Never read music , he let another drummer play it once and that was it. Photographic memory , perfect perfect playing every time his whole life. Superhuman , I miss Buddy
Legend till the very end, Drummer Buddy Rich died after surgery in 1987. As he was being prepped for surgery, a nurse asked him, “Is there anything you can't take?” Rich replied, “Yeah, country music.”
I saw Buddy in 86 at the Monroeville Howard Johnson... I guess same tour. I even got to help “roadie” by helping pack up his kit for the bus that night. His driver noticed us teens kept checking out his set between sets and asked us if we wanted to help afterwards... we were like “ hell ya we do!!” Great memories
WOW! Buddy Rich is " ON FIRE! " He Really KICKS THE BAND! In fact the WHOLE BAND! MEET HIS " PERFECTION LEVEL! He plays from a " Whisper to A ROAR! And always with IMPECCABLE TASTE! So glad i was lucky enough to witness HIS GENIUS A FEW TIMES! Paul Budd Brightlingsea Essex England UK
Intonation of the band is superb, as you can hear on the intro to Round Midnight. And remember, this is outdoors, so I don't know how they did this. Great band.
Given to him from the owner of the Eames Drum Company, who first showed Buddy the snare and then after playing on it asked him “do you have the full set”? The owner said I will make one for you…the rest is history. I first saw this set at OCC (Orange Coast College) in 1983 but because the bass drum head didn’t have a name on it, I couldn’t figure out what it was. Fantastic sound and when I saw it at Disneyland he was playing a calf head on the snare!
He drove the band like a race car driver!! An amazing drummer who had full control of each selection, AND THAT LEFT HAND WAS SOMETHING TO WATCH!! Thanks for posting this great concert...
I was a virtual Buddy Rich fan. The first piece is a piece I know that was arranged for this most iconic of jazz bands with the world's greatest jazz drummer leading it. An arrangement of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess"--a medley, almost reminding you of the iconic "West Side Story Medley" arrangement for that same band..............
Drum solo; Basically Blues (Phil Wilson) Tom Garling- trombone.Steve Marcus- tenor sax; Greg Gisbert- harmon muted trumpet solo; Love For Sale ( Cole Porter/ Arr. by Pete Myers). Mike Rubino- alto sax; trumpet; Greg Gisbert- trumpet; Steve Marcus -tenor sax. Eric Miyashiro-lead trumpet. Round Midnight (Monk/ Cootie Williams).Arr. by Dick Lieb. Steve Marcus- tenor sax. Winding Way.Sreve Marcus-tenor sax. In a Mellow Tone (D. Ellington)Arr. by Oliver Nelson. Greg Gisbert- trumpet.Tom Garling- trombone. Groovin' Hard (Don Menza)Steve Marcus. tenor sax.. Bugle Call Rag. Greg Gisbert- trumpet. Steve Marcus- tenor sax.
Just look at 13:17 at the immense effort Buddy made, at 67 or 68 yrs. old, on a song he had already played a thousand times, this time at uptempo! He never slowed and never gave in. A man like that has to demand the same of the guys one third his age. What more can be said?
Summed up very well. Buddy was a drumming genius of his area, and even still - after he passed on - Jazz drummers all over the world, I believe, use Buddy's quality and level of skill to benchmark themselves. I know, because I am one of them for the pas 25 years.
Thank you Ake for posting this treasure!! Met Buddy in St. Louis in 1974. Thank you Buddy for the fabulous drumming years and to the band. Musician/Artist- USA. Thom Meinert
Watching this and at this moment there are 50 stupid ignorant asses who put thumbs down. The great Buddy Rich. Imagine how much better he might have been if he actually practiced.
This is superb footage of the band in his last year. We saw them in either Bristol or Birmingham and they played a number of tracks I did not know. Now that is always a good thing. As someone says all of the soloists are on fire. Excellent camera work and a great sound which is not the case with many pieces of footage of the band. Love For Sale - stunning all of the way through. Never a boring second. Wow. Thanks for posting
I was born in 1953, and live I've seen Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Sam and Dave, The Youngbloods, Focus, Aerosmith, The Staple Singers, Ten Years After, The Doors, Steve Miller, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Johnny Winter with Edgar Winter, David Bowie, Todd Rundgren, Uriah Heep, The Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac, etc, etc, but WOW, do I love big band, swing,, Cajun, klezmer, and so many other genres. And what a performance this is!
I saw him in Eugene, Oregon....then he was gone. I did get his autograph behind the Hult center on his bus and was able to speak to him. His first words to me were: "You know the BEATS' in you."
