How about Hal Blaine? He's played on gazillions of top selling hit songs. I'd be willing to wager there's at least one recording in everybody's collection that features his excellent and tasteful playing.
He's the master at playing exactly what the song requires and nothing more. He doesn't get into the egotistic gyrating that interests only other drummers, instead he finds the proper groove, propels the song forward and places a tasty fill where it works best. While he certainly is an excellent technician, he is without a doubt the most musical drummer ever to play on records, having provided the push that made many songs so memorable.
There are even drummers mentioned in this thread whose parts on their records were actually played by Hal.
