Have any favorites where the particular drummer on a track may have unintentionally goofed a bit, but they ended up leaving it in, and youd miss it if it were gone?

Could be small things like missing a full rim shot in a groove, an out of time or "sour" note. Or something more noticeable like a tempo change.

But it's something that you listen for each time and would miss it if it were not there?

A tempo change example (favorite of mine) is when Carl Palmer comes out of the solo in Emerson, Lake and Palmers classic track, Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression-Part 2, from the great album-Brain Salad Surgery. The tempo slows just a hair from where he is in the end of the drum solo to when they kick back into the song. Id really miss it if it were "fixed."

Maybe its harsh to call it a mistake, one could argue that he "meant" for it to turn out like that. But anyway.

Have any?

I can't think of any off hand of another drummer, but one of my favorite is when I was playing off-beats on the bell of the ride, kick,and snare. I got really into the groove and gave it sort of an agogo feel, my drum teacher looked at me and said, we want to keep this as white as possible (I laughed, and got back onto a more solid feel.)  

Without a doubt, "Fly Like An Eagle".  There are more clams on there than at Red Lobster, but there are so many things on there that feel so darned good!  (I can only hope to have people say the same thing about my tracks)!


Dan/NS

As current, my favorite (apparent) gaffe comes from Randy Newman's Short People.  It is the missed rimshot that marks the second backbeat in the first verse; the snare part is described below the lyric:

Short people got....no reason...Short people got...

.......BONK..............*clack*..............BONK........

To me, this likely mistake fits even better than if there was a normal rimshot like the rest.

Really? I can't think of any.
All my CD's are in storage (don't ask), so I can't check.
The beginning of Led Boots - Jeff Beck is pretty funky. Narada is all over the shop and I can't work out what's going on.......but the band all come in bang in on beat one of the song, so maybe it's just me.  

I'll independently verify that.  I was listening to it yesterday in the car and heard it.  I remember thinking "that sounds like he dropped a stick".  It was very weird to read this post, since I thought about posting a thread on it!

Hey, Christopher, that particular spot has bugged me from the first time I heard it.  However, the last time I heard it on the local classic rock radio sation, I began to wonder if it may have been an attempt at artistic interpretation imposed by Keith Emerson as sort of a ritenuto (suddenly slower).  Additionally, Palmer did have a tendency to rush, so maybe it was an attempt to just bring the tempo back around.

Adam's Dad

On the Ozzy Osbourne Live At The Budakan DVD good ole' Mike Bordin's stick snaps in 2, can't remember the track might be Mr. Crowley, then he throws the stick the whole length of the stage and gets another out of the holder without missing one beat, pure genius. Not really a mistake i know, but still cool as hell hehe.

On "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Dave Grohl doesn't play a cymbal crash at the beginning of the guitar solo. He hits a crash at the beginning of every other measure in the chorus and during the solo.
Also, i guess it's not necessarially a mistake, but on Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You," there is a sort of squeaking noise that i can only guess is Bonham's bass drum pedal coming back. I'm not even sure what it is though. Maybe I'm the only one that hears it.

could be hi-hat pedal?