フリートウッド・マックのミック・フリートウッドが自身に影響を与えた5人のドラマーをセレクト

●JOHN BONHAM, LED ZEPPELIN
"I come from a blues background, which is all about feel and not really overly complicated. I was never a huge technically astute player, but I did do my homework and found a home playing blues because, quite frankly, it suited my ability. It was about knowing how to swing and feel and listen intently. John Bonham has all of that sensibility, but he also has everything else. And 'everything else' is often something that clouds feel. People who are really super-talented may overuse their skill. He had both, which is why, as a contemporary rock-and-roll drummer, he had all of it. And huge power. The signatures that Led Zeppelin used, whether people know it or not, are quite complicated, and he made those signatures feel very normal. That's a real skill, and that's all about feel."



●SANDY NELSON
"Sandy Nelson, 'Let There Be Drums.' He was the first. Starting in the '20s and going into the '30s and '40s, it was quite normal for a drummer to be the leader of the band. Maybe because us percussionists really are pretty useless without a band to play with? Sandy Nelson was someone who was played on the radio, and I couldn't believe you'd have a drummer with a hit record. He became a hero. He was like the Duane Eddy of drums, total tom-tom mania, sort of a drumming version of surf music. My dream was to be Sandy Nelson. And all I've done is drum, so I have no complaints."



●LOUIE BELLSON
"He was a big band leader. All of these players, outside of John Bonham, were very hot and heavy with the use of tom-toms. Louie Bellson had totally mastered and made a career out of African beats put to jazz. I loved all of that tom-tom playing! These players are up there with Buddy Rich, just classic heroes that I never dreamt I was going to be as skilled as. Real masters who had a very effective style and legacy. His tom-tom work was so melodic. I've tried to pay attention to that in the way I play, just trying to make it musical."



●SONNY FREEMAN (WITH B.B. KING'S BAND)
"Any track off B.B. King's Live at the Regal, it'll be Sonny Freeman playing drums. Master of the shuffle. I listened until my eardrums fell out. He just was so swingin', and of course B.B. King became a huge favorite of mine. He was one of our heroes. When we started, Peter [Green] and John [McVie] were so into Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. You can hear the influence in Peter's playing. That album would epitomize the style of the world that I was going into, with the early days of Fleetwood Mac. No matter what you do or don't do, you have ups and downs, the good and the bad, but no matter what, you gotta swing. If you don't take it to the bank on that level, go home."



●CHARLIE WATTS, THE ROLLING STONES
"Charlie totally came out of the whole jazz-, traditional jazz, and blues explosion. He's a little older than me, but the reality is that we came from the same generation. When I saw the Rolling Stones, they were so cool, and I learned to love a lot more about Charlie Watts and how instrumental he was as a power. He knew his stuff and had a huge influence on the early Stones, who they were, what they liked, and what they did, and not many people know about that. He's the master of what I call 'falling off a log.' His feel is always relaxed behind the beat, hence falling off a log, and catching it in the last split second. That's Charlie, and not many people can do that. Sometimes you think, 'Is he gonna make it?' And then he whacks you over the head at the last second and you go, 'Whoa, that's so cool!' Charlie is the dude who mastered that. I'm a huge Stones fan, and he is one big feelmonger. Charlie does a lot with very little, which is certainly why he's one of my heroes. The only musical wet dream I've ever had is that Keith [Richards] phoned me up and said, 'Charlie's got the flu, can you play in the Rolling Stones?' But it never happened. I played with Keith a few times, but not in the Rolling Stones. What a great band."