I like Bonham because he could extract an irresistable groove out of evey tune, especially with the 2 pros on bass and guitar. Jimmy dictated how Bonzo's drums were miked too, and the results were excellent (ie. When the Levee Breaks).
When I get bored of Bonham, I turn to dougli's pick - Mitch Mitchell. He really reads Jimi well on the BBC sessions discs, so you can appreciate this fine feat even more when you hear Jimi improvising or <gulp> flubbing his bits. (eg. Hey Joe/Sunshine of Your Love). Mitch really goes wild on the snare, and relies much less on the bass drum than Bonham. I love it when he goes into a jazz frenzy when Jimi breaks into distortion mode.
My own pick for this list (he's not yet mentioned) is familiar to the English lads. Alan Wren was a drum virtuoso of the late eighties in The Stone Roses. His style was heavy back then, and at times furious. His ability to get the right beat down rivaled Bonham's, especially on I Am the Resurrection. He wasn't always frugal though; he must have several tracks devoted to drums on Elephant Stone.
Jimmy Chamberlin was an exotic kind of drummer. His setup was wild (I don't actually know anything about drums, but he worked with at least 15 drums/cymbals - enough to completely encircle you
) , and he could wake you from a lull with a barrage of hits that make you shake your head in wonder.
About Buddy Rich - a friend loned me a Buddy Rich tape, and all I can really say is that the guy must have had three brains - one for each hand and his foot so that he could keep track of all their different time signatures. He didn't need no sissy double bass pedal either. For instance, on a performance of Channel One Suite <sic?> he was working so hard, the sweat was raining onto the drums. Its gross, but I had to paint the picture to tell you how busy he was. This was in his mid fifties too! Apparently, this was his prime!
Phew, that'll do it I think.
P.S.
favorite tambourine players
(in no particular order):
Linda McCartney, Yoko Ono, Liam Gallagher, Richard Ashcoft.
