Listening to Levon Helm, this morning, I found myself slipping away from the words and melody (although they’re grand) and focusing on the sound of his snare drum. Levon has such a perfectly blended snare sound; a cross between splash and snap, coupled with an impeccable sense of swing. It got me thinking about my favorite rock drummers of all-time.

5. Alan Hertz – Garaj Mahal, KVHW
4. Jonathan Fishman – Phish
3. Billy Kreutzmann – The Grateful Dead
2. Levon Helm – The Band
1. Stephen Perkins – Banyan, Jane’s Addiction

Read on and I’ll try to explain myself.

Alan Hertz first caught my ear in KVHW (Kimock, Vega, Hertz, White) back in 98. Sadly, that band fell apart but Alan is still out there beating on the skins. Presently, you can hear him melting minds in Garaj Mahal. He’s a tremendous presence, communicating with flair and metronomic telepathy.

Check out this Garaj Mahal clip from 2003-05-16:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr15hg_Im7c[/youtube]

Phish (as the flyer I received while entering my first show informed me) is a really good band. Jonathan Fishman plays his drums with an artful taste and, occaisionally, with inspired aggression. In their early years, he worked up his jazz chops  by playing with a jazz group on the side. He later mastered a drum machine beat that guitarist Trey Anastasio thought no human could replicate and, he can play the vaccuum like no man I’ve ever heard. Lately, he’s been seen playing with Yonder Mountain String Band and Everyone Orchestra.

Listen here as Phish tears up a classic Edgar Winter tune, “Frankenstein”:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWf6mKLjAvI[/youtube]

I realize that I might catch some heat for my exclusion of Billy Kreutzmann’s partner-in-crime, Mickey Hart. Mickey is a great drummer, to be sure. But it was Billy who led the band through it’s most nimble era in the early 70s. Back then, the entire band rode on his shoulders and he kept tight in the barroom rockers and played loose enough to allow them to turn corners that would cause most band to collapse. He was also the only member of the band (in fact, the only other person at all) asked to play on Jerry Garcia’s first solo record.

This video of Jack Straw (from 1972-08-27) is from an unreleased film of my favorite Grateful Dead show:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-xY-_B4RgY[/youtube]

I’ve already spoken about Levon’s sweet tone but I didn’t mention his voice. He tops the chart as my favorite singing rock drummer with his southern growl of a voice ably ripping up rock numbers and ballads in turn. The Band was such an amazing group that I’d have to dedicate a series of posts to do them justice but, suffice to say, I’m a fan. Levon’s recently put out a solo album (which is great and is the recording that started me on this post) and is out there right now touring in support of it so go see this living legend!

Here’s a clip of Levon with The Band in ’71 performing “Don’t Do It”:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Y987Uf1wY[/youtube]

I know people will dismiss this list because I omitted John Bonham and Keith Moon (along with more than a few others) and, on some other day, those guys might’ve made the list. Certainly they’re top ten material but, if you want Moon and Bonham, listen to Perkins. He’s got those guys flowing through his sticks along with Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones and a few dozen other cats I’m not going to the trouble to think up right now. As the backbone of Jane’s Addiction Stephen elevated the psych-surf-hard rock band to thunderous heights before they crashed to a stop. He’s since spent time playing in his own project, the avant jazz/rock collective known as Banyan with such muscians as Nels Cline(!), Rob Wasserman, Steve Kimock, Willy Waldman and Mike Watt.

Check out this classic video of Jane’s Addiction’s “Stop”:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAuFgpJ5FxY[/youtube]