Overlooked guitarist, bassist, and drummer

Guitar—Walter Becker

Bass—Glen Moore (Oregon)

Drums—Dave Weckl, maybe Peter Erskine too.

 

Um no.Jack Casady & especially Steve Cropper have never been under rated at least not by the 60s & 70s generations

 

Three very underrated players all in the same band:

Grant Geissman - guitar
Charles Meeks - bass
James Bradley Jr. - drums

 

Simon Kirke is on the short list of the steadiest and most solid backbeats in rock.
(He was a big fan of human metronome Al Jackson, of Booker T. and the M.G.s.)

And my choice for this thread is Simon's musical colleague in Free, Andy Fraser,
whose impeccable rhythmic sense, woody tone, and original musical sensibility
made him one of rock's most unique bass players.

 

A big YES for all three! (Man, you got some good records!)

By the time Big Al had MASHED that Telecaster for eight or nine choruses,
the audience at The Bottom Line would be foaming at the mouth!

 

Steve Caton , guitar. Tori Amos (God)

Greg Errico , drums. Sly and the family

Aston Barret , bass. Marley

 

Elliott Sharp - guitar

 

Laurence Cottle - bass

 

Al Foster - drums

 

There are an incredible amount of really great musicians in every category ...
I seem to have had my eye taken by the Bass players in this thread, because the majority of the guitarists and drummers are loved by many, even if they aren't household names.
The poor old Bass players seem to always get stuck with the "couldn't play guitar, so we gave him a bass" mentality

The ones that stood out to me.

Mark Sandman - was great ... Morphine were great, but slightly too unusual for some.
Gene Simmons - In a band constantly accused of being musically incompetent, probably mainly because of Gene being a little too loud about ..... well everything ... but Simmons really was a top class Bass player, and did some great stuff. Ace was a great guitarist too, but many do actually recognise that.
Colin Moulding - This guy is excellent. I also think that he is a great writer. Perhaps not as prolific as Partridge, but Moulding always seemed to hit a home run every album.
Moulding songs - Making Plans For Nigel, Generals And Majors, Runaways, English Roundabout, Wonderland

 

Guitar:- Glen Tilbrook from Squeeze (great soloing from the earliest days of his career), I'm going to pick two - Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) - accomplished on both acoustic and electric, wonderful chord sense.

Bass:- 2nd vote for Norman Watt-Roy, funky as they come

Drums:- Dave Mattacks

 

Guitar: Jan Akkerman – He should be so much bigger than just being known for a couple of Focus songs. But he doesn’t promote himself much, seemingly content to operate at a small scale on his own terms. I already had most of his solo albums, but got the recent box set of his work and it just reaffirmed that he’s an extremely talented player that can easily move between a variety of styles. And that could be another reason why he was never bigger. Like Jeff Beck, Jan didn’t stand still musically in one genre.

Bass: Verdine White (Earth, Wind & Fire) – On one level, that style of music seems so simple to play bass to which is why relatively few in that genre seem to get named among the greats of the instrument. But when you dig into his playing, there are lots of little things that, perhaps, get lost in the overall production... he’s not just playing repetitive riffs to a disco beat. And then live, to play solid while bouncing around with the dance moves takes more stamina than I’ll ever have.

Drums: Don Powell (Slade) – I could probably put him here just on the basis of the car accident that caused memory loss including how to play the Slade songs. Something that I think he still battles to this day. (His autobiography is a great read!) But beyond that, he’s just been a solid player driving those “stomp your feet” sort of songs Slade wrote. Love his work on the live Slade on Stage.

 

Wino , guitarist.

 

A player so versatile he's played with Black Sabbath and Hanson!

 

Well, to be fair the OP used the word "overlooked", not "underrated", and they do in fact convey different meanings. I interpreted "overlooked" in the context of SHTV to mean great musicians who I don't recall frequently seeing in "Top 50" lists or "best of" discussions, and these guys came to mind almost immediately.

It is true that Casady and Cropper certainly receive their rightful due when they are not being overlooked, so you are correct that neither is "underrated"!

Are these alternates acceptable?
Guitar: Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash, Renaissance)
Bass: Pete Trewavas (Marillion)

 

William Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain. Melding noise and feedback with catchy Bo Diddley style guitar parts. A truly overlooked innovator in noise rock and experimental music.

 

Bass: Cetera and Moulding definitely for previous stated reasons. I'd also add Tiran Porter of The Doobies

Guitar: Dave Gregory XTC . You can hear him hiding under the brilliant songwriting of Mr. Partridge with his tasty licks and adornments that illustrate how inventive and accomplished he truly is.

Drums: Ehhhh, tough to come up with one so I'll go with Bingo from The Banana Splits. Playing a physically demanding instrument in a mascot costume takes a lot of stamina and skill.

 

Guitarist: John Frusciante: He and Flea have the same level but people just talk about how good Flea is. Some say Hillel Slovak is better than him, which I totally disagree with. I believe that if Frusciante did not replace Hillel Slovak RHCP would never have been successful worldwide.He was largely responsible for the success of RHCP.

Drummer: Mitch Mitchell: He and Keith Moon have the same level but people just talk about how good Keith Moon was, of course, Mitch didn't destroyed hotels and didn't drink until he died, so he's at a disadvantage.

Bassist: Paul McCartyney: He and John Entwistle had the same level but people just talk about how good Entwistle was. Which John Entwistle bass line is as good as the Come Together bass line?

 

It's Ray Brown. These guys are not overlooked in the jazz world.

Carlton is one of the most celebrated and revered guitarists of the past 40 years.

 

Either/ Or, neither artist fits the criteria of thread

 

Guitar-Billy Crain-plenty of artists
Bass-Tiran Porter-Doobie Brothers
Drums-Simon Kirke-Bad Company

 

Billy Crain!

I've just discovered his solo work. A serious run of excellence over the last few years. Great writer as well as player!

 

Drums: PacificOceanBlue gave the first correct answer - Mick Waller.
Guitar: Terry Haggerty (Sons of Champlin) A monster who never played a solo the same way twice.
Bass: Rockette Morton aka Mark Boston (Captain Beefheart)

 

well, I rarely see his name mentioned here. It's Clapton, Jimi, Beck.

 

Ray, of course! A momentary glitch.

Not overlooked in the jazz world at all, just snubbed by the uninformed when top 100 music lists are compiled.