They call them crazy, euphoric, psychedelic, anxious, taciturn, but they are shocking and no one can deny it. Below are the 10 Greatest Drummers That Have Passed Away:
#10 – D.J. Fontana
On hundreds of Elvis Presley’s early recordings, Dominic Joseph “D.J.” Fontana was the very forefront of rock & roll, playing drums with a rustic swing at a time when country and bluegrass groups avoided drums altogether. He pioneered a kind of litany, with arrangements many times imitated.
#9 – Hal Blaine
Harold Simon Belsky or Hal Blaine, recorded with Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Elvis, to name a few. Leader of the Wrecking Crew, the Los Angeles session group that dominated the studio circuit during the 1960s and ’70s, Blaine became the most recorded drummer in history (he lost count after 35,000, but within them, there were 150 Top Ten and 40 Number One).
#8 – Tony Williams
The debut of 17-year-old Tony Williams in Miles Davis’s band in 1963 stands as one of the most shocking appearances in 20th-century music. By the time he joined Miles, he had already made significant contributions to the forefront of jazz with saxophonist Jackie McLean and other musicians.
#7 – Mitch Mitchell
In 1966, when it came time to choose a drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the decision was literally heads or tails: a coin tossed into the sky to decide between Mitch Mitchell and Aynsley Dunbar. Mitchell won, and this Elvin Jones disciple brought an impressive improvisational quality to Hendrix’s power trio, generally building taut grooves that then faded into a fluid and structured counterpoint on Jimi’s guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KCUg-JmTog
#6 – Gene Krupa
Krupa’s hectic attack, with the four-by-four bass drum that was his trademark, and the appearance of the cowbell – influenced by New Orleans drummers Baby Dodds and Zutty Singleton – brought Benny Goodman’s innovative big band in the 1930s to new heights and, along the way, Krupa inspired a generation of future rock giants: Bonham’s “Moby Dick” or Peart’s “The Rhythm Method” would be unthinkable without him.
#5 – Buddy Rich
He was responsible for the classic sound of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and is considered, without question, THE greatest jazz drummer of all time.
#4 – Keith Moon
Wild and violent that was Moon on the Who’s drums. Crazy on percussion, tireless, energetic, impulsive, but clean. Without Moon, the band would not have been the same.
#3 – Ginger Baker
He is considered the most influential drummer in the 60s and 70s who inspired rock and heavy metal bands. But Baker was not only good at rock, after his band Cream split, but he also became a jazz drummer.
#2 – Neil Peart
As Rush’s progressive ambitions flourished in the 1970s, Peart emerged as an obsessive craftsman – a trait that is also seen in his fantastic lyrics – making use of esoteric instruments such as orchestral bells, temple blocks, and timpani for songs like ” Xanadu “and” The Trees.”
#1 – John Bonham
John Bonham changed the way of playing drums in rock forever. Bonzo was so big that when he died, Led Zeppelin ended their career. Nobody was going to supplant him and it was clear, nobody was better.