Another great gone, this time its Charlie Watts

Absolutely @gpgr4blu. Hal Blaine was my first favorite studio drummer, once I learned there was such a thing. I left out Jim Keltner, considering him an obvious member of the musical drummer fraternity. His playing on Randy Newman's early albums really raised the bar for me. He is Ry Cooder's first choice for recording. I saw and heard the two perform live together in Little Village, an amazing experience.

To hear a drum solo that is not only technically sophisticated, but also very musical, give a listen to the two short little drum breaks in "Beyond The Sea" by  Bobby Darin. The drummer is Don Lamond, who had been in Woody Herman's band. Fantastic!

It's not well known, but The Band's pianist/singer Richard Manuel plays drums on about half the song's on the s/t brown album, including "Up On Cripple Creek" and "Rag Mama Rag". His playing is a little stiff and slightly awkward, but the parts he created for the songs are "signature" parts, very important to the feel and character of the songs. Charlie Watts was also a little stiff, but had a more identifiable sound and style than do many more technical players. Which is more valuable?

Emitt Rhodes started out on drums (in L.A. group The Palace Guard, while still in High School) switching to guitar when he formed The Merry-Go-Round. He plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals on his debut album, later employing drummer Jim Gordon on his second and third. When I recorded with Emitt in the late-90's (he was engineering and producing), he told me Gordon was the best musician he ever worked with. Not just best drummer, but best musician. A deeply, deeply musical drummer. Bobby Whitlock (Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & The Dominos) has said he considers Gordon the best Rock 'n' Roll drummer of all-time. I don't know, Earl Palmer was awfully good ;-) . 

Charlie didn’t have to be "perfect", or technically advanced. In fact, if he was he would sound out of place in a band with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Like the often-denigrated Ringo Starr, he was the right drummer for the group. As was Keith Moon for The Who. It is their trademark style that made their band’s what they were. At least Led Zeppelin realized Bonham couldn’t be replaced, and called it a day, as The Who should have. IMO.

My tastes run in a different direction: Roger Hawkins (Muscle Shoals studio drummer in The Swampers. The actor they got to play him in the new movie about Aretha Franklin---Respect---looks just like him. Keltner said in a Modern Drummer interview that he wished he played more like Hawkins. A FANTASTIC drummer!), Jim Gordon (Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & The Dominos, Clapton’s solo debut, All Things Must Pass, Traffic---along with Roger Hawkins, Spector productions. I acquired one of his Camco sets after he was sent up the river for killing his mother with a hammer. Beat her to death with it.), Levon Helm, D.J. Fontana (you had better know who he is ;-), Harry Stinson (Marty Stuart’s drummer in his band The Fabulous Superlatives, also a great harmony singer.), Kenny Buttrey (Dylan, Neil’s Harvest.), Buddy Harman (Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, The Everly Brothers, Elvis, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette. That’s him on "Stand By Your Man", his drumming the epitome of taste, economy, subtlety, and most importantly musicality. As various Jazz greats have said: The notes you don’t play are as important as those you do.), Jim Christie (Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam.), a lot of others most of ya’ll have never heard of.

I like drummers who "play the song". Those who listen for what a song needs, and play THAT, rather than what they think will impress other drummers. You know---gratuitous displays of empty technique. Musically inappropriate over-playing, way too busy. Drummers are generally kinda stupid (ever heard Carmine Appice speak? Oy.), present company and those named above excluded.

One of my favorite musician stories is the one told me by Evan Johns, who worked off-and-on with guitar virtuoso Danny Gatton (nicknamed The Humbler by Vince Gill.). It goes as follows:

Danny, speaking to his new drummer after the first set of his maiden live gig: "Hey, ya know all that fancy sh*t you play?"

The drummer: "Yeah."

Danny: "Don’t."

Like Charlie, once I heard a Gretsch drumset, that was it for me! Levon Helm also played Gretsch, including in The Last Waltz. A beautiful black diamond pearl-finished set. A have a set in bdp, and one in Brazilian walnut. Both with 24" bass drums. Hence "bdp24" ;-) . 

I just heard. There are those who consider The Stones Charlie's band, not Mick & Keith's. I guess Steve Jordan now has a full-time job ;-) . I love the pictures of Charlie on stage, smirking at Mick's "antics". Charlie was a hardcore Jazz fan, unimpressed by his own Rock 'n' Roll stardom.

By the way: what is the "Keif" thing all about? I never received that memo.