Buddy always seemed so much happier with European audiences. Polite audiences who show their appreciation for what he does after, rather than during a solo as happened so much in this country. You can see in this great video , how much fun he is having with his band(one of the best I have ever seen him with). To think at that time he was 68. Many people are out to pasture by that age. What drive, what power, what endurance, what Swing! He was truly one of a kind, never to be seen again!
And this was shortly before his death I believe. He passed in '87, right? Yet, here, he is still at the top of his game. I wonder if he knew bad things were coming. He had to have known what was going on with his health by then.
Vue U No, his health wasn’t terrible I believe, but he died during a surgery to remove a brain tumor. This guy has had heart attacks while playing and wouldn’t stop!
A band is only as good as the drummer that drives it. Playing music is timeless even drums, when you have such a passion like Buddy had you can hold on to it right to the end, if your health is reasonably ok that is. I am fifty six and playing drums in a 80's rock tribute band, i play with exactly the same passion as i did back in the day only better, true musicians should improve like a fine wine
If ya'll haven't seen it, there is a great DVD put out by Don Lombardi and DW drums called Buddy Rich Up Close. It's footage of the early 80's band when Buddy had his own television show. One of the extras on the DVD is an interview with Matt Harris, the piano player on this concert. He was Buddy's last pianist. He tells some fun stories about being on this band.
I met Buddy literally on stage a little before this concert at a less then sold out show in New York state. I don't remember shaking his hand, getting his autograph or anything. I was just in awe to be in his presence and asked him if he knew an old drummer friend of mine.( Don't ask me why I asked him that) I wish I could go back in time and meet him again, the right way.
You'd have a few choice words to say if your name is on the marquee and your musicians decide they want to do what you don't want them to do. Oh, and you're footing the bill, too.
Soy Andrés Silva, un modesto baterista peruano con 71 años y toco desde los 7 años todo tipo de música internacional pero siempre tuve mucho amor al JAZZ con los éxitos del 1930 pero nunca había escuchado al Gran BUDDY RICH pero cuando lo vi personalmente con su Orquesta en Anaheim, Disneyland, california el año 1983 y por videos me impresiono de tal manera que practico todas sus técnicas aunque sea para darme el gusto y he mejorado tremendamente....me gusta tocar Jazz y trato de aplicar su estilo,.......es el mejor del Mundo y su estilo es insuperable,......con gran pena falleció el 2 Abril 1987 con 69 años.
Drum solos are for drummers I guess, and there isn't another drummer I'm willing to listen to take one. What has always impressed me with Buddy Rich is his ensemble playing. He drives the band and his fills and transitions are always spot on.
The second floor tom was a towel holder with stick bag attached to it…plus you don’t want to carry around a bunch of extra drums on the band bus cuz there isn’t enough room!
Although I have many favorites in this video my all-time favorite favorite is in the trumpet solo at 38:56 and I honestly believe Buddy has never heard it before ! And his reaction is absolutely so joyful and happy to have heard it. And the best part of it is if you're a musician almost anyone can play it ! ! ! Just 2 notes Bb an C an octave up ! So simple and yet so perfectly creative. I've been following BR since 1967 and haven't herd this lick until I heard it on this !
Que FIERA POR FAVORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!!!!!GENIO TOTAL: Lástima que se haya ido tan joven !!!! Excelente.No hay palabras para calificar esto . Que músico increíble y que buena big band. !!!!!!!Saludos Cordiales desde Buenos Aires Argentina.
I lost my 2 biggest idols in 1987 in April Buddy Rich on the 2nd and my grandfather on the 7th … both were truly irreplaceable men in the world they gave the world a gift which most people will never have the opportunity to…
Every different Big Band led by Buddy Rich always had plenty of star players... Buddy only chose the best talent, and all of his bands were brilliant in their own fashion.....
The heart and soul of every kit is the high hat, snare and base drum. Anyone who can do an entertaining drum solo primarily with the snare is badass in my book!
Incredible crowd, typical of BR band wherever they went. Basically Blues: great trombone solo, Steve Marcus heats it up further, muted trumpet continues the sass, all in all a very Basie style performance of Basically. Very laid back, bent notes really bent, shakes very strong. Well done, best I've heard it since the original recording. Upper octave trumpet on Love for Sale, great.
yup, one buddy bought himself, as at this point he wasnt with any drum company, was still eith zildjian, remo & vic firth, but he bought this kit and got the hardware updated on it. he always wanted to be the shining star of slingerland, but that title went to gene krupa
I always thought that the last vintage Slingerland set that Buddy had was a gift from a devoted fan ( can't remember the name ). They were the old Radio Kings with the 26'' bass that the fan had restored and then presented to Buddy. This was a great concert, one of the best versions of '' Love For Sale'' on video, thanks for posting.
