Prince's drummers...

Recently someone asked here who your favorite Prince sax player is..
My question is, which drummer do you like the best...?
Matt..?...Sheila...?....Scott?...

John Blackwell by a long way!!
[Edited 3/3/06 7:30am]

Scott? Am I having a massive brainfart here? Who's scott?

To be honest, I like them all. I love Sheila, but I think she deserves to be in front of the drum kit playing percussion...her rock drumming is great, but she's such a good performer as a percussionist.

I like Michael Bland and I think he was perfect for what Prince was doing at the time.

I'm really crazy about John Blackwell, though. His intensity and his showmanship really impressed me on the Musicology tour.

PurpleRein said:

John Blackwell most definately! Though Michael B. and Sheila are very good as well.

1. John Blackwell

2. Sheila E.

3. Michael Bland

4. Prince

jsb23nc said:

Michael B, give it to me.

Sorry about the Scott...on the undertaker video, Prince says, "give it to me Scotty.." I thought he meant the drummer

PurpleRein said:

Matt Fink plays drums, too?


I don't think Prince has had any weak drummers since Sheila came in. Mike and John are both great. Sheila is great, too. They all have their strengths. Prince's musicians have all been pretty damn good. No real lame players. Some have stood out more than others, though.
[Edited 3/3/06 9:02am]

the perfect band for prince would be
john blackwell on drums
sheila e on percussion
wendy on guitar
rhonda smith on bass
rosie gaines and lisa on keyboards
candy dullfer on sax
with the clair fischer orchestra behind them

and NONE of the joke boys sorry, i mean the game boys

Levi said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Matt Fink plays drums, too?


I don't think Prince has had any weak drummers since Sheila came in. Mike and John are both great. Sheila is great, too. They all have their strengths. Prince's musicians have all been pretty damn good. No real lame players. Some have stood out more than others, though.
[Edited 3/3/06 9:02am]

They're all talented but Michael Bland is my favorite hands down. Not only because I prefer his style but also because he makes it seem so effortless compared to the others.

Michael B is just sooo cool with it.

kirky j?


seriously though...i gotta go with mr bland...he's the only one that made me really take notice to the drum beat..

sheila rocks when up front like anxiety said....

i dont really get what other's see in blackwell. but im not really a fan of drums...it takes hard/rythmic playing (like bland) to get my attention or the technical skill is totally lost on me.

Each drummer lent something to his sound. I love Sheila's work, but was she a better drummer (LoveSexy era) or percussionist?

Michael B. was probably the best. Although there was not a lot of subtle sounds from him, his hard driving beats made a lot of Prince's songs during that part warmer.

Hell, even the Linn drums of Bobby Z. defined the mid 80's Minneapolis sound. Granted, much of what he did was originally programmed by Prince, he did play live drums on several great tracks including Jack U Off, Extralovable, Purple Rain, Lets Go Crazy, I Would Die 4 U, Baby I’m a Star, Raspberry Beret, The Ladder, some overdubs on Paisley Park, America, Mountains, Love or Money, and of course Gonna Be A Beautiful Night on SOTT. I wouldn't write him off as untalented. Prince wouldn't have let someone coast in his band for that long.

i think bobby z's work with the revolution was a lot harder than we all think. he probably deserves more credit than he's given. but still, he never really did it for me as a drummer, as much as he did it for me as a character in prince's band at the time. if that makes sense.

Michael B without a doubt.

Anx said:

Anx said:

It's a tie between Bobby Z and Sheila E., and as someone already said Bobby really deserves more credit than he gets for his contributions to the Revolution .

nurse said:

It's a tie between Bobby Z and Sheila E., and as someone already said Bobby really deserves more credit than he gets for his contributions to the Revolution .

do we have to have horns?
[Edited 3/6/06 13:59pm]

Bland! Apart from prince himself of course.

Blackwell, and sheila


who the fuck is scott n matt? lol

My favorite drummer will always be Michael Bland for various reasons:

1. like others have said before, he made it look so easy and effortless when it really wasn´t..he´s one of the coolest drummers on this planet.

2. I liked his trademark drumming, that "oomph" "bam bam" , you know...?

3. Them good old memories...the tightest NPG ever, cool concerts, Gold Experience tour in Europe 95, Act II in 93, Aftershow in Berlin 94, his drumming on "The Undertaker " video...cool cat.

4. Him and Sonny were , much like Wendy and Lisa, a "band within the band", the New Power Trio ( with P)....

5. He really seems to be a genuinely nice and friendly person.

6. A friend of mine knows him

Sure, Sheila and john Blackwell are also excellent, they all play their part in the Prince universe,and I´m not saying that John B. is worse or that Sheila is worse than Michael B., they´re all very, very good and unique but my personal favorite drummer will always be Michael Bland...him and Bobby Z don´t get enough credit...Bobby probably wasn´t that great, but just read that Rolling Stone 85 interview and listen to some stuff from way back and you´ll understand...Bobby and Brownmark are seriously underrated...that´s sad.

My fave is Michael B...he is one of the reasons I became a Prince fan.

But John Blackwell and Sheila are awesome too. I like Prince on drums a lot too.

Bobby Z (purely for the way he plays those electronic drums) and then a VERY close 2nd Sheila E.

PurpleRein said:

Sydney said: