I can only think of two

[ericcoleman]

I tend to not like singing drummers. I can only think of two that I like. Levon Helm from The Band and Pete Rivera from Rare Earth

Can anyone think of any others? The first person to utter the "K" word gets made fun of in a very cruel and obscene manner ...

Comments

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Phil Collins?

[ericcoleman]

He is a drummer who also sings, not a singing drummer.

[powersalad.livejournal.com]

Keith Moon??!!??!! Kuwait??? Krispy Kritters??? Keanu Reeves??

Moulty from The Barbarians.
Micky Dolenz!!!

Agreed on Levon Helm fer sher.

[ericcoleman]

I don't think we can call what Keith did singing ...

[ericcoleman]

Oh, and Moulty sang one song ... and Micky ... he was as much of a drummer as Moon was a singer

[fleetfootmike.livejournal.com]

Which K word? Richard's sister?

Phil Collins sings and plays. So does Roger Taylor of Queen. Don Henley.

[ericcoleman]

WATCH IT !!! YER THAT CLOSE !!!

Ok, sorry ... Phil sang and played when Pete was in Genesis, but as a harmony singer (when he sang More Fool Me live, he came out front) . He has rarely done so since. Roger will sing lead occasionally, but rarely live. Don Henley is a good example though.

[pooh27bear.livejournal.com]

Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz!

[ericcoleman]

What band has he "fronted" as a singing drummer? I'm talking being the lead singer of a band, while being the drummer.

Obscure, but....

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

The one time I saw the hippie band "The Strawberry Alarm Clock" on TV, the drummer was singing lead, and doing so marvelously well. I cannot remember if they were singing their hit "Incense and Peppermints" or the follow-up "Tomorrow." Also, the Standells, whose hit was "Dirty Water," had a drummer who sang excellent lead. My first wife and I had a nightclub trio, Caryl and Company, for which she played bass and sang half the lead, I played guitar (2 1/2 sets) and keyboards (1 1/2 sets) and sang mostly harmony, and we needed a series of lead singing drummers to keep gigging. There were four we used regularly, a couple more we would like to have used if things had gone just a little bit differently, and even one (the unfortunate late Tom Nystrom, one of the top musicians in town with the Underbeats and the Accents) whom I would have moved heaven and earth to work with if there had been any possibility whatever. But none of these would have been a national star. (Didn't Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys sing lead on some songs? It's worth checking their wikipedia article.)
And if harmony vocal counts, the drummer for Grand Funk Railroad was an excellent harmony singer.
Nate B.

Re: Obscure, but....

[ericcoleman]

Harmony doesn't count.

Re: Obscure, but....

[ericcoleman]

I have never seen the SAC ... I need to see what there is on You Tube tonight.

Yeah, Dennis sang some stuff when I saw the BB with him in the 70s. Forgot about that.

Re: Obscure, but....

[ericcoleman]

Found a real good version of Tomorrow, with the drummer singing. And another song where he is not playing the drum set, but still singing and playing bongos ... but yeah, I say he'd fit in this category. He was a good drummer too

Later versions of the band have a guitar player who sings lead, I'm not sure if it's the same guy though.

[mike46.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm ... I can't seem to think of the 'K' word ...

How about -

Dave Grohl
Don Henley
Roger Taylor
Kelly Keagy
Don Brewer

I know there's more, but I don't want to be made fun of ... nope, not me.

[ericcoleman]

Only one of those really was the lead singer while he was playing drums, and that was Don Henley.

I refuse to admit the existence of ... well ... the band that the 4th one was in ...

[bathtubnz.livejournal.com]

Roger Taylor?

[ericcoleman]

He sang lead on a couple of songs, but rarely live. Freddie was the lead singer of that band

[gundo.livejournal.com]

I think I've figured out your K word...Buddy Rich actually praised that person's drumming

[mike46.livejournal.com]

Voted best Rock Drummer of 1975 ... by Playboy, but still.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Post-Beatles Ringo sangs lead.

Since I mostly know groups from recordings, not concerts (or pictures), it's hard to visualize who plays what. I would imagine that for most rock bands, miking a drum and a vocal that close together would be tricky.

[ericcoleman]

It's not that hard actually ... stage mikes are very directional

Ringo is a so-so example ... mostly cause I don't think of him as a singer really ...

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Don Henley.

Just had the pleasure of being at the Eagles concert night before last. That's a singing drummer if I ever saw one.

As someone who plays bodhran while singing (and no, I'm not claiming to be a drummer) I fully understand how hard that can be. My proudest moment so far as a musician in QG is being able to sing "Rocky Road to Dublin" and play the bodhran well and consistently throughout AND Bruce tacks an instrumental on after it!

[ericcoleman]

Henley has come up several times ... he's a good example. I'm not much of an Eagles fan ... but some of the stuff he did was excellent. Good drummer too.

[wwetuesday.livejournal.com]

Bud Sharpe?

[philady.livejournal.com]

That's what I was gonna say. :)

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Gotta say, Pete Rivera kicked serious ass on both duties.

[braider.livejournal.com]

Tommy McDowell of Immigrant Soul.

[stevieannie.livejournal.com]

My husband! Tends not to do it much as most bands he is currently in have more singers than drummers, so his skills are usually called for elsewhere. However, he is perfectly capable of it, and has done it on several occasions. He'd love the opportunity to do it more often.

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

Steven Brust