Читать книгу The Book Of Lists - David Wallechinsky - Страница 50

Ben Schott is the bestselling author of Schott’s Original Miscellany, and subsequent miscellanies on Food & Drink, and Sporting, Gaming, & Idling.

His drumming is mediocre at best, and he harbours ambitions to play the Hammond organ to the same standard. Below, in no particular order, are some of Schott’s drummers of note.

1 CLYDE STUBBLEFIELD Stubblefield was James Brown’s ‘Funky Drummer’, and as such can claim to be the most sampled drummer in the world. Alongside fellow drummers Jabo Starks and Clayton Fillyau, Stubblefield pioneered the tight, crisp and heavily syncopated snare and hi-hat riffs that defined the James Brown sound, and funk itself.

2 JAMES BLADES More a percussionist than a drummer, Blades deserves mention as the man who recorded the Morse code ‘V for Victory’ signal for the BBC during WWII. The ‘dot-dot-dot-dash’ rhythm was played on an African membrane drum with a timpani mallet and was broadcast up to 150 times a day to encourage the Resistance in Continental Europe. As if this was not enough, James Blades also recorded the famous J. Arthur Rank gong (on small Chinese tam-tam) that was mimed by the boxer Bombardier Billy Wells.

3 CHARLIE WATTS Without doubt the most dapper of drummers, Watts merits a place in any drumming line-up for his bespoke suits alone. Like (the much underestimated) Ringo Starr, the essence of Watt’s skill lies in playing just enough for the song and no more. When asked what 25 years of rock’n’roll with the Rolling Stones was like, Watts apparently replied: ‘It’s been one year drumming, and 24 years hanging around.’

4 STEVE GADD One of the most recorded drummers in history, Gadd has played with a stellar line-up of musicians from Stanley Clark to Eric Clapton. His work with Paul Simon has justly received high praise: the groove on ‘Late In The Evening’ and his fiendishly complex riff on ‘Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover’ typify his fluid and effortless style.

5 JOHN ‘STUMPY’ PEPYS Tall, geeky and bespectacled, Pepys was the first of six drummers for the band Spinal Tap. His formal technique might seem unsophisticated to modern ears, but he pioneered the simple pop sound of the early 1960s – this is best illustrated in his drumming on the 1965 ‘Thamesmen’ track ‘Gimme Some Money’. In 1969 Pepys died in a bizarre gardening accident that to this day remains a mystery.

6 KEITH MOON Setting aside Moon’s antics (both real and apocryphal) his drumming for The Who was as stylish and clever as it was violent and anarchic. Almost any Who track demonstrates the genius of Moon’s drumming – from the simple power of ‘Substitute’ to the flamboyance of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’.

7 RITCHIE HAYWOOD The drummer for American band Little Feat, Haywood has two apt nicknames: ‘the beat behind the Feat’ and ‘Mr Sophistifunk’. On tracks like ‘Dixie Chicken’ and ‘Sailin’ Shoes’ Haywood sits just behind the groove, seamlessly melding the styles of rock, zydeco, folk and blues.

8 RONNIE VERRELL Verrell was a stylish swing drummer who played with some of the great names of jazz, including Ted Heath, Syd Lawrence, David Lund, and Buddie Rich. More important than this, of course, is that he played Animal’s drum solo on the theme tune to The Muppet Show.

9 JON BONHAM Bonham was the typhonic drummer for ’70s rock band Led Zeppelin (a band name suggested by Keith Moon, q. v.). Alongside bass-player John Paul Jones, Bonham provided driving, relentless, and (for rock music) astonishingly complex riffs – perhaps best illustrated in ‘Fool In The Rain’. The less said about the half-hour drum solo during ‘Moby Dick’ the better.