Rolling Stone has released another one of their “100 Greatest of All time” lists, this time covering the magazine’s favorite drummers. The top of the list is filled with some of rock’s most beloved drummers like John Bonham, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker and Neil Peart.
However, fans of New Orleans music will be happy to see that the Crescent City’s own Zigaboo Modeliste made the cut at #18. The Meters drummer, who we spoke to last year, is widely considered to be one of the most innovative players to ever get behind the kit, with a musical legacy that goes well beyond funk (plenty of hip-hop afficiandos are fans of his work without even knowing it).
His entry in the new Rolling Stone piece reads:
Rolling Stone reporter Joe McEwen once described Zigaboo Modeliste’s drumming technique as throwing “standard technique to the wind… punching out rollicking… rhythms with a stiff-armed attack.” That pugilistic style, a powerful hallmark of Modeliste’s work with the Meters in the early 1970s, solidified his status as one of the most lyrical funk drummers of all time. Modeliste’s style was steeped in the second-line tradition of his native New Orleans, where generations of drummers blueprinted a linear, almost melodic style of syncopation. On Meters’ songs like “Cissy Strut” and “Just Kissed My Baby,” Modeliste’s stick work practically makes the trap set sing. After leaving the Meters in the mid-Seventies he continued to prove his talent for bringing a homegrown approach to the wider musical world by working with rock luminaries like Keith Richards and Ron Wood.
And the New Orleans love doesn’t stop there. Coming in at #25 is the great session drummer Earl Palmer, who can be heard on pretty much all of Fats Domino and Little Richard’s most famous tracks, as well as other New Orleans classics like “Tipitina” and “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” That doesn’t even begin to cover his film score resume or his 1960s-era work with Los Angeles’ famed Wrecking Crew, which saw him contribute to countless hits from “The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Tina Turner, Jan and Dean, Mel Carter, Neil Young and many more.
Palmer’s entry on the list reads:
One of the most recorded drummers in history, Earl Palmer was an artist-craftsman who defined the role of sideman. An expert reader, improviser, pocket player and accompanist, the New Orleans–based Palmer played on region-defining songs like Little Richard’s “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin'” and Professor Longhair’s “Tipitina.” After moving to California, he promptly became one of the most sought-after session musicians around. As his fellow Wrecking Crew member Carol Kaye said, “Earl took over … he was the greatest drummer I’d ever heard.” The sheer volume of his recordings means his rhythms have helped define the beat of America: Richie Valens’ “La Bamba,” Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” are just the tip of an iceberg that even includes novelty fare like the Flintstones theme. “When the pulse of rock & roll grabs you and won’t let go, it becomes the Big Beat,” said Max Weinberg. “That’s how it was when Earl Palmer laid into Little Richard’s ‘Lucille,’ sounding as if he were using baseball bats and kicking a 30-foot bass drum.”
