Flying under the radar no more!
Rolling Stone rolled out a cool feature I recently discovered called “Unknown Legends” where they highlight some of the most brilliant musicians in the world who are never mentioned in the same breath as your Neil Pearts, Eddie Van Halens and Freddie Mercurys. One of them is Chester Thompson, who’s played with the likes of Genesis, Frank Zappa and Santana. Most indelible for me are his dueling drum solos with Phil Collins.
As for my All-Star band of Unknown Legends, here are my Top-picks (staying true to my love of a kickass rhythm section):
1) Simon Phillips – one of those drummers who’s seemingly played with everyone in rock, the work he’s done with Pete Townshend over the years is a standout with “Give Blood” as one of his top performances.
2) Jaco Pastorius – a bassist who’s only received just recognition in recent years thanks to a biopic from Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, he tragically died young. I am wowed to this day by his work in Weather Report and, especially, my favorite song of theirs, “Black Market”.
3) Donny Hathaway – a singer I’ve discovered in recent months and whose honey sweet voice I’ve grown to love, he also left this world far too soon and under tragic circumstances. But his body of work will live on.
Who are your favorite “Unknown Legends”?
Cox Media Group
Sign Up
