George in traditional Irish music the drum is called a Bodhran, I guess it's the same the whole world over.
http://www.ceolas.org/instruments/bodhran/jokes.shtml One definition Bodhran. pron. Bow - rahn. "bodhrán deaf person; dullard"
Andrew
You seem to have more personal experience of both world class sportsmen and musicians than the rest of us have of either. I would Be interested to hear your take on the following (half baked?) theory.
In my experience in both fields the level just below the top are themselves amazing talents and before the big break it's often hard to pick who the 'winner' will be. However in the Arts it's more often the case that being spotted by the 'right' person can put you on stage at the right time. In sports you are more likely to rise to the top based on your talents alone.
I may be generalising a bit too much here and ignoring team vs solo performers, but I'd appreciate your take on it?
Finally it may be my age but Jimmy Page is the only guitatrist you've mentioned that I've ever listened to. Like many stars he may have become trapped by his own ipersona - in this case sound but it wasn't always so. In the days before the Yardbirds the young Page was the favoured hired gun in swinging London. from Wikipedia
" As a session guitarist he was known as 'Little Jim' so there was no confusion with Big Jim Sullivan. Page was mainly called in to sessions as "insurance" in instances when a replacement or second guitarist was required by the recording artist. "It was usually myself and a drummer", he explained, "though they never mention the drummer these days, just me ... Anyone needing a guitarist either went to Big Jim [Sullivan] or myself"[7]
Page was the favoured session guitarist of producer Shel Talmy, and therefore he ended up doing session work on songs for The Who and The Kinks as a direct result of the Talmy connection.[12] Page's studio output in 1964 included Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By", The Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road", The Rolling Stones' "Heart of Stone" (released on Metamorphosis), Van Morrison & Them's "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Here Comes the Night", Dave Berry's "The Crying Game" and "My Baby Left Me", and Brenda Lee's "Is It True". Under the auspices of producer Talmy, Page contributed to The Kinks' 1964 debut album and he sat in on the sessions for The Who's first single "I Can't Explain" (although Pete Townshend was reluctant to allow Page's contribution on the final recording, Page did play on the B-side "Bald Headed Woman".)
In 1965 Page was hired by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham to act as house producer and A&R man for the newly-formed Immediate Records label, which also allowed him to play on and/or produce tracks by John Mayall, Nico, Chris Farlowe, Twice as Much and Eric Clapton. Page also formed a brief songwriting partnership with then romantic interest, Jackie DeShannon. He also composed and recorded songs for the John Williams (not the classical guitarist) album The Maureeny Wishful Album with Big Jim Sullivan. Page worked as session musician on the Al Stewart album Love Chronicles in 1969, and played guitar on five tracks of Joe Cocker's debut album, With a Little Help from My Friends.
When questioned about which songs he played on, especially ones where there exists some controversy as to what his exact role was, Page often points out that it is hard to remember exactly what he did given the huge number of sessions he was playing at the time.[12]"