The son of a friend of mine is a drummer (as I am, or at least used to be). Recently I composed a playlist from my Rhapsody account for him of some of the drummers whom I consider to be the greatest ever (taking "drummer" to mean someone who plays trap drums of some sort). Here's the list of tracks, not in any special order:
1. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers "A Night in Tunisia" (Art Blakey)
2. Max Roach "Man from South Africa" (Max Roach)
3. John Coltrane "Acknowledgement Part 1" (Elvin Jones)
4. The Tony Williams Lifetime "Vuelta Abaja" (Tony Williams)
5. The Mahavishnu Orchestra "Birds of Fire" (Billy Cobham)
6. Yes "Release Release" (Alan White)
7. Santana "Waves Within" (Michael Shrieve)
8. Emerson, Lake & Palmer "The Endless Enigma (Part 2)" (Carl Palmer)
9. Genesis "Watcher of the Skies" (Phil Collins)
10. Rush "Tom Sawyer" (Neal Peart)
11. The Jimi Hendrix Experience "Crosstown Traffic" (Mitch Mitchell)
12. Cream "Deserted Cities of the Heart" (Ginger Baker)
13. Jethro Tull "Cross-Eyed Mary" (Clive Bunker)
14. Jethro Tull "A Passion Play" (Barriemore Barlow)
15. King Crimson "One More Red Nightmare" (Bill Bruford)
16. King Crimson "Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With" (Pat Mastelotto)
17. James Brown "I Got the Feelin'" (Clyde Stubblefield)
18. Sam & Dave "I Thank You" (Al Jackson, Jr.)
19. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles "Going to a Go Go" (Benny Benjamin)
20. Herbie Hancock "Chameleon" (Harvey Mason)
21. The Association "Windy" (Hal Blaine)
22. The Beatles "Come Together" (Ringo Starr)
23. The Who "The Real Me" (Keith Moon)
24. Led Zeppelin "Dancing Days" (John Bonham)
25. Black Flag "Room 13" (Robo)
26. The Minutemen "Beacon Sighted Through Fog" (George Hurley)
27. The Dillinger Escape Plan "Nong Eye Gong" (Gil Sharone)
28. 1349 "Nathicana" (Frost)
29. Magma "Zombies" (Christian Vander)
30. George Harrison "What Is Life" (Jim Gordon)
31. Bob Dylan "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" (Jim Keltner)
32. Return to Forever "Majestic Dance" (Lenny White)
Ok, so I added a few more items, because not all this stuff is available on Rhapsody, and some which is available can only be streamed. It's amazing how many terrific drummers there are, and in how many different styles, once you start to think about it.
