Best Drum Solos

Loomis, Jim Capaldi was a very fine drummer, very cognizant and respectful of the singer’s phrasing and dynamics, as well as the song's structure. Being a singer and songwriter himself, that’s not surprising, I suppose. Now that you mention Jim, perhaps it was he and not Winwood would enlisted the services of both Roger Hawkins and Jim Gordon for Traffic!

Grant Hart I’m not familiar enough with to have formed an opinion. From afar, he appeared to be just another punk drummer. Speaking of that, did you ever read what the great Tony Williams said upon hearing Marky Ramone? "Now THAT’S a great drummer" ! I don’t think he was being facetious, either.

Doug Clifford was adequate for the music of Credence, but was what I consider a "pedestrian" musician. No original ideas, no personality, not very interesting. I feel the same about Springsteen’s Max Weinberg. Call me a snob!

Since this thread was asking about solos, but has taken a detour (sorry ;-), there is one drummer who should be mentioned. He was a big band drummer, and they were expected to play, and were routinely called upon to do so, a solo at some point in a live show. Dave Tough was loved by the other musicians in the Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, and Artie Shaw bands in which he played, in spite of his limited abilities as a soloist. They loved how he made the band swing harder and better than did ANY of the great drum soloists, and how his accompaniment made each of them and the entire band sound better. The Rock ’n’ Roll equivalent would be Ringo Starr, who, though he couldn’t/can’t solo like Neil Peart, John Bonham, or Ginger Baker, was a great ensemble player, making the song itself sound as good as possible. Those are different talents, and rarely are both found in a single player.

Speaking of players of songs, here is just a small sampling from the over 18,000 (!) that Buddy Harman played drums on:

"Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison

"Little Sister" by Elvis Presley

"Ring Of Fire" by Johnny Cash

"Crazy" by Patsy Cline

"King Of The Road" by Roger Miller

and a favorite of mine, "Stand By Your Man" by the great Tammy Wynette. So tasty! The drumming, I mean ;-).

Loomis, I loved Disraeli Gears at the time of it's release (Fresh Cream as well), and played songs off both albums in my High School garage band. But you have just pointed out Ginger's tendency to play for his own benefit, not the song's or the band's. As I said earlier, he played every song the same, which is not a compliment ;-). Did you read how Atlantic Records President Ahmet Ertegun characterized Disraeli Gears when it was submitted? "Psychedelic horses**t" !

My eyes were opened, and my teenage brain blown, when my band opened for The New Buffalo (only drummer Dewey Martin remaining from Buffalo Springfield) at a San Jose High School in 1969. Bobby's brother Randy Fuller was playing bass, and I became perplexed and uncomfortable when I could not for the life of me figure out why, in spite of the fact that that rhythm section appearing to be playing nothing special (unlike Ginger and Jack), TNB sounded and felt SO good. All of a sudden, in an epiphany, what I had heard and read about The Band hit home. Oh, NOW I get it! THE transformative moment of my musical life. That, and hearing J.S. Bach!

shadorne, yup, Ferrone is a fine player, and Petty likes how he comes up with parts he says would never have occurred to him. Chad Smith is okay, but I really dislike the sound of piccolo snare drums (all they do is make a one-dimensional "popping" sound---no depth, no resonance), which is his sound. His snare drum sound ruined the Dixie Chicks album he played on (Taking The Long Way) for me. But that's just a matter of sonic taste, not style or quality.