Ake...this is about the best video ive ever seen of Buddy...i mean...his smiling at the band and laughing and the audience dancing and smiling....40 mins of fun!
This set was Buddy's last set.. it was a refurbished set of Slingerland Radio Kings...... It was beautifully restored and sounded great. Through his career Buddy played Slingerland, Rogers, and Ludwig, finally playing this restored set. At one time, now not sure he ever used them a lot but have seen Buddy, in a photo, behind a set of Trixon Drums....
0:39, the sax player is really enjoying this, just like I would have, if I would have been that close. 0:50 - a shaking my head moment. How is this, and the remarkable flurry just before it, even possible? To anyone who says Buddy's skills declined in his last years, this is proof they did not; his skills inexplicably continued to get even greater.
The use of a basic kit, is a lost art these days, by today's so called good drummers. Buddy and Gene Krupa didn't need to use today's massive drum set ups and countless cymbals. They just used their natural , gifted talent.
There is no "best" grip, or even "correct" grip everyone. When you close your eyes and listen, you have no idea what grip the drummer is using, or brand of drums or cymbals he/she is using.......as Art Blakey said, a great drummer can sit at any drums and make them sound like his.
What a stupid comment. Plenty of excellent drummers these days play on minimal kits. Check out Jojo Meyer or Benny Greb, to name just a couple. And what is wrong with using a variety of cymbal sounds? Or a larger setup? Gavin Harrison's kit is fairly extensive and he's one of the most innovative and creative drummers of our time. Classic "it was better in the old days" tripe.
a great one for the archive. funny to see people dancing. buddy, as i recall, hated that. i guess he mellowed or the cameras presence allowed for some tolerance. maybe the gig was booked as a kind of dance friendly one. i don't know if this is the whole concert, but no West Side Story or Channel One- can't dance to those. Great band for sure. Buddy looking good. He's still sorely missed today.
El mas grande baterista de la historia, Buddy Rich, inspiracion de grandes musicos mexicanos como Leo Acosta!!! Seguro estan juntos alternando en el cielo!! Siempre los recordaremos!!!
The best endorsement for Slingerland was that Buddy used them the last 4 years of his life, unendorsed. He simply preferred them, as did Gene Krupa, who used them his whole career. It's a shame they are no longer made.
oh really? Slingerland now defunct?? wish i could find a nice condition used set of Slingerlands.. always thought they were good drums.. kinda dig Ludwigs for rock drumming..... and Gretsch or yamaha for jazz.... but, i only own 1 acoustic kit and that is a Premiere... just by budget.. if i had the funds, i think I would go for Pearl or Gretsch or Ludwig.
I also heard from a drum tech who's been around forever that lots of artists would use slingerland snares covertly even while endorsed by other companies by removing the Slingerland badges and hardware and putting on their endorsements.
Iv'e got a set of Slingerland drums from the mid to late 60's, had an unusual color of blue that i haven't seen since. I think the retail was in the four hundred something back then.
I heard the Beatles due to contractual obligations had to use Vox amps but used better amps with Vox labels on them in order to fulfill thier obligations
I always thought Boddy as an Ludwig big band drummer- not Slingerland. And Gretch and Slingerland and Rogers and Sonor for jazz drums and Premier and Pearl as Rock heavy drums
Check out that set. In his last couple of years, he played that restored 1940’s Slingerland Radio King set. I saw him at Disneyland in the fall of 1985 and he was playing that set. Big 26” or 28” bass drum.
It's amazing how there can be a "guideline" pattern that the drum companies follow. And at times useing the same type wood. Such as maple. Drum sizes being the same width and depth. Hell, can even slap on the same drum heads. Yet, Ludwig, will sound different then Tama. Slingerland different then Rogers. Gretsch different then Yamaha.....and so on. Guess it really shows, the drummer creates his own unique thunder. God bless Buddy Rich, and the long list of drummers, whom are now in the musical heavens rockin' an jazzin' it up. 🤘🏼❤💔🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁💔❤🤘🏼
Buddy Rich Big Band in Copenhagen Tivoli Gardens 1986. I was there - great concert! Buddy and the audience was happy and fully enjoying the concert. DR (Danish state telvision) are responsible for the recording, and I think they did it well.
