Posts Tagged Drummers You Just Can’t Beat
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March 29, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 17 – Levon Helm
Levon Helm died five years ago. He was 71. Two days before he passed his family had announced that he was in the final stages with the cancer that he would succumb to. Levon Helm was my favourite singing drummer. That makes him sound like a circus act, a novelty musician who could rub his […]Archive
December 14, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 16 – John Bonham
Bonham – or “Bonzo” as he was known – is one of my favourite drummers. And, in a band of virtuoso players, I feel that he was often the difference for Led Zeppelin, the component that made them stand out. Listening to any of the band’s albums is the instant proof of his magic behind […]Archive
November 16, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 15 – Buddy Rich
I recently re-read Traps – The Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich. It’s a Buddy Rich biography written by his pal Mel Tomé. Tomé, as well as being a singer (known as “The Velvet Fog”) had a background as a drummer. Rich, as well as being a drummer (one of the first household-names within […]Archive
November 8, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 14 – Vinnie Colaiuta
I first met him (in a musical sense) with the Sting album Ten Summoner’s Tales. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing – the sharp cymbal sound, the crisp snare; the fact that Colaiuta had his head around 5/4 and 7/4 time signatures – playing in 7/8 here on St Augustine In Hell. I think […]Archive
October 26, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 13 – Charlie Watts
There’s Mick Jagger and he’s incredible really. At sixty-odd. He’s the Monkey when they perform Monkey Man; he ducks and dives across the stage as the band tears another hole in the tune that was Street Fighting Man and of course we all know which side he takes when they offer Sympathy For The Devil. […]Archive
February 9, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band feat. Rick Vito: Two NZ Show (March/April, 2016)
Mick Fleetwood – one of my favourite drummers – formed The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band to pay tribute not only to the ‘blues years’ of the original Fleetwood Mac but also the music Fleetwood loves; the songs he grew up with. The current line-up features Rick Vito, a hell of a player – and former […]Archive
December 23, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 12 – Mick Fleetwood
I’ll never understand why someone could tell you they don’t like Fleetwood Mac – and, anyway, which Fleetwood Mac are they talking about? The kick-ass blues band? The AOR supergroup? Those interesting years in the middle – the lesser-known, under-explored moments across the early 1970s where English R’n’B and American soft-rock was being combined to […]Archive
December 23, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 11 – Stewart Copeland
A guy once told me he’d met Stewart Copeland – The Police were touring or whatever. And he spent some time with him, drove him around. He said “that guy was able to think about music in a way I’ve not seen with anyone else. He could juggle so many rhythms in his head and […]Archive
December 19, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 10 – Questlove
His name is Ahmir Khalib Thompson but most people know him as Questlove. Or even Quest. He is the drummer of the greatest, most versatile band on TV – The Roots. Prior to their TV spots (currently on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, previously on Fallon’s Late Night show) they were the greatest, most […]Archive
December 18, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 9 – Steve Gadd
Steve Gadd. If you haven’t heard of him then you have at least heard him. Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Rickie Lee Jones, Herbie Hancock, Steely Dan and Chick Corea have all used him. But beyond that (and in fact Gadd is surely one of the most recorded players ever) the tunes that Steve […]Archive
December 17, 2014 by Simon Sweetman