Video: Neil Peart's drum solo on Late Night With David Letterman

by Steve Newton on Jun 12, 2011 at 11:28 am

Rush drummer Neil Peart performed an extended solo on Late Night With David Letterman last Thursday, closing out the show's "Drum Solo Week".

After my previous blog about Peart's appearance on Letterman, when I mentioned that he might be the greatest rock drummer since Keith Moon, readers commented on the drummers they thought were the best. The list included Buddy Rich, Bill Bruford, Billy Cobham, Terry Bozzio, Steve Gadd, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Mitch Mitchell, Yes's Alan White, the Police's Stuart Copeland, Cream's Ginger Baker, and Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

What, no Ringo fans in the audience?

To be honest, I'm not all that crazy about drum solos; they seem to be a lot more interesting for those playing them than those listening. What I really appreciate is when the drumming totally compliments a great rock song. The best example I can think of is Neal Smith's performance on Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies". When that tune hit the airwaves in 1973 I wore out a lot of my parents' basement furniture trying to master the cool drum intro.

Warning: be prepared to adjust your volume after the Neil Peart clip.

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Comments (16) Add New Comment
Ugg
Jun 12, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Your comparing Neil Peart to some crappy Alice Cooper bullshit?!? You suck.
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Steve Newton
Jun 12, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Crappy? No wonder they call you Ugg.
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Pat Crowe
Jun 12, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Best drummers I've seen live in no particular order.
Carmine Appice, Vanilla Fudge, Coliseum. 06 I think..
Alan White in the round 1979 I think.. Coliseum.
Danny Carrey. Tool. G.M. Place 01.
Phil Collins. Wind and Wuthering tour with Chester Thompson. Coliseum. 77.
The drummer for April Wine. The drummer for Chilliwack.
Pink Floyds drumming in B.C. Place all three shows.
Last but not least, Carl Palmer in the Q.E. in 92. I think.
Oh. Neil Peart doing 2112 in the Memorial arena in 76 on mushrooms was sincerely intense. Max Webster backing them up were from Mars!

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Steve Newton
Jun 13, 2011 at 9:33 am
I've never seen Keith Moon, sadly, but his replacement on the Who's "Farewell Tour" of 1980 or whenever it was, Kenney Jones, was pretty damn impressive. Totally different style, more precise and way less off-the-cuff, but he helped make a great show at the Pacific Coliseum that night
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Marcos Hofmanuel
Jun 13, 2011 at 10:12 am
...big jack fortune (let there be drums). mickey hart...a student of Ustad Allah Rakahhis...hart influence over the dead and pushed the band into complex, multirhythmic explorations.
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blarg
Jun 13, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Look up Hellhammer, greatest Scandanavian metal drummer of all time

Who was the glam metal dude who used to drum in the spinning cage? Srsly if you can pull that off should get a mention

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Steve Newton
Jun 13, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Tommy Lee?
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James Johnson
Jun 14, 2011 at 7:49 am
One of the best drummers of all time but this guy is a total dickhead. He won't do meet and greets and absolutely hates when fans approach him or even say hi. This corksucker forgets who buys his cd's & dvd's and pay their hard earned money to watch Rush concerts. He claims he's shy but also goes on about not wanting to interact with the people that made him rich. No class what so ever and believe me I am a Rush fan since 1976.
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Spartan112
Jun 14, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Neil's reluctance to meet fans isn't because he's a dickhead, it has more to do with social anxiety. He would rather be anonymous, he doesn't crave the attention.
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Pat Crowe
Jun 14, 2011 at 12:33 pm
What James says is true.
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78fiat
Jun 14, 2011 at 4:04 pm
Wow, someone recognizes the skill of Jerry Mercer of April Wine. A truely gifted drummer. Aside from the obvious; Moon, Bohnam, Peart, etc., etc., for true talent on the skins Terry Bozzio and Chad Whackerman deserve high ranking for creativity and pure skill. Of course, they both played for the master of all, Frank Zappa.
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TeddyB
Jun 15, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Everyone has missed the current greatest drummers out there, here are my top picks in no particular order, JOJO Mayer, Mike Mangini, Dave Weckl, Marco Minnemann, Thomas Lang, Virgil Donati, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Tony Royster Jr, John Blackwell, Kieth Carlock, Billy Cobham
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torpdrums
Jun 22, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Peart's solo was nothing special and seemed rehearsed. Watch Shelia E's solo, she was the best of the four.
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arrogant bastard
Jul 7, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Anyone who thinks any of Pearts solos "is nothing special" is clueless. Peart is unmatched in terms of speed, skill, precision, creativity, and longevity.
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curtis duran
Jul 27, 2011 at 11:38 am
I recently went and saw Steely Dan at the Greek and their drummer Keith Carlock was incredible. Although I generally listen to mostly rock/ heavy metal, this guy was mindblowing.
I guess that Neil Peart is a "dick" in the same way as an artist like Prince. I don't think he is arrogant- just really shy. Kind of refreshing amid all of the narcissism in music these days.
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MSDGP4
Aug 28, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Neil kinda looked embarressed at the end and rightfully so.If you want to hear how Love for Sale SHOULD be played , check out " the greatest drummer to draw breath"' MR BUDDY RICH.
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