Top Five On Friday - 1/15/10

Today's Top Five is a topic I suggested!

Top 5 band members that are neither the lead singer or the lead guitarist. (feel free to tell us why you chose them too!)

1)  Tie between Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Billy Cox (bass) of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and other Jimi Hendrix-led bands.  Mitch was an incredibly athletic and creative talent behind the drum kit, the only man who could keep up with Jimi's incredible playing.  Billy was a good friend of Jimi's and his best bassist.  He knew how to play right in the pocket so that Jimi had a canvas on which to hang his sonic paintings.

2)  John Entwistle of The Who (bass guitar).  John was the one stable member of The Who.  He concentrated on just playing well while Pete was writing rock operas and Keith was drinking everything in sight.  In a band full of showman, John was the one cool cat who didn't feel the need to show off too much.  His bass playing kept the rhythm going while Keith was banging the crap out of his kit.  There's a reason why Entwistle is well respected.

3)  Steve Nieve of Elvis Costello and the Attractions/Imposters (keyboards).  Nieve injects a little weirdness into the music of Elvis Costello, not that Elvis's lyrics don't do the same.  Few bands have used organ and piano as effectively as the Attractions, and it's all thanks to Steve.  He provides the flavor, and what a unique flavor it is.

4)  Jimmy Chamberlin of the Smashing Pumpkins (drums).  It's really too bad he's not in the band anymore.  His drumming is simply jaw-dropping.  Billy Corgan is the main creative force of the Pumpkins, but Jimmy's drumming was a huge part of the band's sound in the 1990s.  He might be one of the best drummers of the past thirty years, or ever.

5)  Ringo Starr of the Beatles (drums).  Yeah, I said it.  Or wrote it, rather.  Can you imagine "Rain" or "A Day In The Life" or "Hey Jude" or "Ticket To Ride" without old Ringo?  They'd still be good songs, but they'd be different songs.  I know a lot of people like to dismiss Ringo's contributions to the Beatles, but the fact remains that there were four geniuses in the band, not just three.