Five Songs with Great Drum Parts

Drum Set vs. Rocketry for the 20th Century’s Greatest Invention

1876, the telephone; 1879, electrical light; 1885, the automobile; 1903, the airplane; 1926 rocketry. Next on the list, appearing around 1927 is the hi-hat, a pair of cymbals on a stand that can be played with sticks and simultaneously operated by a foot pedal.

This invention—along with the bass drum pedal (circa 1909)—completed the modern drum-set and created the conditions for drummers to thrive as the creative center of jazz and rock and roll music.

At all times humans have known that the world is a drum. Bang something, it makes a noise and other humans react: they move, they march, they dance and Voila! You are a musician! But these simple machines, pedal operated percussion tools, created a new world of possibilities for drummers. They allowed the modern drummer to operate all four limbs potentially playing different elements of the drum set, creating much more than time-keeping, but a sonic palette that allows for the contribution of color to the music, elevating the craft to new heights. Complex drum kits were assembled and popularized in large part to support the film industry that needed in-house soundtracks (and sound effects) for silent films. “Talkies” would drive drummers out of the movies and train their focus on jazz and, eventually, rock and roll.

Silent film drum set up

Sitting here, nearly 100 years after the invention of the bass drum pedal and the hi-hat, who are the best drummers of all time? As a long time hack rock and roll drummer, I have been asked this question many times. My answer is long and varied and changing all the time, so I will limit my selections here to five favorite drum parts from the history of rock and roll, not virtuoso drum solos or blistering, ground breaking drum parts (necessarily), but some of my favorite moments from musicians behind this thoroughly modern instrument, the drum kit.

---

Levon Helm (The Band)

“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” from 1978 album The Last Waltz

Not a technical master and largely self-taught, Levon Helm sits atop my list for bringing sheer joy to the instrument and playing just what is needed, nothing more. He’s a master of feel, creating a groove that serves the music. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” provides a clinic on how a drum part can serve a song. From the buzz roll to cymbal crash at the beginning of each chorus to the rollicking ride cymbal work, to the deep tom hits at the beginning of each verse, Helm is carrying and coloring the song. Add to that the fact that he sings the heartfelt lead vocal while playing this part, and it is certainly an all time great.

---

John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)

“When the Levee Breaks” from the 1971 Album Led Zeppelin IV

Bonham is on many “best rock and roll drummer” lists for many reasons (not that this is one of those), his mastery of the hi hat and the bass drum pedal among them. On “When the Levee Breaks,” he creates and irresistible pulse featuring alternating double bass drum beats followed by syncopated 16th notes creating an irresistible groove funky enough that any young drummer might spend countless hours attempting to recreate it—a worthy exercise. This track highlights the degree to which a hi-hat, bass, and snare drum groove can define a song.

---

Stevie Wonder

“Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” from the 1973 Album Innervisions

Wait! Stevie Wonder is a piano player, you may be thinking. This is true but despite that (and his blindness) he played most of the instruments on the album Innervisions, including the drums. Like Levon Helm, he is not on lists of “greatest drummers of all time,” but here he puts on a display of hi-hat artistry and drum set mastery nonetheless. This is a funky, fun, and celebratory tune and this is a song and an album that can’t help but generate awe for the seemingly effortless level of greatness on display. It is also somehow topical as it begins with a bit of bizarre conversation about “speaking fluent Spanish” and worrying about “Iraq” and “Iran.” Our worries haven’t changed much since 1973 and this track remains a worthy antidote to those anxieties.

---

Neil Peart (Rush)

“Tom Sawyer” from the 1981 Album Moving Pictures

This selection could be dismissed as too obvious. Every aspiring rock drummer is supposed to go through a phase of inordinate attachment to Neil Peart’s playing as part of the iconic Canadian progressive rock (Prog-rock) band, Rush—and “Tom Sawyer” is their greatest hit. But this song cannot be dismissed. From the opening space invaders sound to the hyper 16th note hi-hat groove and evolving bass drum patterns, this song draws listeners into its grasp. Layer in the mysterious lyrics—written by Peart—that reference classic Americana, “today’s Tom Sawyer” whose “mind is not for rent” and you have a rock masterpiece.

It took forty years to go from the Wright brothers first flight at Kittyhawk in 1903 to a B-29 Superfortress carrying an atomic bomb in 1945. It took more than that to go from the initial popularization of the drumset to its apotheosis in 1974 when Neil Peart Joined Rush, and six more until he played his most famous fills in “Tom Sawyer.” From a drumming perspective the hi-hat and the bass drum both achieve near critical mass in this performance. At one minute thirty seconds, Peart drops into a groove in seven, accentuating the hi hat as the figure turns around each time culminating in the iconic “Grand Fills” at the 2 minute 30 second mark—probably the most air-drummed moment in rock and roll history. An obvious Selection? Yes—but also necessary.

---

Sean Kinney (Alice in Chains)

“No Excuses” from the 1994 Album Jar of Flies

You can take the Gen X Dad out of the 90’s but you can’t take the 90’s out of the Gen X Dad. Sean Kinney kicks off this track with a stand alone drum part so infectious you will hear it as an intro and outro of various radio and television programs today. It highlights bass drum and hi-hat accents as well a complex inter play with toms, chimes and cymbals, culminating in an accented flam crack on the snare drum signaling the beginning of something significant. This virtuoso drum intro leads into dark verses and chorus from Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell lamenting something for which they have “No Excuses.” The drums bring levity to this track and pull it out of typical 90’s grunge fare into all time great territory.

Here is the playlist of Five Songs with Great Drum Parts. Feel free to suggest others in the comments.

Source notes:

For further reading, check out Vinnie Sperraza’s “History of Drumming,” a book he is publishing as he writes it on Substack.

Other sources:

Bass drum pedal inventions: https://paularchibalddrums.wordpress.com/2015/10/28/early-bass-drum-pedal-patens/

History of drumming from Vic Firth: https://ae.vicfirth.com/education/history-of-the-drumset/history-of-the-drumset-part-07/