The "Jimi Hendrix of drums"

Like many have already stated, Tony Williams comes to mind first. Someone that experimented more with sounds would also make me think - possibly Bill Bruford.

The of course Mitch Mitchell might well be a good possibility.
 
While I agree with that it should be Tony Williams, I'm thinking the guy was referring to another. What popped in my mind first was Moon, but then I thought maybe Buddy Rich, which I don't see.
 
A search brings up Atma Anur and a quote from Neal Schon.

Kind of funny, given Atma was fired from Journey just two weeks after he was given the gig. (he was just in the band for two weeks before they have the job to Mike Baird)

Anyhow, to the question, I'm pretty sure the answer is Keith Moon.
 
While I agree with that it should be Tony Williams, I'm thinking the guy was referring to another. What popped in my mind first was Moon...

And that's exactly right (without the possible benefit of looking it up...) Not saying he's done for drums what Hendrix did for the guitar, but as a first impression, Moon makes absolute sense.

The clip I saw was in the Who's Amazing Journey DVD set, where Oasis' Noel Gallagher said that, and I immediately knew what he meant.

So, is Jimi the Keith Moon of guitar?
 
And that's exactly right (without the possible benefit of looking it up...) Not saying he's done for drums what Hendrix did for the guitar, but as a first impression, Moon makes absolute sense.

The clip I saw was in the Who's Amazing Journey DVD set, where Oasis' Noel Gallagher said that, and I immediately knew what he meant.

So, is Jimi the Keith Moon of guitar?

I'd have to say yes.

Musicians at the time both saw their playing as being full of gimmicks. For me, both of them represent the analogous transition from block-letters to cursive, from pencil to oil.
 
So, is Jimi the Keith Moon of guitar?

Mmmh... I can see the parallels, very organic performances, slightly dirty, sometimes sloppy, definitely a rough edge into the playing and completely off the wall...

Having said that, that's where the comparison ends, Keith didn't brought to the drumming community what Jimi did to the guitar community...

...Tony Williams on the other hand, he did what Jimi did for guitarist, even more I think :)
 
Jimi had rare natural talent, a musician who changed the way rock was played, and his influence stretched to fusion, prog and eventually even some pop. He had a string of followers who developed his approaches like Robin Trower, SRV, Lenny Kravitz and Adrian Belew.

I'm not sure that any drummer had an equivalent mix of talent and reach of influence on the way people played the instrument. Maybe Gene Krupa.
 
Tough to narrow it down,so I'll throw 3 guys into the mix.Max Roach,Tony Williams and Papa Jo Jones.

Steve B
 
For me, the difference between Moon and Hendrix is that although they were both "different", I actually liked what Hendrix played.

This reminds me of a quote, I forget from whom, but it was perfect. When describing a colleague he said "His work is both original and good. Unfortunately, the parts that are good are not original and the parts that are original are not good."
 
I came across a quote where someone described a particular drummer as "the Jimi Hendrix of the drums" and I thought that was a great comparison.

Care to guess which drummer the person was referring to? :)

^ I always thought on... "John Henry Bonham".
 
I really hope you are either joking or under 20 years old

no disrespect at all to Jojo ... he is wonderfully fantastic


Not joking. When Hendrix is mentioned I think of innovation, different sounds played ones own way. I wouldn't put Tony Williams in that category. Williams raised a bar, but wasn't that creative musically IMO.

JoJo Mayer, Trilok Gurtu, that's a more a Hendrix style of drumming IMO, ships on an ocean, as opposed to trains pulling a load.

Altho I would consider Gurtu more musical, Mayer is into new sounds in a new'er idiom, as in- more of what's happening now, the so called forefront stylistically.
 
