Best drummers by Smokey

1. Carl Palmer - Emerson, Lake and Palmer/Asia

2. Neil Peart - Rush

3. Stuart Copeland - The Police/Oysterhead 

4. Steve Shelley - Sonic Youth

5. John Bonham - Led Zeppelin

6. Mickey Hart - Grateful Dead

7. Tony Williams - jazz drummer

8. Carter Beauford - Dave Matthews Band

I thiink that's fine for starters...I should get to writing soon...    

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

Neil Peart (Rush)

John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)

Ginger Baker (Cream)

Lars Ulrich (Metallica)

wow! great choices & yes, I do need to check some out as well, thank you :)

I will! hope you checked out pantera drummer - vinnie paul

  drummer from toadies - mark reznicek

NIN drummer jerome dillon

ac/dc - phil rudd (left hook rudd)

Hey, dude, did you see that Pat Metheny and Brad put out a CD together?

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

Wot no Grohl? Yer kidding!

Special mention also due to Stephen Perkins  (Jane's Addiction).

I hope they cannot see / The limitless potential / Building inside of me / To murder everything / I hope they cannot see / I am the great destroyer

Mickey Hart is more than a drummer:  he's a percussionist!  You nead to read "spirit into sound".  The dude is unbelievable.  He goes into caves to hear the water dripping and records that on "planet drum" also a book by the same name.

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

john bonham

dave grohl

keith moon

bill ward

ringo starr

And listen to Day in the Life! Yes, Ringo started off as a rather poor drummer, what he did was totally unspecific and overly simple. But he developed... I'd say he developed along with the band and that's a lot saying!

Yet he wouldn't be in my top list. That's..

Yeah, Bonham in such lists is always "of course", I've seen it before. And there's really nothing to say to counter that.

Though Ginger Baker I think I even prefer! As said above - it's not the studio recordings where he plays on 20% of his skills. It's LIVE!!!!!

And there's another favourite I've got - it's Ric Lee from Ten Years After. A fantastic improviser and what's most important to me - he played my favourite kind of drum sound. Very jazz-like actually but with the power of rock added.

Well and anyway, if I was to include the jaz drummers, they would blast away EVERYONE.
It's like with pianists - there are many great ones but ALWAYS the classical pianists are the BEST.
And the best electric guitar players are in rock music.
... And the best drummers are in jazz.

1. Jack Dejonette

and then whoever on my list ;-)

Bobi 1 Kenobi

B. Beware
O. Of
B. BOB 

Yup, Ric Lee - how did I forget him. Just great! And Jack DeJonette, well, what more be said except - JOE MORELLO! GENE KRUPA! BUDDY RICH! But then, they DID say Rockin' drummers....

Steve Gadd Steve Ferrone Christopher Parker

But I digress...

santana drummer - michael shrieve

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love."