Who could be in a poll of Blues drummers?

[bobthedrummer]

I know I would put Sam Lay and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith in it.

Who else could be on the list?

[southpaw]

1. Chris "Whipper" Layton

of SRV and Double Trouble

[Dudley_DUright]

3. Great minds think alike

:-)

[Dudley_DUright]

2. Chris Layton

Stevie Ray's drummer and half of double trouble.

[bobthedrummer]

9. He's a keeper!

So is Tommy Shannon the bass player!
Texas rub shuffle, deep blues-they got it!

[jpgray]

4. Drumbo. (nt)

[Stevendsmith]

5. Jim Keltner

[bobthedrummer]

13. Oh yeah!

Really good choice!
Keltner's got the blues.

[Blue-Jay]

6. Mean Willie Green

[bobthedrummer]

7. Sam Lay had quite an influence on my playing

No one could beat his "double shuffle" in his prime work with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band IMHO.

Blues drummers like appreciation too!
:hi:

[salinen]

8. Can Ginger Baker

be on the list? Cream was blues man.

[bobthedrummer]

12. Well, I don't know. I'm not a "purist" zealot when it comes to blues.

But I think of Ginger as more of a power trio rocker that could also play blues.
I think Mick Fleetwood and Ansley Dunbar were two Brits that knew how to play the blues with feeling-also Roger Earl of Savoy Brown.
I think drugs destroyed Ginger's talents for awhile and blues is all about powerful restraint for a drummer, a wonderful disciplined form is required to play it right IMHO.
Ginger's 20 minute solo's bore the shit out of me.
So I'm undecided if he would be on a list of blues drummers.

[southpaw]

10. Ukin Jones

[southpaw]

11. Boozoo Chevalier

Though he is probably better known for his zydeco stuff.

[GumboYaYa]

14. How about Richie Hayward?

You could consider Zigaboo Modeliste a Blues Drummer too.

[jeffsurfus]

15. Mick Fleetwood

Before they became the bland singer/songwriter group they are under Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac was a kick ass blues band.

Peter Green was the BEST guitarist out of England (Are you listening Eric Clapton?) and Mick Fleetwood was awesome as drummer. He also was the drummer for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for a time.

[bobthedrummer]

16. Mick AND John McVie put down some great British blues

bottoms when they worked together in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
OTOH the blues, while universal, are an American musical form largely brought here from Africa.

That form, the blues, is the basis of almost all American popular music historically.

I grew up in Milwaukee and used to ride the train to Chicago in the mid-60's {when a teenager} to listen to Chicago style blues, still my favorite type of blues-I love the sound of a harp played through a mic!

I also love Peter Green and the early Fleetwood Mac. I think the key to playing the blues is emotion, not technique, and many so-called British blues bands lacked that intensity found in early FM.
The musical outfit I'm with, The Books Banned, covers Peter Green's "Looking for Somebody".

Mick Fleetwood did play some blues with a feeling in his career.
He could be on a list of blues drummers from across the Atlantic.
But I tend to stick with Americans playing it.

What a powerful form of music it is!

BTW, I'm a huge fan of the Otis Taylor Band, they don't even use a drummer!

[jeffsurfus]

17. Did you ever see Jr. Wells back in those days?

I would have loved to have seen him with the band that recorded the album "Hoodoo Man Blues" which is my favorite blues album of all time, bar none.

I saw him a few times in the 80's in clubs in California and he still had it then, but I would have loved to see him in his prime.

I agree with you about most British blues bands lacking emotion...which is the quarrel I've always had with Eric Clapton. But you could feel the emotion in Peter Green's playing before he crashed and burned.

[bobthedrummer]

18. At that time you had to be 23 to get into a Chicago club

unless someone would vouch for you as being with the band.
We went to the clubs in Old Town on N. Wells Street, not the Southside clubs due to the fact that is was easy to get there from Union Station.

Since I always carried a pair of drumsticks with me {still do!} and knew Johnny Young and Big Walter Horton {sat in a New Year's eve set with them once when about 17} sometimes we could get into the clubs-sometimes we would just hang out near the door.

In answer to your question, I heard Junior Wells play, Little Walter too-but I might have been outside the club due to my age then.

A lot of the Chicago blues people would travel up to Milwaukee on Monday's to play in a coffeehouse called The Avant Garde too-saw a lot of greats there with no age restriction/no liquor license hassles.

"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"!
:hi:

[mitchum]

19. Earl Philips and Fred Below played on classic Howlin' Wolf sessions

Mr Charlie Watts is pretty good also

[bobthedrummer]

20. Some great suggestions for a list you have there, mitchum!

I think Al Jackson Jr. from Booker T. and The MG's was also a blues drummer in his heart {listen to his work with Albert King for instance}.

Charlie is Charlie. He can play many styles in his own quirky way.
He's hard to pigeonhole as a blues drummer but he's got it down IMO.

[mitchum]

21. You're absolutely right about Al Jackson, Jr

He was immaculate