Williams raised a bar, but wasn't that creative musically IMO.

this is both hilarious and uneducated at the same time

I love this place

there are opinions then there are just ridiculous blatantly untrue statements .... this being the latter

Tony embodied creativity .... he was creativity .... he was so far outside the box that everyone at the time was playing in that it took decades for people to even catch up to what he was doing ..... he changed the way we all play the instrument .... he was creating genres by accident ... he was creating ways to approach the instrument that both his heroes and contemporaries were blown away by .


ask Jojo and he will tell you the same thing .... as will any reputable musician still breathing

imagine someone saying Tony Williams.... Tony Williams... was not musically creative.... my mind is officially blown

wow... just wow
 
As everyone has an opinion, so do I. The two drummers who come to my mind when answering this question are Tony Williams and Steve Gadd. IMO, from their time forward they've influenced the way at least a generation of drummers play / approach their instrument.

By the way, Tony Williams not creative?... ???
 
Wild, crazy, influential and "free" as he was, I think Moon is overrated and NOT the "Hendrix of drums" (yes, I think Jimi was the greatest).

I find the quote amusing because I've said the EXACT same thing in reference to John Bonham to a friend who nodded in affirmation at the notion.

Like many here, I like to think that I have a broad taste in music and drummers...Elvin, Buddy (of course)...I'm also a Thomas Pridgen fan..and yes, I like Ringo too...Yet, as familiar as I and we all have become of Bonzo with Zeppelin's broad exposure, I am ALWAYS enthralled and astonished with his playing.

True, there are many great drummers, some of whom have been mentioned in this thread....Jazz greats, rock greats, studio greats...But I just find that with greater restraint than groove artists, bigger thump than Texas Boogie players, harder swing than Big Band drummers, the finesse and touch of jazz cats, a bigger sound than ANYBODY, time and tempo from the cosmos, thunder to the envy of Thor, chops, licks, grooves, independence, velocity, precision, musicality and RHYTHM, Bonham does it all in spades with a touch of "shock and awe" that even finest don't offer.

Just when one THINKS that they "get" Bonham, that they've "heard" Bonzo, there is always, yet, another video of live Led Zeppelin to amaze...Licks inside of licks, grooves inside of groove, subtleties within the thunder, time, space and that SOUND.

John Bonham's virtuosity is unmatched by ANY drummer.

John Bonham is the "Jimi Hendix of drums"
 
Not joking. When Hendrix is mentioned I think of innovation, different sounds played ones own way. I wouldn't put Tony Williams in that category. Williams raised a bar, but wasn't that creative musically IMO.

JoJo Mayer, Trilok Gurtu, that's a more a Hendrix style of drumming IMO, ships on an ocean, as opposed to trains pulling a load.

Altho I would consider Gurtu more musical, Mayer is into new sounds in a new'er idiom, as in- more of what's happening now, the so called forefront stylistically.

Great balls of Odin. Tony Williams isn't that creative, musically?!? His style of drumming is, "...trains pulling a load"?

Even with the hindsight of fifty plus years and all the people who were influenced by him, his playing is startling; trans-formative. He didn't just raise some technical bar.

JoJo Mayer & Trilok are great players. I will agree that JoJo is at one of the stylistic forefronts of drumset playing. Great set technique and totally fluid and creative way of recreating electronic sounds in an acoustic and improvised setting. And Trilok is the modern bridge between western drum set and North Indian classical drumming. He is a master in both tabla and modern jazz and has a highly developed touch fusing these sounds together.

But neither of these gentlemen fundamentally changed the way the instrument is played the way Tony did. This takes nothing away from them, but the way Tony played- it was like the high watermark for the drumset, to be put into a time capsule and shot into space with a note that says, "this is the best civilization has to offer."
 
... the way Tony played- it was like the high watermark for the drumset, to be put into a time capsule and shot into space with a note that says, "this is the best civilization has to offer."

I'm guess that's Les's point. If I was to send a guitarist's work into space saying "this is the best civilisation has to offer" it wouldn't be Jimi, although I love his playing. More likely Segovia, Django or Metheny.
 
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