Chris and Alan were one of the best rhythm sections of the rock and roll era

[Enlighten]

Who else would be in your top five?

John Bonham and John Paul Jones

John Weathers and Phil Shulman

Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbush

Bill Bruford and Tony Levin

[Ash Armstrong]

Do we have to keep doing this kind of thing? It's not a sport.

[Enlighten]

Do we have to keep doing this kind of thing? It's not a sport.

You absolutely don’t have to keep doing this kind of thing and you’re right, it’s not a sport.

I am legitimately curious though about who people like and why.

[Frumious B]

Geddy Lee & Neil Peart
Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr
John Entwistle & Keith Moon
Peter Hook and Stephen Morris
Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen Jr.

[Ash Armstrong]

Thunes and Wackerman
Bruford and Levin
Bruford and Wetton
Lesh and Hart/Kreutzman
Ward and Butler
Paice and Glover
Sly and Robbie
Bonham and Jones
Sting and Copeland
et al...

[Enlighten]

Thunes and Wackerman
Bruford and Levin
Bruford and Wetton
Lesh and Hart/Kreutzman
Ward and Butler
Paice and Glover
Sly and Robbie
Bonham and Jones
Sting and Copeland
et al...

I like this list.

[josuev80]

Chris Squire and Bill Bruford
and of course Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen.

[rePete]

Squire & Bruford
Levin & Bruford
Wetton & Bruford
Jones & Bonham
Lee & Peart
Levin & Katché
Levin & Marotta

later on..
Edwin & Harrison

[rabin105]

Well

squire and Bruford
Squire and Schellen (conspiracy)
sherwood and White (circa and yes)
sherwood and Schellen (yes)
Squire Bruford and White (yes)
Sherwood and Dylan Howe

for nonyes related

townsend Moon
paul Jones and Bonham
lesh and Krietzman and hart
rutherford and collins


thats a good list for now

[downbyariver]

In no particular order:

Rutherford and Collins
Sting and Copeland
Squire and White
Wetton and Palmer

I'm sure there are plenty of good combinations that I am forgetting about, am not aware of to the degree they are responsible for their band's best music, or simply miss out on because maybe I don't care for their band overall and it affects how I view their rhythm sections.

However, the four I could come up with off the top of my head, I really loved, especially around what I view as their peak time periods.

[Mr. Holland]

Nice thread. Chris and Alan had a real chemistry, moreso (and no doubt I'll be chastised for this 😉) than Chris and Bill IMO.

Other great rhythm sections:

John Paul Jones & John Bonham

Bill Wyman & Charlie Watts (it's the wall of steadiness of them that allowed Jagger and Richards to freewheel creatively)

The Funk Brothers: James Jamerson & Benny Benjamin (the rhythm section on countless motown hits)

Les Claypool & Tim Alexander (Primus)

Sting & Stewart Copeland

Steve Harris & Nico McBain

Larry Graham & Gregg Erico (Sly and The Family Stone)

Geezer Butler & Bill Ward

John Entwistle & Keith Moon

Donald Dunn & Al Jackson jr. (The Stax studio band, played on classics from Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and countless others)

Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker

David Garibaldi & Francis "Rocco" Prestia (Tower of Power)

Charles Mingus & Dannie Richmond, probably the most versatile rhythm section in all of jazz

Jaco Pastorius & Alex Acuna (Weather Report)

Noel Redding & Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience)

Tommy Shannon & Chris Layton (Stevie Ray Vaughan' Double Trouble)

James Brown Band (Bernard Odum; Bootsy Collins; Charles Sherrell on bass, Clyde Stubblefield; John “Jabo” Starks on drums in various combinations)

I think that about covers it.....

[Enlighten]

Nice thread. Chris and Alan had a real chemistry, moreso (and no doubt I'll be chastised for this 😉) than Chris and Bill IMO.

I agree with you re Chris and Alan when it comes to live performance. I’d call it about even in terms of in the studio, especially when you consider the big 3 of TYA, Fragile and CTTE.

[Old Frothingslosh]

Very subjective, no wrong answers. My top 5 are:


John Entwistle/Keith Moon (Who)
Chris Squire/Alan White (Yes)
Oteil Burbridge/Butch Trucks ,"Jaimoe" Johanson (Allman Brothers)
Roy Estrada/Richie Hayward (Little Feat)
Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker (Cream)

[Enlighten]

I forgot Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine and Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson from Chic.

[patrickq]

I second Squire/Bruford.

Squire and White are both loved here, and I think we (me included) sometimes mix this up with greatness. The rhythm sections on Drama and Relayer are phenomenal. Outside of a few songs, they never again accomplished that in the remaining thirty years.

Bruford and Squire started strong on the first two albums, then did three more with Yes, each better than the last—The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge—but never mind the overall quality of each of those albums; the drum kit / bass guitar interplay was also incredible throughout. To top things off, Squire called up Bruford for Fish Out of Water, whichhas, in my opinion, the best rhythm section of any Yes-related project.

White was always upbeat, and like Squire, he stayed true and loyal to the band. He and Squire also stuck with each other for decades. So they appear to be much more of a unit. I’d still argue that the Squire/Bruford compositions and performances, though far fewer, were not only better, but the best that I’m aware of in progressive rock.

(my 2¢)