My book Backbeats: A History of Rock and Roll in 15 Drummers tells a familiar story from an unfamiliar vantage. Moving from Chicago blues to Phil Spector’s early-1960s confections to the British Invasion, the birth of punk, metal, grunge, and hip-hop, the book tracks the seven-decade story of rock and roll as if drummers were the main characters.  And why not? Though they aren’t typically as famous as guitarists and singers, drummers have been just as crucial to the creation of this music,