In The Beginning Credit Ed Sullivan for allowing the next generation of rock's drummers to get their first look at Ringo Starr and Dave Clark (of the oft forgotten Dave Clark Five). Read an interview with any rock drummer professionally active in the 60's and 70's and invariable, either name will surface as a primary influence (along with the Motown drummers and big band powerhouse Buddy Rich). Unfortunately, the entire output of the Dave Clark Five is not on CD so a brief listen to The Beatles Please Please Me (1990) complete with the primordial poundings of Ringo, should be sufficient for our understanding of just what was happening here.
Keith Moon Quickly taking the reins from Ringo and Dave Clark, Moonie burst on the scene in 1965 on My Generation (Deluxe Edition). With nearly limiteless energy, Moonie hit everything in sight with a furious, continuous motion. He influenced a ton of players (Neil Peart, among others) with his uniqe style as well as his very large drumkit and later, double bass drums (which he rarely, if ever used). A pivotal moment in rock drumming and the link between the pioneers and the founding fathers. Must haves are Live At Leeds [Deluxe Edition], Who's Next, and Quadrophenia
Ginger Baker Another key figure in mid-60's rock drumming is Ginger Baker. Favoring a quick yet light touch (from his jazz background) and a spare, double bass kit, Baker propelled the music of Cream with dexterity and intensity. Disraeli Gears was the turning point for Cream and a splashy introduction for Baker.
The Founding Fathers Soon after the Beatles and the Stones broke upon the music world, the rock ranks swelled with new talent. Two of these players were to create the the primary vocabulary of rock drumming little altered to this day.
John Bonham Possibly the most influential player in rock drumming history is John Bonham. His style was deceptively simple: thunderous drums played extremely hard, yet with beats and grooves that were deceptively simple, anchoring Led Zeppelin's music in a base of solid granite. His snare drum and bass drum sound in particular have never been convincingly duplicated. Led Zeppelin II contains his drum solo "Moby Dick" and is a great introduction to the Bonham style. Physical Graffiti is a double album containing a wide ranging sample of what Bonham was capable of - a true masterpiece of rock drummming. In Through the Out Door is the last record Zeppelin recorded prior to Bonham's death and hints at the possibly prog-rock-ish direction Zeppelin was poised to take. His sound had grown to near megalithic proportions on this recording.
Bill Bruford Charting his own unique sound between Bonham and Baker was Bill Bruford. Close to the Edge and Fragile showcase the best that was Bruford in those years. His style was completely unpredictable. Like Baker, he had spent his formative years playing jazz and brought a light touch to the kit but where Bonham was stately and Baker fiery, Bruford was just downright strange. Navigating Yes' odd meters with a frightening ease, Bruford's style was completely his own and created some of the most memorable drum recordings of the late 60's and early 70's.
Growth and Diversity The 1970's saw the emergence of Progressive Rock and with it, two of rock's most influential players:
Carl Palmer Palmer cut his teeth with the English Rock band "Atomic Rooster," but it wasn't until he joined Emerson, Lake and Palmer that his style was brought to mainstream attention. Emerson Lake & Palmer showcased Palmer's martial style which incorporated incredible hand and foot stamina; blinding fast rolls puncuate a driving, active rhythmic imagination. Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery show his style in full bloom and are milestones in imaginative rock drumming.
Neil Peart Besides John Bonham, Peart is perhaps the most influential rock drummer in history. His style bursts fully formed on Rush's second record Fly By Night. Here is a player of enormous energy and ambition from the opening hits of "Anthem" to the closing slow chug of "In The End" Peart's playing is a feast for the ear. Holding full court over an extremely large kit, Peart style will no dount influence generations of drummers to come. 2112, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, and Moving Pictures remain some of the most influential drum records in rock history.
Contemporary Styles Moving into the twenty-first century, rock drumming's main stylistic vocabulary has changed little from "gospel" laid down by these influential players. True, there are players every now and again who introduce something a bit new to the equation (Steward Copeland, Terry Bozzio and Tomas Haake to mention three) yet even here they are simply salting the meat cooked up by their predecessors. As mainstream rock gets ever more simple and predictable rhythmically (4/4 time and verse/chorus/verse seem as inescapable as the three act structure), the next level of innovation and playing seems a lifetime away.
