I was listening to the 2nd disc of "Quadrophenia" by The Who this morning on the ride into work and it never ceases to amaze me at how great The Who's rhythm section is (rhythm section being bass and drums). John Entwistle is just like a god on the bass as he plays it like a lead instrument - the sound he gets, my God!! And then there is Keith Moon - maybe the most unorthodox drummer ever but damn, he was a special drummer. Just hearing his rapid fire sequences on so many Who songs leaves me shaking my head wondering how he did that. So, I got to thinking of what are some other really great rhythm sections of rock bands (jazz is a whole different story and should be saved for another time ). My list: 1) The Who - Entwistle/Moon 2) Led Zeppelin - John Paul Jones/John Bonham - Bonham himself would carry many bassists but JPJ was pretty damn underrated, IMO. 3) Rush - Geddy Lee/Neil Peart - I know a lot of people don't care for them, but their musicianship (including Lifeson) is scary good. 4) Queen - John Deacon/Roger Taylor - Freddie Mercury and Brian May always got all the attention but these 2 guys were the anchors to this great band; so good for so many years. 5) Yes - Chris Squire/Bill Bruford or Alan White - Squire is an absolute monster, up on the level of Entwistle at playing his instrument as a lead one (listen to "Roundabout" if you doubt me ) and Bruford and White are both outstanding drummers although I would have to give the edge to Bruford, but just barely. Just missing - 6) King Crimson (80's version) - Tony Levin/Bill Bruford - somewhat cheating here as Bruford has already been mentioned but Levin was yet another monster on his instrument and the reason why this group is named here. 7) The Police - Sting/Stewart Copeland - I always thought that Sting was highly underrated as a bassist (listen to "Spirits in the Material World") and Copeland was a powerhouse on the drumkit. 8) Genesis (the Peter Gabriel version) - Mike Rutherford/Phil Collins - they are here moreso for Collins than Rutherford, back in the day when Phil concentrated more on the drums than being a lead singer. 9) ELP - Greg Lake/Carl Palmer - all you need to know is that this rhythm section was considered a part of progressive rock's first supergroup. One band that did not make my list was, surprisingly, Pink Floyd. Roger Waters and Nick Mason are good but not in the same league (musician-wise), IMO (of course) as the others that have been named. David Gilmour and Rick Wright were always the 2 stars of the band from a musician side of things. Wright is arguably right up there in terms of rock keyboardists behind maybe only Keith Emerson, Jon Lord, and Rick Wakeman.
Can't argue with Entwistle/Moon. They would top my list also. Here's a few more: Jack Bruce/Ginger Baker Bill Wyman/Charlie Watts U2's rhythm section (don't know their names)
Hmmmm.....let's see now..... Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones) Al Jackson and Donald "Duck" Dunn (Booker T and the MGs) James Jamerson/Bob Babbitt and Pistol Allen/Benny Benjamin/Uriel Jones - Funk Brothers (Motown) Kenny Gradney and Richie Hayward (Little Feat) Nick Lowe and Terry Williams (Rockpile) Charles McCall and Johnny Prejean (Pete Mayes and the Texas Houserockers) - best rhythm section I've ever played with!
Sly & Family Stone: Greg Errico / Larry Graham Errico came up with very unique beats for the time, and Graham invented slapping taking the rhythm and funk to a new level. P-Funk Ramon Tiki Fulwood / Bootsy Collins
Bernard Edwards/Tony Thompson - Chic Motown's Funk Brothers (including James Jamerson on bass) Billy Cox/Mitch Mitchell - Jimi Hendrix (Noel Redding is more famous, but he was terrible - even Mitchell said that the band with Jimi, Billy, and himself was the best). the various bassist/drummer combinations in Parliament Funkadelic
Francis "Rocco" Prestia and Dave Garibaldi from Tower of Power John Paul and John from Led Zeppelin Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr. from the Stax and Atlantic Rhythm and Blues recordings of the 60's and 70's Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker from Cream Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen from Van Halen (highly underrated) and everyone subtomic mentioned. Me and my drummer.
I see ManRam has been blasting the prog rock lately.. anyway, Great calls on the PFunk guys...I absolutely love P Funk (surprised?) Bootsy was one awesome bass player...btw...in this case it would be a crime not to include Catfish with the rhythm section...he was just as important to keeping the bottom end going as anyone. Its hard to make the call on any one version of the Parliament/Funkadelic rhythm sections...but the mid 70s Collins/Collins/Brailey section was IMO their best. In addition to the great guys listed already (Stones, Who, Zepp, Rush), I would also like to make mention of: Geezer/Bill Ward (Sabbath) Nicko/Steve Harris (Maiden) Eddie Jackson/Scott Rockenfeld ('Ryche) Hamm/Capetilli (Satriani) BRown /Dickerson (War) Rock Jones/Williams(webster) (Ohio Players) this one is tough to nail down since there was more to their rhythm section than just drums and bass(like P Funk in that regard)...but these guys could lay down a groove like few others in the 70s.
Alex...OK Michael...Never I am a huge Van Halen fan and I always thought Michael was the luckiest guy in show business. His backup vocal are note worthy however. I have always thought that Steve Smith from Journey was always under rated though.
Hmmm, I have always heard people slag on Michael Anthony, saying what PEF said. Yet there is not many people whose opinions I respect on music more than Jeff, so this is definitely something to make me go hmmmmmmmm.
The thing about your list Manny, is that is all nine are "rock," zero have any "roll." To me, that's barely even a rhythm section, honestly. I prefer the ones that make circular sounds when they play together, sort of of like sonic macaroni or something, two or three musicians making one backup sound for the lead players and singers. I mean, i love the Who and so forth, and yes, stylistically Keith Moon and John Entwhistle are interesting to listen to, but they are all force, not much finesse (ask Pete Townshend about that...) It would be like calling a couple of jackhammers a great rhythm section. Bless their hearts, but it is different to me, than a cohesive duo or trio that together build one sound greater than the sum of the parts. James Brown had a rhythm section. The Beatles had a rhtyhm section, so did the Stones, probably more in the 70s than 60s oddly enough. Booker T., Stax, Elvis' early band, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Chuck Freaking Berry, etc. Neal Peart and Geddy Lee are, to me, the antithesis of a rhythm section. Its just two guys who happen to be overplaying the drums and the bass to compensate for remarkably bombastic, tedious and humorless songwriting. Same goes for Yes.
CBrownFanClub, Different strokes for different folks. All the bands I listed I enjoy immensely (obviously) and a big part why is what I call their rhythm section.
