My Favorite Rock and Roll Drummers

I have always been a fan of drumming that stands out in rock and roll songs. Some bands feature their drummer more than others and tend to favor those bands more.

There are hundreds of great drummers in the rock and roll era, I will only mention a few that have always stood out to me. I must mention that I impressions are based mainly on big hits. When I was young, I didn’t have money to buy a lot of albums, so my listening was mainly on the radio. I am going to miss some classics, I know, like Ginger Baker. For some reason I just didn’t listen to his tunes.

I must start with honorable mention to Ringo Star and Charlie Watts. Being the drummer for the two greatest bands of all time, they need to be mentioned. Ringo’s drumming never stood out to me I do remember Charlie’s drumming being in focus in “Give Me Shelter.”

Okay, I have to start my list with Kieth Moon. The drummer of The Who would never be put in the background. He never just kept the beat, and his demand to be heard was apparent in every song.

However, the real top of my list is Mike Fisher of Heart. The vocals and the music of Heart make them my all-time favorite band and Mike Fisher always delivered a performance in every song. I will always hear in my mind the little stutter type drumming in the song “Barracuda.” This is, of course, is where I got the name for my band in “Time to Rock.”

Next in line would be Ian Paice of Deep Purple. Ian is probably the drummer that impressed me the most. I call him the hardest working drummer in rock and roll. I never seem to just keep a beat. His work was a big part of every Deep Purple song.

I must give Jerry Edmonton of Steppenwolf the award for endurance. He drove hard through every song including “Monster,” which went on for ten minutes.

Black Sabath has the honor of having two drummers listed. Bill Ward did the drumming on most of the songs I remember by the band, and he did with power adding to the drama of Black Sabath’s always dramatic songs.

He was replaced by Bev Bevan who continued the power. Bev Bevan is more famous for winning a Grammy with Electric Light Orchestra.

I can go on forever, but I’ll end it with Cesar Zuiderwijk, the drummer for Goden Earring. Golden Earring is noted for having two big hits ten years apart. In both “Radar Love,” and “Twilight Zone,” Cesar’s drumming was key to the brilliant musical performance.

So that’s my short list. Post on Facebook and send me an email and tell me your short list. Tell me who you think are better than these guys.