Login / Registerso my confession is that i dated this man.
This is how it always starts on these type of things and then theres always a twist which ill get too but
Rush drummer Neil Peart solos on Late Night With David Letterman tonight
Neil Peart's drum roadie has thought about quitting many times over the years.
Who’s the greatest rock drummer in the world? Well, ever since September 7, 1978, when the Who’s Keith Moon departed this mortal coil, I’d say it was Neil Peart. And the folks at Late Night With David Letterman would tend to agree, as they’ve chosen the Rush member to perform tonight on the finale of the show’s “Drum Solo Week”.
Peart follows fellow drummers Anton Fig, Sheila E, and Roy Haynes, who've already played their solos on the program. As he explained to musicradar.com recently, the 58-year-old skinbasher's biggest challenge was making the solo fit the allotted TV time.
“My regular live drumo solo is about eight-and-a-half minutes,” he said, “so I decided I’d have to do a mental edit, accelerate the changes and minimize the improvisational parts and so on. At the rehearsal, during my first attempt, I had it down to about four minutes and 50 seconds, and the producers were giving me these worrisome looks.”
Peart eventually pared the solo down to just over four minutes, as fans will see tonight. And those who don’t feel like sitting through Letterman—I’m a Conan man, myself—can always wait and see the real thing in the flesh when Rush plays Rogers Arena three weeks from today. It will be the band’s first appearance in Vancouver since its wicked show at the same venue in May of 2008, when it was performing on the Snakes & Arrows tour.
You can follow Steve Newton on Twitter at twitter.com/earofnewt.
Steve Gadd.
Terry Bozzio, anyone?
Miguel
Those who came before Moon were background timekeepers. Those who came after Moon were all influenced and shaped by him (including Baker, Bonham, Copeland, Peart, etc.) and owe him a debt of gratitude for changing the role and style of the rock drummer.
Buddy Rich.
But rock drummer? Nope. He introduced elements of rock as an intriguing new influence, but he never gave himself over wholeheartedly to the new music.
I don't buy this. Although Moon probably held the most influence, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cobham, Alan White, Bill Bruford, etc. were all pushing the boundaries of rock drumming at the time.
Moon was batshit crazy, and he was totally more prominent than the others I list above, but rock drummers were moving beyond simple timekeeping regardless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtSIEkPqVgk
Miguel
Today i came across a Rush video on the web and recognized the drummer by the headgear the sound and the rythm. From what I saw these 2 times I think he is better than the Kiss, Stones, and Beatles drummers. I am no expert to say who is the best ever, cause I have not particularly focused on drummers but my ear tells me that he is real good.
Moon was batshit crazy, and he was totally more prominent than the others I list above, but rock drummers were moving beyond simple timekeeping regardless."
You don't have to buy it - but that doesn't make it any less true. I said Keith Moon is the most important and influential drummer in modern rock history and you agree with me - "he was more influential and prominent." Yes, there were other drummers who were pushing the boundaries of rock drumming, but they were just that - "others". Moon was the one with the talent, personality, popularity, star power, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, alcohol and drug addictions to steamroll over past perceptions of drummers and pave the road for everyone who came after him.