Slingerland Drum Company - Endorsers

Endorsers

For many years, Slingerland drums were associated with such jazz drummers as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, who both had Slingerland drums named after them; another notable jazz drummer from the newer generation was Weather Report's Peter Erskine. Among the rock drummers who endorsed Slingerland were Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds, Barry Whitwam with Herman's Hermits, Mike Smith (who all had previously played Ludwig's) and later Joe Correro, Jr. with Paul Revere & the Raiders, Dick Dodd of The Standells, Antonio "Fito" de la Parra with Canned Heat, Bev Bevan of Electric Light Orchestra, Bobby Columby of Blood Sweat and Tears, Danny Seraphine of Chicago, Joey Stefko of Meat Loaf, Phil Ehart of Kansas, Alice Cooper's original drummer, Neal Smith, and Elton John's drummer, Nigel Olsson. Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick also played them in the late 1970s. Tre Cool of Green Day and Ray Mehlbaum of Automatic 7 endorsed Slingerland drums in the late 1990s. Neil Peart used them without an endorsement from 1974 to 1979. Rick Brainer of Code of Ethics and currently with Tommy Steele, AJ Nester of Foreign Policy still uses Slingerland drums to this day. Yet, Slingerland's "Achilles's heel" was its overall inability to successfully market its drums to the rock 'n' roll market, compared to its rival, Ludwig.