Buddy out of his comfort zone?

A

Anthony Amodeo

Guest
I just came across a Buddy Rich clip I miraculously have never seen before......I thought I had seen them all

anyway.....skip to 8:35 here and see if you agree

of course Buddy is playing some nice stuff but to me he sounds wildly out of his element and even loses the time which I had never heard him do before.....I've heard mistakes....never heard him lose time

he just sounds uncomfortable to me playing this style and I thought it was interesting

curious why he would choose a tune like this to play with the band

what say you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUxeFaVMG1Y
 
Whatever you might think about the drumming, you gotta love the hair! First time I've seen this one, too.

Yeah, that was pretty rock for Buddy. I think he was out of his groove / bpm comfort zone. Not my favorite performance of his, but I still liked it.
 
Interesting link Gvda. Bit of an issue with the floor tom, eh?

I'd read that Buddy wasn't happy with straight 8s and you can feel him trying to swing it and to not swing it. Still, when you play like that when you're out of your element you're doing well!
 
Yeah, the whole performance just seems off. The kiss he plants on the female guest right at the end doesn't look well-received, either :)
 
Was that Slingerland sticker supposed to be on the bass drum or did he endorse Pearl at some point? Sorry for the noob question. I don't know alot about him.
 
Buddy never endorsed Pearl.He played Slingerland for most of his career,but also WFL,Ludwig(basicly the same thing)Rogers,and for a very short time,Vox,and Fibes.I've seen him play other brands,but I suspect they were backline or rental kits.

He played that solo with a broken pinky finger on his left hand.The guy was tough as nails

More OT,he did look somewhat out of his element,and that seemed to happen a lot when Cathy was around for some reason.Maybe it was her choice of music,or his lack of enthusiasm for it.

Steve B
 
Was that Slingerland sticker supposed to be on the bass drum or did he endorse Pearl at some point? Sorry for the noob question. I don't know alot about him.

He endorsed Ludwig, Slingerland, and he used a Fibes snare drum. I'm almost 100% sure he never used Pearl. This was just a house kit.
 
He seemed to be actually annoyed when his floortom head broke, and
throwing his sticks at the other drummer really is no kind gesture.

that was definitely planned....the floor tom I mean

you can see that it is split the whole time and probably taped together

and he and Ed Shaughnessy were friends so the stick throwing Im sure was light hearted and more theatrical than ill intended
 
throwing his sticks at the other drummer really is no kind gesture.

Buddy and Ed Shaughnessy were good friends. It was clearly a joke, as Buddy tried to "blame" Ed for the broken floor tom head.

Was that Slingerland sticker supposed to be on the bass drum or did he endorse Pearl at some point? Sorry for the noob question. I don't know alot about him.
No, he never endorsed Pearl. The drum kit belonged to Ed Shaughnessy (the drummer in the back) who did endorse Pearl at the time. I suspect the Slingerland sticker was supposed to over the Peal logo, but someone forgot to apply it.


Which goes to the original question of why this tune?

We all know Buddy loved big-band music and was determined to carry on the style long after it had fallen out of favor with the public at large, and long after most musicians from his generation had moved away from big band.

In the 70's Buddy tried to prove big-band wasn't just an old style by attempting to update his band with a selection of modern songs adapted to big band style. Somewhere around this board there is a thread with an interview clip of Buddy going off on how much he hates Led Zeppelin, but then admits he incorporates numerous tunes from the Beatles into his repertoire. So I suspect this song was one of his earlier attempts to "modernize" big band.

I would also suspect this performance was done very last minute. The fact that he neither has his own drums, nor does he even have a rental set up like his kit reflects a lack of before planning. The fact that it's borrowed Peal kit, that someone took he time to get a Slingerland sticker to put over the logo, but didn't have time to apply it also reflects the last minute aspect of it.

The Tonight Show commonly books people well in advance, but sometimes someone cancels at the last minute, and the show scrambles to find any celebrity who happens to be in town as a last minute guest. So perhaps Buddy had just happen to be in town that day as a last minute fill in. Or perhaps he was scheduled, but Buddy had been out of town and had a plane delay that prevented him and his gear to arrive in time an he missed rehearsal. Or who knows.
 
that was definitely planned....the floor tom I mean

you can see that it is split the whole time and probably taped together

and he and Ed Shaughnessy were friends so the stick throwing Im sure was light hearted and more theatrical than ill intended

I've heard stories (although never seen) that Johnny and Ed would play practical jokes on Buddy when he was on the show. So I was thinking that floor tom might have been a set up.
 
The throwing of the sticks definitely seemed light hearted and as for Buddy playing something different...it's kind of fun to see. Sure, big band might have been his forte but why not branch out and try some other stuff every so often. Nothing like a challenge to keep you motivated! And if he was playing with a broken pinky...even all the more impressive.

Sometimes I think it's the audience (us) that doesn't like seeing him outside his normal style. We come to see what we expect and he serves us up something out of the ordinary. It's kind of like going to see your favorite band in concert and we all want to hear the old stuff and kind of groan when they stop to play a new song.

Gotta say though, any Buddy is good Buddy in my book! :)
 
Sp speaking of Buddy on Carson and practical jokes,

Back in the late 80's someone told me this story, but I've never found any proof to back it up, and will all the clips of Buddy on youtube, I've yet to see this in any clip.

The story goes that during one of Buddy's many appearances on the Tonight Show, that Johnny had replaced one of the Buddy's cymbals with a fake cymbal made of Sugar Glass (i.e. what is used to simulate glass in movies because it shatters easily but doesn't leave stunt men cut up like real glass). And part way through the song (or drum solo) Buddy goes to hit the cymbal and it shatters everywhere, creating a big laugh from everyone.

Anyone ever hear/see/know anything about this? Or is just urban legend?
 
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