Buddy out of his comfort zone?

Buddy was pretty good at that "boogaloo" type of rock playing. The early rock innovators all had a touch of that in them -- Bobby Columby, Mitch Mitchell, Ansley Dunbar. The funk guys like Purdie, Grady Tate and Clyde Stubberfield had it in a "tighter" fashion. They were the best. But around the middle 70's, playing in general got heavier and more precise. Bruford, Cobham, Porcaro, Harvey Mason, Steve Smith, Peart, Garabaldi -- were all doing things that were alien to Buddy and his generation and he could not make the transition.

Yeah, I agree with this.
 
no other drummer from any era who sticks to such a limited range would ever enjoy the kudos this guy gets. It would be used against anyone else so why not Buddy?

While you are correct, to be fair, when Buddy started, there were no different styles.

Buddy was a working drummer decades before many of the other genres we consider to "versatile" were even invented.

Buddy was already in his mid thirties when rock was in it's infancy, and in his 40's when rock passed jazz as the more popular form of music. When Buddy was in his formative years, being "versatile" wasn't even a consideration; the only music anyone used a drum set for at the time was swing music.
 
I find it hard to imagine how someone at Buddy's level could have difficulty with simple rock beats.

But this clip shows that he indeed did have issues with sraight 8th note feels...obviously he's one of the greatest ever, but this shows there is no such thing as the perfect drummer!

No matter how good you are if you dont practice sumthin outside your comfort level - it can be a train wreck...

No disrespect to a legend but this clip is an absolute mess !
 
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Phew, you don't want Buddy Rich throwing drumsticks at you. I just got around to watching this. He's fine, there's just a little bit of phasing with the band during the main part of the tune and with the bass player at the beginning of the solo. It happens. Probably the sound sucked, and very possibly the band didn't even rehearse the tune with Buddy. Otherwise he plays about like you'd expect for a feature on the Tonight Show in 1973.
 
Er, Neil Peart perhaps? (Or it could be spelled Noil Port. I'm a bit confused from another thread.)

Lol, so true! how did I miss him?!

Never been a fan. And although I love proggy and technical time wizards I've never classed him as one ever.
But who am I to look down at him, he doesn't class me as anything 'cos I don't exist! lol.

DrumEatDrum - I agree with what you say. I'm sure when I hit that age I'll be set in my ways too.

I was just pointing out how he's enjoyed a lifetime (and more) of hero worship as being one of if not the best drummers to ever have lived while only really dipping his toes into music as a whole.

For the styles he did stick too however he deserves all the credit he gets and more. The man was not a man, he was something else!

I remember the first time I heard him tearing the kit up, I nearly died, his snare rolls sounded like paper ripping. I couldn't believe it. Still can't really...
 
Not his best performance, but not abysmal or anything...although it did feel like I was watching a Planet of the Apes rerun...bad hair day??
 
Not his best performance to be sure,but way better than most.He was just a little out of his element with that tune.If it had been "Love For Sale",you would have seen a different Buddy.It also wasn't his kit.How many of you guys set up and measure everything to make sure it's all exactly the same,before you play?Buddy played what was in front of him.

We all perform differently out of our element.Take a professional NASCAR driver,and put him in a Baja race and he wouldn't know what to do.Take a Pro Bass fisherman,and take him deep sea fishing for Marlin,and sit back and watch the show,
Take most drummers today,and sit them behind Buddys band or any big band,and see how well they can drive it.
Very few guys out ther can do it all....except for ....Vinny.... maybe.:)


Steve B
 
I actually remember watching this episode of johnny with buddy (along with all the others). that was when i fell in love with buddy. he may not have been the best drummer ever, (who is) but in my eyes he was and he was/is my all time favorite drummer.
 
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

Shaughnessy was always playing tricks on him, most notably he had a cymbal replaced with a movie candy (used in fight scenes with bottles breaking) and it looked real; of course when buddy went to hit it he was shocked as hell. This is a story that Shaughnessy tells but I have never seen the video from the Johnny Carson Show.
 
HAHA...he smashed right through the floor tom!

This definitely was not Buddy Rich at his best. I personally think though that for 1973 the times were changing and I guess so was the music. This wasn't the kind of jazz people most often associate with Buddy's style and the era of jazz he came from during the height of his career. So yea, out of his comfort zone for real.
 
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