I use an elimination method to avoid too much theory, so drums looked like a great choice. All you need is hit it with all strength, right?
Here are twenty drummers that made an impact on me and till today I really respect them. Eight of them are my idols and I bring ’em first because they deserve it. All of them are in no order.
ESSENTIAL
Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
The one! Emerson, Lake & Palmer is my favourite band. As a teen I was amazed with their fusion of hard art and classical rock. Palmer was great with Atomic Rooster but here he simply shines. His playing technique and energy are top notch. I like that he plays a lot, whenever he can. This type of full overwhelming drumming is my favourite.
Steve Upton (Wishbone Ash)
It was literally a debut from Wishbone Ash called Wishbone Ash (1970) that gave me the idea of being a drummer. Steve Upton plays with full heart and his drum solo in Handy was the first one I tried really hard to learn.
Ian Paice (Deep Purple)
OK, this is no surprise. Hard rock is everything to me and Ian Paice is simply the best hard rock drummer on the planet Earth (sorry Bonham, you’ve never impressed me so much yet). He is simply great. His video with The Mule drum solo was my personal favourite in VHS era.
Jim Fox (James Gang)
If you like to know a drummer who perfectly fits to the hard rock band, i tis Jim Fox. His drumming is smart, competent and even the sound of his drum kit is awesome. I really appreciate his style and believe that I reflect his kind of playing. It’s a pity he abandoned drumming after the break of James Gang in 1976.
Greg Elmore (Quicksilver Messenger Service)
Elmore is the drummer that introduced me to jazz playing in psychedelic music. The debut album of Quicksilver Messenger Service was an instant love back in time when I was fifteen. I know he is not mentioned often in the drummer’s pools but he was really a great drummer and for me he is a master!
Jon Hiseman (Colosseum)
Jon was hell of a drummer! I was amazed with his drum solo with three sticks back in 90’s. He was one of the greatest drummer of all time. Obviously, he could by in my essential idols. Well, maybe I reconsider...
Ginger Baker (Cream)
A pioneer of rock drumming. I love his evolution, from Cream to Ginger Baker’s Airforce and then Baker Gurvitz Army. Even after that he plays some african and jazz music that is worth exploring. He was highly appreciated by my father who insisted that I have to listen to him in the beginning of my musical journey. Thanks, dad.
Andy McCulloch (King Crimson)
Andy is drummer of my heart. His job in Fields, Greenslade and especially in King Crimson is amazing. He was the most capable drummer of that era. Album Lizard (1970) is a guideline to rock drumming. But his performance on first two Greenslade’s albums are something that everyone must hear during life. Spectacular!
THE REST
Carmine Appice (Cactus)
Carmine is the prototype of hard rock drummer! Plays a lot, aloud and with no compromise. He also played in so many groups that i tis impossible to name only one. Vanilla Fudge and Cactus are my favourite. I wish I can play like him! I am sure he inspires John Bonham and with Ron Bushy he literally invented real rock drumming.
Simon Kirke (Free)
Not every drummer must play a lot and with all the hardest patterns that can be played. Simon Kirke with my beloved band Free played simple and simpler and even the simplest way it can be. Yet, he’s unique, recognizable and great. Watch and learn, AC/DC!
Phil Collins (Genesis, Brand X)
Believe it or not, Collins was one of the best rock drummers in the 70’s. He did a great job in Genesis during Hackett’s era, but what made him my favourite was his performance on fusion album Unorthodox Behaviour (1976) by Brand X. Respect!
Bill Ward (Black Sabbath)
Maybe not the best, but his performance on Paranoid (1970) album was influential to me back in the 90’s. I used to hear it a lot in walkman. Rat Salad is my thing!
Corky Laing (Mountain)
Mountain was one of the first hard rock bands I listen to. Corky is a fine drummer with rather unique style that I recognize in a few seconds. Maybe he doesn’t please critics, but he formed my way of playing, so I enjoy his playing a lot.
Ric Lee (Ten Years After)
Ric is an example of a drummer who is awesome but nobody mention him when it comes to various ”the best of” list of drummers. I do! He is uncanny, just listen to his solo The Hobbit.
Barriemore Barlow (Jethro Tull)
I love Jethro Tull and Barriemore was their best drummer (Clive Bunker is on the same level, but…). He can play awesome stuff during his era, Thick As A Brick (1972) approves it!
Neil Peart (Rush)
The professor of rock drumming. Rush without him would have been just another hard rock band. With him it’s completely unique experience of technical drumming. Great!
Furio Chirico (The Trip, Arti e Mestieri)
Chirico is Italian Neil Peart. Similar sound but different genre. His playing in Arti e Mestieri (a fusion band) is incredible. If you ever want to listen to something outstanding, try album Tilt (1974). His playing is the most enjoyable thing I adore.
Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
Fusion is something I don’t listen to very often. But all those jazz drummers are monsters in technique and playing a lot, so it is interesting to listen to them. Cobham is probably the most famous from them all. I watched hid video of drumming lesson and it was insane. He played some pattern very slowly and then repeated it faster and faster and he ended somewhere in the speed of light acceleration. Man, he is a beast and I am really happy to saw him in Bratislava several years ago.
Alphonse Mouzon (Larry Coryell & The Eleventh House)
However, my favourite fusion drummer is Mouzon. What he did with Larry Coryell on live record album At Montreaux (1978) is simply a perfection. It is my favourite fusion album, would you believe that?
John Marshall (Nucleus)
Marshall is the most influential jazz drummer I know. His playing on Elastic Rock (1970) by Nucleus is my favourite jazz performance ever. And when he played in Soft Machine he was equally amazing.
Well, that’s enough! Of course, there are many more outstanding drummers (Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Lenny White, Bill Bruford, Cozy Powell, Gene Hoglan, Mike Portnoy...), but those I mentioned in this little article are the closest to my heart and influenced me in my musical career, so don’t be pissed off that someone you like is not there. It doesn’t mean anything.
