Unsung Hero - Tommy Aldridge

Tommy Aldridge...man, oh man, this dude does not deserve as much credit as he should in the hard rock and heavy metal drumming community. As a drummer myself, I find him to be not just a huge influence on my playing, but also a huge part of a lot of hard rock and heavy metal drummers' playing today. The man perfected the double kick playing to a tee and also took John Bonham's bare hands playing to a whole new level in his drum solos. The man is a god damn monster on the drum kit, plain and simple.
Tommy was born on August 15, 1950 in Nashville, TN. His main influences in drumming were Ginger Baker, John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, Ringo Starr and Joe Morello. His first band he played in and started getting attention in were southern rockers Black Oak Arkansas (a badass band in their own right, heard quite a bit in the movie "Dazed and Confused.") He recorded 3 albums with them, including the bitchin' live album "Raunch 'N' Roll Live" and played with them between 1972 and 1976. After Tommy stopped playing with Black Oak, he got put on board to play drums for the extremely underrated blues hard rock band Pat Travers Band, recording 5 albums with them, including, again, another bad ass live album "Live: Go for What You Know!" It was after he departed Pat Travers Band that he started to get noticed big time in the hard rock and heavy metal drumming community, playing with Ozzy Osbourne in his classic "Blizzard of Ozz/Diary of a Madman" lineup. After playing with the Oz man and blues guitarist and ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore (RIP), he got picked up to play for Whitesnake at the height of their popularity. He played with them up to 1990, right when the band broke up, but then played with them again in 2002 up until 2007 when the Snake reunited. When Whitesnake disbanded, he started playing with everyone from Motorhead to Ted Nugent, just playing and playing, trying to keep himself busy. In 2007, he played in Thin Lizzy for a bit up until last year. At this moment, Tommy is just trying to find himself yet ANOTHER band to play with. But, while he finds another band to play with, he has been known to be an in demand drum clinician and goes around the country giving drum clinics at music stores, so that keeps him busy most of the time.
Basically, Tommy is the shit and urine when it comes to drums. He has influenced many hard rock and heavy metal drummers, from Tommy Lee to Brian Tichy. The man's resume is beyond stellar, and he had set the bar for many hard rock and heavy metal drummers to come after him. It is a shame that hardly anybody in the hard rock and heavy metal drumming community mention him when it comes to influential drumming. People go on to mention drummers like Bonham, Bill Ward, Lars Ulrich, and others as influential, but dare do not mention Aldridge. The man practically got the double kick drumming going for many of them thrashers and metalheads. No matter what though, this man remains in the my top 5 favorite drummers of all time and is highly influential to me, especially when it comes to my double kick drumming.

Tommy Aldridge endorses:
Yamaha drums
Paiste cymbals

Recommended Listening:
Pat Travers Band: "Live: Go for What You Know!"
Ozzy Osbourne: "Tribute"
Black Oak Arkansas: "Raunch 'N' Roll Live"
Whitesnake: "Slip of the Tongue"

Here's a clip of Mr. Aldridge beating the shit out of them drums and showing them who's the boss. It is certainly not Tony Danza!

Rock On Brothers and Sisters!
Bonzo Brad