Great musicians who should have been famous except....

IMO the greatest unknown (by the vast majority of even hardcore music lovers, including all y'all ;-) is guitarist Danny Gatton. He's well known amongst good musicians, such as Vince Gill, who nicknamed Danny The Humbler. If you like Bill Frisell (as you "should"), you will love Danny Gatton.

When David Sanborn had NRBQ on his TV show, he introduced them as "The best Rock 'n' Roll band in the world". How many here have heard them? One of the coupla best live bands I've ever seen & heard, and that list included The Who with Keith Moon, whom I saw twice. 

Naw Wolf, Richie Hayward was a musician, not a mere technician, which is on what basis so many judge a drummer’s abilities. Like I said, as if drumming is an athletic activity, not an artistic one.

By the way, the last time Levon Helm performed in L.A. (at The House Of Blues), Richie got up on stage with Levon and his band (and his daughter Amy, who was singing) and played drums on one song. The love, respect, and admiration of each for the other was obvious. When Levon's autobiography was released, he did a book-signing at Book Soup on Sunset (directly across the street from Tower Records). As I waited in line to have my copy signed, I sensed a commotion behind me. Turning around, I saw Ringo Starr walking up along the line, "taking cuts" to get to the desk where sat Levon. Nobody objected, of course ;-) . 

One man’s unfounded snipe is another’s expression of musical taste (or the lack thereof). Eric Clapton in The Last Waltz (I paraphrase, but very close to verbatim iirc): "Music had been headed in the wrong direction for a long time. When I heard Music From Big Pink (played to him by George Harrison), I thought ’Well, someone has finally got it right’."

As a result of hearing The Band, Clapton disbanded Cream, the biggest band in the world. He no longer wished to play music of the sort in which each player looked outward from their individual instruments, but rather music, like that of The Band, wherein each player (and singer) looked in towards the center (the song), playing so as to benefit the "greater good". That’s advanced musicianship, rarely found in Rock (or English fake Blues) bands.

When The Hawks (later known as The Band) met and jammed with Sonny Boy Williamson in 1965 (and began making plans for a U.S. tour together), he told them the bands he had been provided with by the promoter of the British tour he had just returned home from "Wanted to play Blues SO bad. And that’s just how they played it." ;-) One of those bands was The Yardbirds, whose guitarist at that time was.....Eric Clapton.

The opinion that John Bonham "was great" is one not universally held. Buddy Rich dismissed him, and reportedly did a great (mocking) imitation of him. Buddy also referred to Ginger Baker as a "clown". Tough audience! His comment on Ringo Starr was that he was "adequate". Coming from Buddy, that’s almost a compliment!

Well-known studio drummer Jim Keltner (Ry Cooder, John Lennon and George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Bill Frisell, hundreds of others) has said he wishes he played more like one of my favorites, Roger Hawkins of The Swampers (Fame Studios house band, heard on hundreds of records including all the Jerry Wexler-produced Atlantic albums made in that Muscle Shoals, Alabama recording studio).

The "Hot For Teacher" intro has some controversy surrounding it.  It's AVH on electronic drums and possibly the exhaust sound of one of EVH's Italian sports car at the very beginning.  The drum part is lifted/inspired by a piece by Billy Cobham.

I have always admired how the band Van Halen did their writing credits.

If you want to hear a tremendous drum opening to an album side, then listen to Tony William's Lifetime "Emergency" side one.

@ilikemiles 

I saw Lewis Nash once with Vincent Herring. I spent most of the set watching Nash!