Great musicians who should have been famous except....

The opinion that John Bonham "was great" is one not universally held. Buddy Rich dismissed him, and reportedly did a great (mocking) imitation of him. Buddy also referred to Ginger Baker as a "clown". Tough audience! His comment on Ringo Starr was that he was "adequate". Coming from Buddy, that’s almost a compliment!

Well-known studio drummer Jim Keltner (Ry Cooder, John Lennon and George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Bill Frisell, hundreds of others) has said he wishes he played more like one of my favorites, Roger Hawkins of The Swampers (Fame Studios house band, heard on hundreds of records including all the Jerry Wexler-produced Atlantic albums made in that Muscle Shoals, Alabama recording studio).

One man’s unfounded snipe is another’s expression of musical taste (or the lack thereof). Eric Clapton in The Last Waltz (I paraphrase, but very close to verbatim iirc): "Music had been headed in the wrong direction for a long time. When I heard Music From Big Pink (played to him by George Harrison), I thought ’Well, someone has finally got it right’."

As a result of hearing The Band, Clapton disbanded Cream, the biggest band in the world. He no longer wished to play music of the sort in which each player looked outward from their individual instruments, but rather music, like that of The Band, wherein each player (and singer) looked in towards the center (the song), playing so as to benefit the "greater good". That’s advanced musicianship, rarely found in Rock (or English fake Blues) bands.

When The Hawks (later known as The Band) met and jammed with Sonny Boy Williamson in 1965 (and began making plans for a U.S. tour together), he told them the bands he had been provided with by the promoter of the British tour he had just returned home from "Wanted to play Blues SO bad. And that’s just how they played it." ;-) One of those bands was The Yardbirds, whose guitarist at that time was.....Eric Clapton.

Naw Wolf, Richie Hayward was a musician, not a mere technician, which is on what basis so many judge a drummer’s abilities. Like I said, as if drumming is an athletic activity, not an artistic one.

By the way, the last time Levon Helm performed in L.A. (at The House Of Blues), Richie got up on stage with Levon and his band (and his daughter Amy, who was singing) and played drums on one song. The love, respect, and admiration of each for the other was obvious. When Levon's autobiography was released, he did a book-signing at Book Soup on Sunset (directly across the street from Tower Records). As I waited in line to have my copy signed, I sensed a commotion behind me. Turning around, I saw Ringo Starr walking up along the line, "taking cuts" to get to the desk where sat Levon. Nobody objected, of course ;-) . 

IMO the greatest unknown (by the vast majority of even hardcore music lovers, including all y'all ;-) is guitarist Danny Gatton. He's well known amongst good musicians, such as Vince Gill, who nicknamed Danny The Humbler. If you like Bill Frisell (as you "should"), you will love Danny Gatton.

When David Sanborn had NRBQ on his TV show, he introduced them as "The best Rock 'n' Roll band in the world". How many here have heard them? One of the coupla best live bands I've ever seen & heard, and that list included The Who with Keith Moon, whom I saw twice. 

Clapton could have gotten any drummer he wanted, and he chose Steve Gadd. Know why? Gadd not only has chops, he’s musical. He plays what the song calls for, no show-boating. What some don’t understand, apparently never will, is that musicality IS "pure ability". It’s what separates the men from the boys. Once again my analogy to sports is proven apropos. So many think playing drums is like running the quarter mile, when it is actually like interpretive dance. Are guitarist’s talents assed in terms of technique alone? If they were, John Hiatt would not have chosen Ry Cooder to be in his all-star band (along with drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Nick Lowe). Still, when Gadd plays a a solo, it’s a really good one, far better (even technically) than what Bonham, Moon, Baker, Peart, or AVH were/are capable of. But it is also a musical composition.

John Bonham’s famous kick drum triples (ask your son what that means) are played purely to show he can play them---they are musically unrelated to what any other musician is playing. Now listen to Levon Helm’s kick drum triples in "We Can Talk About It Now" on Music From Big Pink. See the difference? Some people do, some don’t. Clapton does.

Vinnie Colaiuta underappreciated? Not by drummers---he’s topped just about every pole in the world! He also works for Jeff Beck, a pretty high-profile gig. If the question is asked in relation to what the average person knows, ALL musicians are underappreciated. All they know is what they see on the TV.

No, Alex Van Halen is NOT the most under-rated Rock drummer of all-time. That would be Earl Palmer. EVERYBODY knows AVH’s name, what band he’s in, what instrument he plays, and how "good" he is. In contrast, how many know John Bonham stole the intro in Zeppelin’s "Rock And Roll" from Palmers intro in Little Richard’s "Keep A Knockin’ (But You Can’t Come In)"?

How about D.J. Fontana? (who? ;-). Hal Blaine (Los Angeles studios, heard on about half the hits in the 1960’s including those of The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkle, The Mama & Papas, The Beach Boys, all the Phil Spector productions, and on and on), Bobby Graham (English studio drummer, heard on the early Kinks hits, and lots more). David Mattacks (Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson, dozens of others). Kenny Buttrey (Bob Dylan, Neil Young). Richie Hayward (Little Feat). Ronnie Tutt (Elvis Presley). David Kemper (Dylan, T Bone Burnett). Jim Gordon (Dave Mason, George Harrison, Derek & The Dominoes, Traffic). Do I really have to mention Jim Keltner (Ry Cooder---who schedules his recordings around Jim’s availability, Bill Frisell, Dylan, The Traveling Wilburys)?

If you want to do your son a huge favor, introduce him to the recordings of "working" drummers. If his goal is to get in a Rock Band, get a record deal, sell a ton of albums, make a fortune and buy a mansion and a Ferrari, and have a stripper/model girlfriend, well, good luck to him. If that plan does not come to fruition (as it very, Very, VERY rarely does), what’s he got? A giant drumset sitting in his bedroom (or your basement).

If he plays like Alex, or Bonham, or Peart, he is not gonna get the gig with the best songwriter in your town. Songwriters are looking for musical accompaniment, not show-boating (look how good I am!). If he moves to L.A. to "make it", he’s not going to be hired for recordings. Their style of playing is very limited---Rock. Have any of them were ever hired by a major artist for a recording date? Know why?

The number one complaint about drummers from other musicians, and songwriters and singers, is 1- their lack of musicality. Lots of drummers approach drumming as if it’s an athletic event, not an artistic expression; 2- they "over-play", Too busy, too loud, they don’t listen to the other players, the singer, or the arrangement.

If I had a son who wanted to become a real good Rock ’n’ Roll drummer, I’d buy him the first two The Band albums and have him learn all the drum parts (about half of which are played by pianist Richard Manuel, himself a musically great drummer). As he’s doing that, have him analyze not just the "how", but the "why". The wisdom learned by doing so will serve him well his entire life.

An old joke:

Q: What do you call an unemployed drummer?

A: A drummer.

badaboom.