If we were going by this, like if this was a barometer, how easy is it to play Moon's drum parts?
Damn near impossible,,,,,,,for me anyways.
Or Bonham's?
I've had more luck with Bonham than most other drummers, but I cant copy his sound and I try to copy his feel as best as possible, but the important word is,,,,copy! These drummers invented this stuff. I could copy and repaint the Mona Lisa, but does that make my copy better? I think not.
Is it really hard to emulate them, or is that a myth?
No, this is fact. I've yet to see drummers do it right.
Plus, even if you could, wouldn't the fact that they came first also put them on top? I mean, there's a lot of imitators out there, but who did what first.
The timelines to vast for me to even get into. I mean, Bonzo's peers were Buddy Rich and Carmen Appice from vanilla Fudge (he really actually copied Carmens style but took it a step further). As for Moonie, that freestyle controlled chaos is just him and i've never heard that style before in the context of an actual band. I'm sure there were some before, but maybe not.
And then there's personality. I mean, nothing to do with drumming, but Ringo and Moon are a bit more fun to watch then your average drummer. Ringo has personality. Moon had personality plus.
I'd say stage presence is one of the most important things for a musician. How many concerts have you seen where the musicians were awesome, but they were boring as hell to watch? Makes a 'should have been great show' into just an average show. Look at Abe Laborial from Maccas band. I have a hard time watching Paul because Abe steals the show.
***Talking about Moonie and Bonzo makes me give a shout out to Ian Paice from Deep Purple. I think he's as good or better than the two previous mentions.***