drummer, who found out that they didn't need the chops of Paice and Bonzo to rock out.

Having said that, when I listen to my recorded parts it seems like Bonzo and Gadd are my strongest influences, even though it's not even a bit conscious.

Oops, forgot Michael Giles in my previous post. Bad omission.
 
Oh, let me see. I'm thinking about the players I stole the most from.

These aren't in any order.

Al Jackson
Zigaboo Modeliste
Art Blakey
Fred Below

These guys are the ones I always think of when I consider the drummers I emulated and really learned the most from when I was a kid, the ones who most influenced my own playing. There are others but these are the main four I guess.

Edit: Oh yeah! How could I forget Clyde Stubblefield?
 
Difficult - probably the less thought the better...
So the first 5 into my head are;

Steve Smith
Phil Collins
Simon Phillips
Anton Fig
Greg Bissonette
 
i´m driven more by certain licks than by than by specific players although i do certainly have my favorites. i never try to emulate any of them. my groove is dictated by what the song needs. any licks i try to get is to improve my playing...as in ¨I Need To Add That Lick To My (limited) Arsenal¨ - but not to sound like so-and-so.

Ringo (sound of kit / tuning)
Charlie Watts (smack that snare HARD !!!!!! / and push-drive - don´t like his snare tuning though)
Motown (fills)
Bonzo (foot / fills)
Emry Thomas (Johnny Guitar Watson) (pocket. nothing fancy just a tight a$ pocket.)
 
kevin goodman
blake fleming
steve jordan
billy cobham
steve gadd/danny carey

others:
benny greb
jojo mayer
joe morello
elvin jones
zigaboo
purdie
stubblefield
 
I have only been playing for 3 months so I dont have much style but I would love to be able to play what these guys can play...

Adam Gray(Texas in July)
Matt Greiner(August Burns Red)
Matt Nicholls(Bring Me The Horizon) don't really like the band but the beats he drops are amazing
Austin Thornton(Woe, Is Me)
 
My Arms, Your Hearse was Lopez's 1st album. Morningrise and Orchid were Anders Nordin.

I always forget about those two...lol

I think his best album with them was either Ghost Reveries, Blackwater Park, or Still Life.
They're all great though
 
Anyone heard Nicky Bomba? He has been on and off with the John Butler trio but does some fantastic roots/world music. One of the bigger home grown talents here in Aus.
 
i´m driven more by certain licks than by than by specific players although i do certainly have my favorites. i never try to emulate any of them. my groove is dictated by what the song needs. any licks i try to get is to improve my playing...as in ¨I Need To Add That Lick To My (limited) Arsenal¨ - but not to sound like so-and-so.

Ringo (sound of kit / tuning)
Charlie Watts (smack that snare HARD !!!!!! / and push-drive - don´t like his snare tuning though)
Motown (fills)
Bonzo (foot / fills)
Emry Thomas (Johnny Guitar Watson) (pocket. nothing fancy just a tight a$ pocket.)

I relate to this. Most of us are like bower birds, looking for shiny things to bring back to our nests

I like Charlie's snare sound. He doesn't hit it nearly as hard as amny guys and when you watch him he never looks as solid as he sounds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VpBzNRKFwo

Forgot another one - Stewart Copeland :)
 
I relate to this. Most of us are like bower birds, looking for shiny things to bring back to our nests

I like Charlie's snare sound. He doesn't hit it nearly as hard as amny guys and when you watch him he never looks as solid as he sounds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VpBzNRKFwo

Forgot another one - Stewart Copeland :)

hmmm...yes...experienced drummers don´t need to physically bash their drums to get a loud sound...but i was thinking more of the last two licks of ¨Hot Stuff¨ (album version), the intro cracks of ¨Beast Of Burden¨ and ¨Tumbling Dice¨ (before the drums are lowered in the mix.

then again, maybe it was Martin Chambers i was thinking of....lol.

¨All Down The Line¨, ¨Heartbreaker¨" and ¨Bitch¨ are examples of the PUSH i was referring to.

regarding INXS - ¨Don´t Change¨ is some FINE drumming and is next on my list of Licks To Get.
 
Last edited:
Fun topic--with a good qualifier: inspiration to your style:

1. Stewart Copeland (tuning, syncopation, hi-hat and use of splashes, everything)
2. Art Blakey (fills, wonderful sense of time)
3. Steve Gadd ("Fifty Ways" was perhaps the first drum part to fill my young head with wonder)
4. Matt Chamberlain (great modern groove master)
5. Matt Wilson & Terri Lyne Carrington (educational approach/philosophy regarding the drums)
 
Meg - for helping me overcome the fear of simplicity (though I could never be that simple for more then a few bars)

Well we've had the simplicity discussion on the board... but Poll, you don't have to listen to Meg to hear simplicity! I especially love simplistic parts played by musicians capable of virtuosity. Listen to Fields Of Gold by Sting, e.g.! Or in general, countless tasty simple parts by Vinnie C. :)!
 
Back
Top