How hip was Buddy Rich?

frankmcr · #1 09-03-2020, 05:22 PM

Enough to get an approving smile from this guy . . .

Kerbie · #2 09-03-2020, 05:45 PM

Bird... no slacker himself.

And a very young Buddy playing a set with no cymbals except the hi-hat? Looks like a piccolo snare and some small tom-toms. Maybe somebody here knows more about that set...

DukeX · #3 09-05-2020, 02:55 PM

Here's the performance that just blows me away. Not even sure how old he is, but...MAN!

SpruceTop · #4 09-06-2020, 02:35 PM

Buddy was one of the greatest drummers ever! One thing I didn't like was when he was on The Mike Douglas Show back in the 1970s and he disparaged country music as being terrible (not his exact words but was his intent). Mike asked him twice about it and Buddy answered the same way again. Although I could dig where his taste was, I thought Buddy would have realized that all forms of music have a place and an audience. Buddy left me a bit disappointed with his attitude.

eyesore · #5 09-19-2020, 01:30 PM

Loved him on the Muppetts!

Mr. Jelly · #6 09-19-2020, 03:03 PM

He was a very good drummer no doubt. Maybe great I don't know. He parlayed that into being a entertainer and did very well with that. Personally I only like drum solos that imply the beat more. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vita anyone

Kerbie · #7 09-19-2020, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Personally I only like drum solos that imply the beat more.

Buddy's solos didn't "imply the beat"? Do you mean because they were jazz?

FingahPickah · #8 09-19-2020, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Enough to get an approving smile from this guy . . .

Buddy Rich - An insulting, arrogant jerk ... who apparently THOUGHT he sounded like an intellectual .... on live TV ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvhvFnW8jfI

"I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." - Mark Twain and quite possibly Glen Campbell, Wayne Newton and at least a few drummers...

Mr. Jelly · #9 09-19-2020, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kerbie

Buddy's solos didn't "imply the beat"? Do you mean because they were jazz?

He always lost me as in I hear that it's still in time but the song that was being played seemed to be irrelevant and they will get back to it sometime. Kind of like a lead break where there's no melody being played. It's my preferences I am speaking of not his skill.

NormanKliman · #10 09-24-2020, 01:28 PM

He’s often criticized online, and some have even said he wasn’t a good drummer, which is nonsense. Now that I’ve watched the video FingahPickah posted, I understand where the hate is coming from. I’ve heard parts of those recordings of his tantrums and, to tell you the truth, I’ve worked for jerks like that and I’ll bet you have, too. I’m not saying it makes it right.

But badmouthing Chet Atkins in particular and dismissing country music in general is asking for a fight.

I had a look online for information on him and was surprised to see he was born in 1917.

Interview Modern Drummer magazine 1977.

On The Dick Cavett Show in 1972. I had to laugh at the tension between the two, like a couple of cats that end up swatting at each other. Video includes commercials from 1972 that are kind of a shock to the brain if you were around then.

According to this reference, one of the guests on that episode of Cavett was Rich’s martial-arts teacher Aaron Banks.

seannx · #11 09-24-2020, 03:43 PM

Saw him in Chicago in 1969. He and the band gave an excellent performance, enthusiastically received by the rock and roll crowd.

Bob Womack · #12 10-21-2020, 07:13 AM

Kidding, but just sayin'...

Bob

Brent Hahn · #13 10-21-2020, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Buddy was one of the greatest drummers ever! One thing I didn't like was when he was on The Mike Douglas Show back in the 1970s and he disparaged country music as being terrible (not his exact words but was his intent). Mike asked him twice about it and Buddy answered the same way again. Although I could dig where his taste was, I thought Buddy would have realized that all forms of music have a place and an audience. Buddy left me a bit disappointed with his attitude.

For a short time in the early 80s I dated a young lady who worked for his management/PR company, and I got to see him in a few social settings and semi-private meetings (the "semi" being because I was there). Long story short, he was a challenge.

Methos1979 · #14 10-21-2020, 09:10 AM

Buddy Rich is THE greatest drummer ever. No one has that technique.

That said, it was a well known fact that he was an arrogant and annoying man.

bsman · #15 10-21-2020, 09:13 AM

I saw him live in one of the Chicago suburbs in the mid-70s, and the entire band brought it. In general, unless they're very public about it I don't care much about how giant a diva or jerk a performer is, because if that was the yardstick I used, very few would measure up (professional musicians as a class are not noted for their humbleness and lack of arrogance...)