The 5 Best Rock Rhythm Sections

by: pageian

Okay, a quick post.  Listening to Zeppelin a bit today got me thinking, who are some of the best bass and drum player duo's in rock history?  So, off the top of my head, here are my top five.

1. John Paul Jones, John Bonham - Led Zeppelin
Don't get me started.  No one else is even close, in my opinion.  As a rule anything Zeppelin wins any contest as far as I'm concerned and the rule applies here as well.  They were both great individually and together they were dynamic and unmatched.  Just listen to the bass/drum line during the run up to the bow part of "Dazed and Confused" from Zeppelin's live album, "The Song Remains The Same".  Like I said, unmatched.

2.  John Entwistle, Keith Moon - The Who
Two of the greats.  Entwistle never got a lot of pub but he was undoubtedly talented.  Moon's drumming speaks for itself, there was no one else like him.  While I like Bonham better, Moon was truly unique.

3.  Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman - The Rolling Stones
I think most people would leave these two off the list as neither was truly great, put them together and you have a quite solid, if unspectacular (by rock standards) rhythm sections. 

4. Neal Pert, Geddy Lee - Rush
I really like both these guys, and Rush is a great band.  Maybe they're a bit overshadowed in the music world because they're Canadian, but Canadians should be proud of them.

5. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr - The Beatles
No, I'm not kidding.  Okay maybe a little.  I guess overall success of the band counts a little too.  McCartney probably doesn't get enough credit for his playing, very melodic.  Ringo?  Well, he was The Beatles drummer so technically he qualifies as part of a rhythm section.