The moment Neil Peart found out his favourite drummers were all the same person
A lot of people, especially drummers who are fans of progressive rock, would probably proclaim that Neil Peart is one of the greatest to have ever lived, and that there are no other drummers with quite the same levels of rhythm and flair combined in his field.
It’s not just about the intricate fills or complex patterns that he was able to pull off, but it was the way he kept up with the bass playing of Geddy Lee during his time with Rush. For a drummer to have good chemistry with a bassist, especially one who is not just playing rhythmically but also functioning as a melodic lead instrument, is an extremely valuable skill to have, and Peart possessed this in abundance. To have a guitarist of Alex Lifeson’s capability backing the two of them up is almost just a bonus.
The thing is, you know when Neil Peart is drumming, not just because of his distinctive style, but because you know him as a member of a specific band. However, when you’re listening to a famous solo artist, or a group who famously used session players, then the identity of the drummer, or, for that matter, many of the additional musicians that feature on a record outside of the core members, is often something you’ve got to search for to discover.
While growing up and learning his craft, Peart was admittedly a big fan of a number of successful pop and folk rock acts in the 1960s, regularly finding himself drumming alongside them in order to work out different patterns and develop his own unique style. Given this, when it came to him desperately trying to find out who he was trying to emulate in his practice sessions, he made the shocking discovery that virtually all of his favourite drummers turned out to be the work of one man.
In an interview with MusicRadar, Peart revealed who his earliest influence was, and how he used to regularly try and replicate his work. “When I was growing up, I played along to the radio, so I played along to Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, The Association and The Byrds,” he shared, before revealing: “I was really playing along to Hal Blaine.”
As a member of the ‘Wrecking Crew’ group of session musicians, Blaine was an integral part of many of the biggest hits of the era, regularly performing on multiple songs every day while moving from studio to studio to record alongside the likes of Frank Sinatra and Phil Spector’s girl groups. As a pop drummer, there are few more influential than Blaine was, and the sheer amount of works he’s credited on puts most other drummers to shame, making them look comparatively lazy.
Peart also revealed that he wasn’t the only person to be stunned by this revelation, claiming that “there was another drummer who said that he was shattered to find out that his six favourite drummers were all Hal Blaine.”
Blaine himself would later comment on this in a 2005 interview with Modern Drummer, stating that The Knack’s drummer, Bruce Gary, had been asked who his favourite drummer of all time was. “He was never so disappointed in his life to find out that a dozen of his favourite drummers were me,” Blaine responded. Next time you make a rundown of your favourite drummers of all time, make sure you reserve more than one space for Hal Blaine.
